The Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) is the umbrella association of all 300 municipalities in Flanders (Belgium). The VVSG is an advocate, knowledge provider and network builder of and for local governments.
Local elections will take place in Belgium in 2024. The VVSG is therefore aligning its SDG program this year with the local policy cycle. Cities and municipalities will receive tools and inspiration to integrate the SDGs in, for example, their context analysis, local party programmes or citizen participation initiatives. The 2024 'Sustainable Municipality Week' campaign will also be dedicated to policy planning. During the campaign week, the VVSG will encourage participating municipalities to make local projects sustainable with concrete tools such as the SDG circle exercise, the SDG check, inspiration sheets per policy domain, and so on.
Coalition 2030 is an alliance of 70+ Irish civil society organizations collaborating for domestic and global SDG achievement through multi sectoral engagement and collective action. 2024 is a year of elections: Local, European and perhaps even National, and this reality will structure our advocacy work in 2024 as we strive to see our politicians reduce policy silos and reach the furthest behind, first. View our policy change toolkit here: https://coalition2030.ie/advocacy-overview/
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is an advisory body in the EU institutional set-up representing European civil society. We act as a vibrant forum for European civil society dialogue - hence, ensuring a broader democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Union. The Sustainable Development Observatory (SDO), as a body within the EESC comprising 24 members from a wide range of civil society organisations, is dedicated to engage people in Europe and globally for a sustainable world. The SDO plays a crucial role in advancing the sustainability agenda within the EU and in its current work programme focuses on key areas of transformations to facilitate the implementation and assessment of the SDGs.
"Recognizing that sustainable development is a collective responsibility, the SDO places a strong emphasis on meaningful stakeholder engagement and participation, particularly with young people. Therefore, we are happy to be part of the European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW) initiative to make European activities towards the 2030 Agenda and beyond visible on a common platform." Maurizio Reale, President of the EESC Sustainable Development Observatory
"We only have a few years ahead of us to advance and accomplish the 2030 Agenda. This is not the time for back-tracking. It is time to accelerate action and take everyone along in this journey. In particular, we need an EU comprehensive strategy for the SDGs – covering both the internal and external dimension. We want the EU to invest in SDG credibility and lead international efforts to accelerate SDG implementation" Peter Schmidt, President of the EESC Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment
The European network of Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC Network) consists of nineteen bodies, from fourteen European countries and regions, that offer independent advice to national and regional governments and parliaments. With representatives from academia, civil society, the private sector and public bodies, the members of the EEAC network brings together experts with years of experience producing independent advice on climate change, the environment and sustainable development. The EEAC Network offers an operational framework for dialogue and informed debate among various stakeholders and disciplines, serves as a liaison between the work of the national and sub-national councils and at European policy level and, finally, offers an operational platform for inter-council cooperation.
"The EEAC Network believes that a transition towards a more sustainable Europe, which addresses the environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability, is both necessary and possible. For such transition to succeed we need all Europeans to engage. In this context the European Sustainable Development Week initiative is of major importance. We are proud to be a partner of this important European wide week since its first edition in 2016."
Arnau Queralt-Bassa, Chairman of the EEAC Network
The 2024 EU Green Week is part of #WaterWIseEU, a campaign to stimulate an EU-wide conversation around water today and in the future. The campaign aims at fostering awareness and promoting positive, collaborative solutions. Organisations across Europe are invited to join the campaign now.
The Federal Institute for Sustainable Development (FISD) is a dynamic government department and a centre of expertise for sustainable development in Belgium. Other government departments and organizations outside the government come to us for advice on corporate social responsibility, business and human rights, sustainable public procurement, sustainable events, and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We develop policies around these themes and then implement them in projects inside and outside the government.
The Finnish Regional Sustainability Weekhighlights good examples of sustainable solutions in rural areas. It’s an event week that brings together different actors to inspire and make visible hands-on measures for a sustainable society. The program for the week is created by companies, associations, municipalities, schools, and other actors taking part.
During The Sustainability Week, both small and large players share and highlight their work with sustainability in different ways, the threshold for taking part is low and thus the small, good examples of sustainability that exist in different organizations’ operations are highlighted.
Sustainability Week offers a practical concept as a partial solution for a transition to a sustainable society. The issue of participation is also important and part of the main idea. Together, we can create a strong sustainability brand for rural areas. The sustainable development-week initiative is also eager to create links with other regions in Europe dealing with sustainability, rural development, and rural policy.
The sustainability week is arranged through a thematic network operated under the auspices of the Rural Policy Council and is responsible for the development of rural policy and the promotion of an overall rural policy program within the framework of its theme. Rural policy networks are funded from the national rural research and development funds available to the Rural Policy Council.
The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), which brings together more than 320 organizations from the economic and social world, organizes the Festival together with its Members and with the support of Partners and Tutors, over a span of 17 days, as many as the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda. The Festival raises awareness every year among very large segments of the population on the issues of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) and the 2030 Agenda. With the involvement of hundreds of organizations throughout Italy, the network of Italian embassies and cultural institutes abroad, the active role played by universities and the collaboration of territories, the event reaches millions of people, confirming itself as a unique experience on the international scene.
In 2024, the Sustainable Development Festival took place from May 7 to 23, with nearly 1,000 events organized all over Italy, in Italian embassies around the world and online.
In addition to the initiatives organized by civil society throughout Italy and abroad, those organised by ASviS took place in Ivrea, Turin, Bologna, Milan, Palermo and Rome. In all, the Festival reached 5 million people through the live streaming of ASviS events and 80 million impressions on social media with the official hashtags #festivalsvilupposostenibile and #GUARDIAMOALFUTURO.
The next edition will be in May 2025 on the same days (7-23).
Le partenariat entre le Ministère de la transition écologique et la Cohésion des territoires et ESDW présente une belle opportunité de valoriser les acteurs français mobilisés au titre de la Semaine Européenne du Développement Durable (SEDD).
L'objectif est de valoriser la mobilisation des acteurs pour la transition écologique, dans tous les domaines - mobilité, biodiversité, alimentation, transition juste, aménagement…-, et dans une approche transversale, en référence à l'Agenda 2030 et ses 17 objectifs de développement durable, et d'inciter ainsi le plus grand nombre à contribuer.
L’espace dédié est un véritable levier d’animation de la dynamique d’engagement des porteurs de projets, de tous les horizons : collectivités, associations, entreprises publiques et privées, citoyens… Parmi les acteurs engagés, la communauté Agenda 2030 française, avec des événements organisés notamment par Pacte Mondial réseau France, le Comité 21, Convergences, l’Alliance Internationale pour les Objectifs de Développement Durable (AI-ODD), la FONDA, ou Focus 2030.
C’est un lieu fédérateur, unique, pour donner à voir un grand nombre des initiatives déployées en France pendant ce moment fort qu’est devenue la SEDD, et promouvoir les évènements à l’échelle de l’Europe. Il favorise les échanges de bonnes pratiques, de pairs à pairs, les participants étant invités à s’inspirer les uns les autres. Cette synergie renforce l’impact des actions locales, au titre de la sensibilisation du grand public aux enjeux du développement durable et des changements pérennes de comportements.
En 2024, associé à la SEDD, la France propose aux porteurs de projet une nouvelle édition du concours photo lancé en 2023 (Cf. le règlement du concours). Pour participer, c’est simple :
- Inscrivez votre évènement sur l’espace dédié SEDD ou sur la plateforme de la SEM ;
- Sélectionnez une à trois photographies de votre évènement 2024 ou des années antérieures, en mentionnant un titre, une courte description, un lieu et une date, le lien vers l’évènement de la plateforme concernée et les ODD impactés ;
- Envoyez la photo et ces informations avant le 31 octobre à minuit par mél à : semaine-europeenne-du-developpement-durable.datpa.ddd.cgdd@developpement-durable.gouv.fr
Suivre les actualités françaises de la SEDD : https://www.agenda-2030.fr/a-la-une/mobiliser-pour-le-developpement-durable/
Der Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (RNE) berät die Bundesregierung zur Nachhaltigkeitspolitik. Er ist in seiner Tätigkeit unabhängig und wird seit 2001 alle drei Jahre von der Bundesregierung berufen. Dem Rat gehören 15 Personen des öffentlichen Lebens an. Die Aufgaben des Rates bestehen in der Entwicklung von Beiträgen für die Umsetzung der Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie, der Benennung von konkreten Handlungsfeldern und Projekten sowie Nachhaltigkeit zu einem wichtigen öffentlichen Anliegen zu machen. Ergebnisse seiner Arbeit sind zum Beispiel der Deutsche Nachhaltigkeitskodex, diverse politische Stellungnahmen zur nationalen und internationalen Nachhaltigkeitspolitik sowie zu Themen wie Klimaschutz, Rohstoffe, zirkuläres Wirtschaften, Plastik, Landwirtschaft. Der Rat bringt Oberbürgermeisterinnen und Oberbürgermeister zum Dialog „Nachhaltige Stadt“ zusammen, er vernetzt Akteure durch die Regionalen Netzstellen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien (RENN) sowie durch die Deutschen Aktionstage Nachhaltigkeit.
The Romanian Department of Sustainable Development has been a committed partner in taking action and spreading the news about European Sustainable Development Week since 2019. In the last five years, the Department was directly involved in organizing
large-scale events mainly address to promote all the Sustainable Development Goals to general population. The first action was aimed at raising awareness about SDGs and was specially addressed to high school students which had the opportunity to take part in a creative contest. A big concert was also organized in Bucharest city-center where the sustainable – development wheel, an quiz on sustainability, which is still very popular, was used for the first time. In the last three years, the Department joined the efforts of one young entrepreneurs` community which organize „Dambovița Delivery”, right on the river shore, driven to promote the sustainable integration of the water in the city-life. Annually, for 2 days people have the chance to row on the Bucharest main river, to get directly in touch with the Department of Sustainable Development and to learn more about sustainability in an informal manner. The Department of Sustainable Development is also actively encourage civil society to take the initiative and organize different type of activities during European Sustainable Development Week.
Comprising 19 national and regional networks of universities and knowledge institutions across the continent, SDSN Europe supports and advocates for the alignment of European policies with the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement.
The SDG Teach In is an annual international campaign delivered by SOS-UK which calls on educators to pledge to include the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) in their teaching, training, and learning throughout March. Educators can be trainers, lifelong and workplace learning facilitators, as well as formal and informal educators. The SDG Teach In is open to educators and trainers across all disciplines and levels globally, whether through case studies, debate, discussion, group work, team tasks, activities, or simulations relating to topics included within the SDGs.
The 2023 campaign saw 1284 educators reach over 121,000 students and learners across 23 countries, in discussion around the SDGs and their relevance to their subject. For the seventh year of this campaign, we are encouraging educators to #getstarted and #gofurther through 4 themed weeks of the Teach In.
According to the latest SOS-UK research, 84 per cent of students would like to see sustainable development actively incorporated and promoted through all courses, and the Teach In is a great springboard for meaningful engagement in this area. The Teach In aims to:
- Raise awareness of the importance of sustainability, education for sustainable development and sustainability education;
- Raise awareness of the importance of sustainability education as a crucial aspect of quality equitable education and a pre-requisite for environmental justice and a just transition;
- Catalyse curriculum reform and encourage holistic workplace learning and training and development that places sustainability at the forefront;
- Embed sustainability and social responsibility across all spheres of learning and disciplines and throughout lifelong learning and training opportunities;
- Link all forms of teaching, learning, training, and assessment to local and global social, political, environmental and economic issues;
- Prepare and equip young people and all learners with the knowledge, skills, capabilities and attributes to innovatively tackle the world’s greatest challenges.
For more information on the SDG Teach In campaign and how you can get involved please feel free to get in contact with Beatrice Anomah.
The University of Galway is a community of 20,000 students, 2,500 staff and over 100,000 graduates. Together, we are critically aware of the leading role that universities can play in the achievement of the SDGs. Sustainability is one of our four core values and a key pillar of our strategic plan: Shared Vision, Shaped by Values. As a signatory to the SDG Accord, we have committed to align our education, research, leadership, operational and engagement activities with the SDGs and to share our learnings. Our Climate Action and Sustainability Policy and our Sustainability Strategy 2021-2025 formalise our commitment to lead the transition to a sustainable future, and we produce a detailed report each year on the actions we have taken to advance each individual SDG. University of Galway is a Government of Ireland National SDG Champion 2023-2024; and recognised by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023 edition, as Top University in Ireland and Top 50 in the world for our efforts in progressing the SDGs. We are ranked 5th in the world for our progress on SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production. Read more about our sustainability efforts here.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Join WBCSD at Climate Week NYC’s events and engagement opportunities.
WBCSD will bring the world’s leading experts, enthusiasts and C-level participants to the heart of Climate Week to join the growing mobilization for climate action. As a powerful steppingstone towards the trio of COPs (CBD COP16, UNFCCC COP 29, and UNCCD COP 16) in 2024 and, notably, towards COP30 in Belem next year, WBCSD will advance critical conversations to sharpen corporate performance and accountability, align on collective priorities and policy asks and catalyze scale collaboration across value chains.
Find out more about our Climate Week plans using this link: WBCSD events & engagements across Climate Week NYC – WBCSD
2030hub enters a new phase in 2024 as we share our successes by accelerating the SDGs in new countries, cities and towns around the world, beyond our home impacts in Liverpool.
We are part of the exciting Local2030 Coalition, recently selected as one of the High Impact Initiatives at last year's SDG Summit at UNGA.
We will further amplify our work guiding apolitical, multi-stakeholder, accessible adoption and implementation of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda through effective stakeholder engagement, Voluntary Local Reviews, data platforms and bringing the private sector closer to the challenge through increased collaboration.