Monitoring and Reviewing the SDGs (Brussels 2015)

The 12^th ESDN Workshop, “Monitoring and reviewing sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Europe: current debates in EU Member States and on the European level”, took place in Brussels on 16 June 2015. In total, 75 participants from 18 countries took part in the event. The workshop was organized by the ESDN in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The background of the workshop topic is related to current debates and activities on sustainable development:

• There is an ongoing and very lively debate about future aspects of the post-2015 debate and the SDGs (i.e. ‘zero draft’ proposal, UN Secretary-General’s synthesis report);
• In continuation of the work done in the ESDN 2014 Conference, which focused on the impact of the SDGs process on the European SD governance framework and on EU Member States, the 12th ESDN workshop will develop further those discussions with a fuller consideration of those aspects related to SDGs monitoring and reviewing processes in Europe, particularly in the EU Member States;
• A lively debate is on-going in EU Member States on SDGs, with particular attention to SDG monitoring and review processes that would most probably intervene on processes of national SD objectives and targets as well as national monitoring processes.

Based on this background, the workshop aimed at

1. Responding to a number of pressing questions for European countries:
   • Which national challenges have already been identified, tackled, and solved?
   • Which mechanisms have already been realized, foreseen, or debated?
   • Which risks, opportunities and barriers have been acknowledged?
   • Which fields for bilateral or European cooperation on these topics are of interest?
2. Providing recommendations for national and EU policy-makers on issues related to SDGs monitoring and review processes particularly relevant in terms of governance for SD, such as the interaction and coherence between the various levels or the SDGs translation from the global level to the regional (EU), national and subnational level;
3. Exploring concepts and ways for practical implementation of SDGs monitoring and review processes at European and national levels;
4. Reflecting on ideas and practical experiences among European countries