Time: 8 July 2024, 18:00
Venue: Nordbahnsaal, Die HausWirtschaft, Bruno-Marek-Allee 5, 1020 Vienna and online
Registration for online participation: https://univienna.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Avf-Chpj8sEtHAU8JE-VCtq69EJs3AwLNP
Registration for on-site participation: https://geographie.univie.ac.at/en/working-groups/urban-studies/anmeldungen/the-sdgs-in-urban-areas/
More information about the event and the participants: https://urbanlab.univie.ac.at/en/panel-discussion-the-sdgs-in-urban-areas/
Time: 8 July 2024, 18:00
Please note: The panel discussion will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation GER-EN via zoom. We kindly ask English-speaking, on-site participants to bring their own devices and headphones to connect to the zoom link.
Cities play a key role in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), not least because they will be home to an estimated 2/3 of the world´s population by 2050. UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised that ‘our battle for global sustainability will be lost or won in cities’, highlighting that cities simultaneously face complex and major challenges and host key capacities and resources to manage them innovatively. Urban actors across the global North and South, including local and national governments as well as civil society organisations, are appropriating the SDGs as a framework for implementing more sustainable forms of urban development. However, the 17 goals, their targets and indicators are also frequently critiqued for their contradictions and vagueness, difficulties in realising their transformative potential, and their dependence on voluntary measures.
In its first Voluntary National Report (VNR) on the implementation of the SDGs in 2020, Austria positively emphasised the underlying participatory process in its development, and the progress and achievement of numerous goals including the eradication of extreme poverty, safe access to water and the collection rate of municipal waste. However, the 2021 SDG Indicator Report by Statistics Austria also examined critical trends and showed, for example, that domestic material consumption of 19.1 tonnes per person is massively above the EU-27 average (14.1 tonnes) and that Austria´s contribution of 0.31% of gross national income for official development assistance is nowhere near the target of 0.7%.
In July 2024, the second Austrian Voluntary National Report (VNR) will be presented together with local and national reports from other countries at the United Nations High Level Political Forum in New York. We are taking this as an opportunity to hold a panel discussion on 8 July 2024 to discuss the speed and scope of changes in urban areas in recent years, as well as the indicators used and their relevance for sustainable development from different perspectives. Furthermore, panelists will discuss the role of cities and trans-local alliances for progress towards the 2030 sustainability agenda and beyond.
Panelists:
Dalilah Pichler, MSc, Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, KDZ Centre for Public Administration Research
Dr Klaus Reuter, Managing Director, LAG21 - Network Sustainability North Rhine-Westphalia
Mag. Alena Sirka-Bred, Head of Europe and International Affairs, City of Vienna
Mag. Lukas Wank, Managing Director, AG Global Responsibility
Mag. Alexandra Wegscheider-Pichler, SDG Coordinator, Statistics Austria
Moderators:
Prof Kerstin Krellenberg (University of Vienna) and Prof Florian Koch (HTW Berlin)
Organizers
Kerstin Krellenberg, University of Vienna, Austria, kerstin.krellenberg@univie.ac.at
Julia Wesely, University of Vienna, Austria, julia.wesely@univie.ac.at
Sarah Beyer, HTW Berlin, Germany, sarah.beyer@htw-berlin.de
Florian Koch, HTW Berlin, Germany, florian.koch@htw-berlin.de
If you have any questions, please contact Julia Wesely at julia.wesely@univie.ac.at
Please note that the event will be filmed and photographed for documentation and public relations purposes. By participating in the event, you consent to being recorded and pictured, and to publication for the purpose of public relations on the website and in printed materials (e.g. folders) of the University of Vienna and, if applicable, via social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to present the activities. Please inform us by e-mail if you do not agree to this.
