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REGISTER NOW — AER General Assembly & Agenda 2030 Conference: Transforming Regions, Changing the World

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Joining the GA & SDG Conference online?

AER General Assembly — Join us in Strasbourg or online.

The General Assembly is organised in tandem with the Agenda 2030 Conference, hosted by the Region of Grand Est (France).

The General Assembly will take place on 28 October from 10:15 to 12:30 CET online and in Strasbourg.

Members are invited to join on-site in Strasbourg or online by registering via the relevant buttons above.

Direct Links:

Please note: the on-site and online registration forms for the General Assembly and Agenda 2030 Conference are the same. You can find out more information about the Agenda 2030 Conference and all practicalities below.

You have until Friday, 8 October to register for on-site participation, and until Monday, 18 October to register to participate online.

Below, you can find more information about the Agenda 2030 Conference.

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Online and On-site registrations are open! — AGENDA 2030 CONFERENCE

On-site registrations for our high-level conference ‘Agenda2030: Transforming Regions, Changing the World’ are open until next Friday, 8 October. Can’t make it in-person? Online registrations will remain open until Monday, 18 October!

Our keynote speeches, plenary sessions and panels will be available to stream live via YouTube in English and in French on the day, so there is no need to register in advance.

You can find out more about the keynotes, panels and plenaries by reading the articles in the event Agenda HERE.

Stay updated via the official Regions2030.com website!

More about the Agenda 2030 Conference 🌍

The goal of the Conference is to show that regions play a key role, alongside cities, in facilitating the transformation required to successfully implement and achieve the 17 Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.

This Conference will take place on 28 and 29 October on-site at the Region of Grand Est in Strasbourg (FR) and online. The AER will hold its Executive Board and General Assembly meetings in tandem with the Conference on-site and remotely.

What can Participants Expect?💡

Hosted at the Region of Grand Est (FR), the AER and our global partners will gather local and regional stakeholders from around the world for two days of discussion, debate and sharing of ideas on how to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Read the programme HERE.

Get insights on the SDGs at our Plenary sessions:

High-Level Panel Debate: Transforming Regions, Changing the World

Thursday, 28 October: 15:00-16:30 CET [Hemicycle Room]: This panel debate will discuss challenges that know no borders, and assess recommendations to increase multi-stakeholder involvement in the development of policy strategies related to the SDGs. President of United Cities and Local Governments and Mayor of Al Hoceima (Morocco), Mohamed Boudra, will join this debate.

Panel Discussion: The Way Forward — Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Regions in a Post-pandemic World

Friday, 29 October: 12:00-13:00 CET [Hemicycle Room]: AER President, Magnus Bertnsson, will lead a discussion on the state of play regarding implementation of the SDGs at local and regional level. The panel will assess the consequences and opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about, and set out ideas in order to achieve sustainable and resilient regions in a post-pandemic world. Leen Verbeek, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga (PT) and Member of the European Committee of the Regions are among the speakers who will take part in the discussion.

Share ideas for transforming regions at our Workshops:

On Friday, 29 October, the AER and our global partners will host hybrid workshops on different themes related to the SDGs. You can find out more about them by clicking the links below, and indicate which workshop(s) you would like to join in person or online via by filling out the on-site or online registration forms in the buttons above. 

Please note that you can only register for two workshops. One taking place from 9:15-10:15, and one from 10:30-11:30. Zoom links will be provided closer to the date. 

Peace: The Future Is Yours — Inclusive and Participatory Institutions for All

Organiser: AER Task Force on Democracy

9:15-10:15 CET: This workshop will focus on the critical role of democratic, inclusive governance in delivering the SDGs. Good practices will also be exchanged on how to foster multi-stakeholder partnerships to bring the voices of the most marginalised and under-represented communities to policy decision-making, in order to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.

Planet: Protecting Biodiversity, Achieving Sustainable Development

Co-organised by AER Task Force on Climate & Regions4

9:15-10:15 CET: This workshop will explore how local and regional governments can drive action toprotect biodiversity, delivering on the SDGs and enabling a green and resilient recovery from the pandemic.

Partnership: How Can Regions Deliver on Voluntary Reviews?

Organiser: Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CoE)

9:15-10:15 CET: The objective of this workshop is to highlight the importance of regional and local input into national reviews,in the context of the overall need for greater regionalization of SDG implementation.

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People: Hate speech — Towards a Comprehensive Approach

Co-organised by Intercultural Regions Network, Intercultural Cities Programme (CoE) and Includ-EU Project 

10:30-11:30 CET: Includ-EUhas partnered with the Intercultural Regions Network and the Council of Europe to shed light on the application of theintercultural integration concept at the regional level, focusing on one main topic, hate speech.

Prosperity: Leaving No Youth Behind — Building resilient, sustainable and prosperous cities and regions

Organiser: AER Summer Academy

10:30-11:30 CET: ‘Leaving No Youth Behind’ means that the green and ‘just’ transitions can only be achieved in full partnership with all members of society –regional and local authorities, civil society and young people– so that no one and no territory is left behind. This session will look into good practices of intergenerational governance facilitating youth leadership in the shift to a sustainable and prosperous path.

Getting to Strasbourg 🇫🇷 

Those travelling to Strasbourg are invited to take a look at the Info Pack for information on travel, hotels and Study Visits HERE.

AER members are cordially invited to join the meeting of the General Assembly on 28 October. The agenda for the General Assembly will be available shortly.

It will be possible for those unable to travel to join these meetings remotely. Online-only registration will open closer to the date of the Conference. Registrations for all on-site events will close on 8 October.

Share your ideas for achieving Agenda 2030! 📩

Got a best-practice on one of the Sustainable Development Goals you want to share? Contact us with articles and videos from your region! We’ll give them pride of place on our Agenda 2030 Website and dedicated Twitter page — and don’t forget to follow. Find out all the ways you can get involved HERE.

COVID-19 Rules & Requirements 🔍📝

Please note that all attendees on-site must comply with COVID-19 rules and regulations in France. At the entrance, participants will present a valid health pass, alongside proof of identity (national ID, passport…). Failure to provide the aforementioned documents will prevent the attendees from entering the venue or participating in the events, with no liability to the AER, the Region of Grand Est or its partners.

The rules and regulations can be consulted in English on the French Government’s regularly updated website HERE. In line with these rules, attendees will be required to present an EU-valid COVID-19 pass that provides one of the following:

  • a completed vaccination certificate; 
  • a negative PCR or antigen test no more than 48 hours old;
  • proof of recovery from COVID-19: a positive PCR or antigen test result taken at least 15 days prior to and not longer than six months before the Conference.

Attendees are obliged to abide by the sanitary rules and requirements at all times while in attendance on-site. The AER or Grand Est Region cannot be held responsible for any expenses incurred by persons denied entry or ejected for failure to produce valid COVID-19 documents and/or to adhere to sanitary rules.  

We look forward to welcoming you to the Agenda 2030 Conference.   

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Localising Agenda 2030: how regions can help meet the SDGs

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Last week, on 24 June, the online conference ‘Localising Agenda 2030: how regions can help meet the SDGs’ took place from 14:30 until 16:00 pm.  This event, the first of a series of events focusing on SDGs leading up to our final conference taking place in Strasbourg in June 2021, aimed to emphasise the importance of local actions in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The event gathered 64 attendees via the Zoom platform and 50 others followed the live web-stream.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, citizens have seen quick responses and actions from both regions and cities. The crisis has exposed inequalities and the role of regions for sustainable recovery and action for a more fair and resilient society can no longer be postponed. Together with national authorities, regions now have a moral responsibility to advance the achievements of the SDGs, namely by focusing on health and wellbeing and financial recovery through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Through this webinar, we had the opportunity to hear our speakers tell us more about the importance of regions. The webinar was moderated by Dharmendra Kanani, Director of Insights at Friends of Europe. The panel debate included five speakers.

The first speaker, who opened the discussion, was Magnus Bertnsson, President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER). He started the discussion by stating that yes, progress in achieving the SDGs had been made in Europe, but with COVID-19 appearing, there is a higher need for action and efforts to reduce inequalities must be accelerated. Local and regional authorities are among the main actors to achieve a more fair and resilient society which stresses the importance of a multilevel and a multilateral approach. Europe, post COVID-19, has the opportunity to create something new and to rethink what kind of society people want to live in. 

The second speaker, Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the OECD Division for Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development, shared a more analytical and factual approach to the importance of regional development policy. She stated that 65% of the SDGs could not be achieved without local and regional governments. While national governments are ultimately accountable in their performance to the UN, this does not mean that regions cannot be held liable. 80% of the regions from OECD countries, about 600 regions, are far from having reached the targets which shows why it is equally important to attribute an agenda to both national and local governments. The localisation of the SDGs is crucial.

The next speaker, Raffaele Cattaneo, Minister for Environment and Climate of Lombardy (IT); member of the Regions 4 Steering Committee, reflected on the need for a transformation in today’s economy. As a result of the public health crisis, economic recovery, alongside jobs and public health have become the top priority where a few months ago, climate used to be at the top of the agenda. Indeed, a lot of resources are now moving from green deal to health care systems. There is a need for a discussion between citizens and EU institutions to reset our priorities and transform our economy which will require clear political decisions as well as responsible production and consumption.

Wallis Goelen, Senior Expert at the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, emphasised the efforts of the EU Commission in order to respond to the needs of regions and cities as a result of COVID-19. She stated that the current cohesion policy measures respond to 11 SDGs out of the 17 existing while fostering regional development. However, she also stressed the importance of capacity-building and the use of place-based strategies which will now be at the forefront in the Commission’s new priorities.

The last speaker of this webinar, Damià Calvet, Minister of Territory and sustainability of the Government of Catalonia, representative of UCLG-Global Taskforce, explains the importance of regions in liaising national and European interests on SDGs and other topics. Regions have the capacity to empower a wider network of actors to bring change and achieve sustainable development together. According to him, sustainable development cannot be achieved without greater input from regions. Moreover, the contribution of the Global Taskforce Regions has a great importance in bringing regional and local authorities in order to unify forces and reach Agenda2030. 

It is key to reiterate the need to give a more relevant role to regions. Whereas local governments are doing a great process in developing sustainable strategies and are very vocal about it, regions seem to be more silent. The COVID-19 crisis has opened the “pandora’s box” and has shown how many processes and involvement are needed from regional governments in order to achieve a sustainable and equally developed global society. AER as a regional network has assumed the role to raise awareness and to call into action its member regions to engage in achieving a global society that leaves no one and no territory behind.

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Agenda 2030: Now More Than Ever

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The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN in 2015 has always been of great importance. From Poverty to Education through Health and Climate Action, and many more areas, the SDGs offer a broad range of activities needed to improve societal and environmental issues. 

However, recently, life has taken an unusual turn and the achievement of the SDG goals has gained significance. With the appearance of COVID-19, many areas have been affected or have shown to be needing improvement. Whether it is on a national or a local level, the crisis showed us that improvements have to be made in acting long-term and in a sustainable way. The health sector is not the only one that took a hit during this crisis but so did the economic sector, affecting many other areas such as employment, poverty, education, etc..

This crisis revealed the weaknesses in our systems and now gives us the opportunity to rethink and rebuild stronger bases for the future. Therefore, Now More Than Ever, it is time to act together on sustainable solutions which include each and every stakeholder and sector.  During this crisis, we have seen that in extreme situations, extreme measures could be taken and citizens were willing to implement them to make a change. There are lessons to be learned from the past months and behavioural changes that can be made towards common objectives. 

The relevance of the SDGs continues to increase as time passes by. However, there will be new challenges to face on the road to their achievement. There needs to be an active approach towards them and the different stakeholders involved will have to coordinate in order to be as efficient as possible. The emphasis needs to be put on finding long-term sustainable solutions rather than short-term fixes that will only result in later issues in the future. The danger we are facing now is that governments turn to short-term solutions in order to quickly fix what the crisis has caused. Instead, now is the best time to review our approach to SDGs.

The crisis will give opportunities to work on the tactics and the means to the final goals. Local and regional involvement more specifically will be increasingly required, hoping for inclusive multi-level governance. Acting at the level closest to citizens means acting faster. The 10-year window that is left is our opportunity to act. All stakeholders involved need make an effort to achieve SDGs, not one-by-one, but as a whole. Because they are interconnected, the issues connected to one another should be worked on simultaneously. 

AER strongly believes that the achievement of these goals is necessary and urgent which is why the SDGs form the basis of its work, not only in the Bureau Taskforce, but throughout our work in policy, programmes and projects. The upcoming webinar on 24 June is the first event of a one-year-long action plan to stimulate action around SDGs. The action plan will end with a two-day conference in June 2021. In doing so, AER is partnering up with other organisations and institutions to unite our actions and reach as many stakeholders as possible.

Now More Than Ever is the time to act, to rethink and to rebuild together.

→ link to event page

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