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Assembly of European Regions

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You are here: Home / Archives for Event 2020 SDG Conf

Localising Agenda 2030: how regions can help meet the SDGs

30 June, 2020 By Justine Lambert

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.

Funding is not the only thing that's important. Wallis Goelen-Vandebrock @euinmyregion emphasises the importance of capacity-building and using place-based strategies, something that will be front and centre in new @EU_Commission priorities. #FoEdebate pic.twitter.com/eKvD78H6c6

— AER (@europeanregions) June 24, 2020

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.

Our SG @MoriMathieu explains why AER kicked off this conversation.

Much of the work done so far on SDGs & #localisation has been done at city level 🏙️
Through this dialogue and our Taskforce, we want to empower 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 to take action & achieve #Agenda2030 #FoEdebate pic.twitter.com/CbIa0PPKRO

— AER (@europeanregions) June 24, 2020

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COVID-19: A Global Crisis That Requires a Collective Response

1 April, 2020 By Editor

A message from the AER President, Magnus Berntsson on COVID-19 and AER’s current and future work.

The Assembly of European Regions and its members are acutely aware of how the current pandemic, the coronavirus, is affecting all members of society, not just in Europe but around the globe.

Regional and local leaders are at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic – engaging with communities to avoid the spread and coordinating health and other essential services to look after those who become infected.

Although this virus is a new challenge for European regions, there are some lessons we can take from previous crises. It is only through cooperation that we can successfully battle this virus and deal with its long-term societal and economic effects. Nationalist and protectionist strategies will not succeed against an ‘enemy’ that does not respect borders. Coordination, cooperation, sharing of best practices and solidarity are needed now more than ever.

As we look around the regions most affected by the virus, we see acts of kindness, communities coming together, workers providing essential services, keeping our societies and economy going.

The virus does not discriminate based on skin colour, citizenship, level of education, or income. As it progresses, we are learning, too, that it does not discriminate based on age, either. Those of us who can work from home should do so, grateful in the knowledge that we are safe and we are keeping other people safe.

The AER Political Priorities include a pillar on “Fostering a society that is based on the promotion and protection of equality.” Now more than ever, it is important that we bear in mind the importance of fostering a society of equals.

As we work with the Intercultural Regions Network, we are reminded of the struggles of newcomers to our regions, particularly in challenging times such as these. Regions are working hard to make informative resources available to new communities in a wide range of languages as this is crucial for safeguarding the health of all members of society.

The current crisis will most probably also have an impact on the environmental and sustainable agenda. This crisis shows us more than ever that we must act globally on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

It is disappointing that we must to postpone the AER event dedicated to the SDGs, whose aim was to launch a regional roadmap on localising the SDGs. The many event partners and AER are adamant that this postponement will not mean putting our work on sustainability on hold. Activities will carry on and will be shared shortly.

In the meantime, AER has contributed to the Local Authorities Major Group 2020 position paper to prepare for the UN High-Level Political Forum. You are warmly invited to follow the AER’s work on the SDGs on our dedicated platform: Regions2030.com

Through our European projects, such as Includ-EU on regional and local expertise, exchange and engagement for enhanced social cohesion in Europe and the SCIROCCO Exchange project on Integrated Care, our members and the secretariat are continuing their everyday work in these areas and playing their part in responding to the public health crisis and its societal implications.

AER is a network for interregional cooperation. COVID-19 has shown that coordination and cooperation between regions are more relevant than ever.

As a member-led organisation, we are open to hearing your suggestions & inputs for how we can help you to respond to the crisis, by facilitating mutual learning, the sharing of best practices or spreading the word about EU-related funding opportunities.

Do not hesitate to get in touch with us via the link below.


CONTACT US

AER COVID-19 Hub

AER Secretariat Contact Info

EUROPEAN WEB SITE ON INTEGRATION: COVID-19’s impact on migrant communities

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

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Quality Education – Why It Matters?

11 March, 2020 By Justine Lambert

This article was first published on Regions2030.com

It is no secret for anyone, education is the key to freedom and success. Basic education, which ranges from early childhood education to primary and secondary education, paves the way for a child’s future life. Indeed, people with a low(er) level of education are more likely to live in poverty as there is a greater possibility they will struggle on the labour market. SDG 4, Quality Education, therefore aims at including all girls and boys to have access to basic education but also for them to be able to complete their schooling. SDG 4 also focuses on tertiary education, as people with a higher education degree have a greater chance to be employed, and adult education which is crucial to remain entirely up to date and included in all aspects of society.

Education and training is one of the eleven priorities for Cohesion Policy in 2014-2020. Two funds set by the EU, the ESF (European Social Fund) and the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), support the development of the Education Sector in relation with SDG 4 namely modernising education and training systems, reducing early school leaving, promoting better access to quality education and strengthening vocational education and training systems as mentioned on the European Commission’s website.

However, some efforts have also been made on a more regional level. Indeed, with the participation of several regional authorities, the project JET-CD has seen the light. The project aimed to combat dropout as early school leaving (ESL) is a recurrent problem in Europe. It partnered with the Erasmus programme to achieve their objectives. The project lasted from September 2014 until August 2016. The project developed practices to avoid dropout, along with a network of actors and stakeholders in each region. It also contributed to policy developments in the regions through sharing knowledge and competences.

AER makes another tangible contribution to the SDG 4 targets through its flagship youth mobility programme: Eurodyssey. The programme launched in 1985 by AER member regions is aimed to improve the chances of young Europeans aged between 18 and 30, unemployed or recently qualified, to integrate into working life by offering them the opportunity of a work experience abroad. So far, 10 000 young people have benefited from a Eurodyssey work placement.

Regions can thus have a consequent impact in improving the level of education and accompanying young graduates in their early career and it is therefore primordial to keep developing the connections among them and give them the necessary tools to enable them to tackle issues such as unemployment and dropout.


Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

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