Programme

Monday May 30th - Afternoon Program

Venue: EESC, Rue Belliard 99
  • 12.00 - 12.30 Registration and fingerfood
  • 12.30 - 12.35 Welcome by Georges Dassis, President of the EESC
  • 12.35 - 12.45 Opening by Chair, Karl Falkenberg, Hors Classe Senior Adviser EPSC
  • 12.45 - 13.15 The SDGs as a European agenda - Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission (10 min). - Followed by plenary dialogue
  • 13.15 - 13.45 SDGs: what’s in it for Europe - Paul Polman, CEO Unilever, will give his view from a global perspective. - Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation - Followed by plenary dialogue
  • 13.45 - 14.15 Knowledge as driver for SDG transformation process - The case of the energy transformation in Europe - Laurence Tubiana, Climate Ambassador France (10 min) - Jeffrey Sachs, Director SDSN (10 min) - Followed by 10 min. plenary dialogue
  • 14.15 - 14.45 Break
  • 14.45 - 15.30 SDGs as a business case - Atzo Nicolai, CEO DSM Netherlands (10 min) - Thomas Leysen, President KBC-Group, President Umicore ( 10 min, tbc) - International Pension Fund (10 min, tbc) - Followed by 15 min. plenary dialogue
  • 15.30 - 16.15 SDGs as an impact driver for change - Seamus Jeffreson, Director of Concord (10 min) - Jeremy Wates, Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau (10 min) - Rudy De Leeuw, President of European Trade Union Confederation ( 10 min) - Followed by 15 min. plenary dialogue
  • 16.15 - 16.45 Break
  • 16.45 - 17.45 Bottom-up multi-stakeholder SDG initiatives - SDG Charter (Herman Mulder, Dutch SDG Charter) (10 min) - European SDSNs (Adolf Kloke-Lesch, SDSN, Angelo Riccaboni, SDSN (10 min) - German Council on Sustainable Development (Walter Hirche, Council Member) (10 min) - Sustainable Development Observatory, EESC (Brenda King, President) (10 min) - Followed by 2 min pop ups by participants (10 min)
  • 17.45 - 18.00 Closing afternoon session and announcements by Chair about rest of program Monday May 30th - Evening Program Venue: EESC, Rue Belliard 99, Atrium 6th floor
  • 18.00 - 18.45 Networking with drinks 1
  • 18.45 - 21.30 Dinner Guests will join multi-stakeholder tables to address four questions during an informal dinner
    • Where would MSA be helpful?
    • What is required for its success?
    • What could we/I do to start?
    • Which actions and messages do we propose?

The dinner will end with a forum discussion on proposed actions (30 min)

Tuesday May 31st - Morning Program

Venue: Van Maerlant Building (Rue Van Maerlant@Rue Belliard)
  • 09.00 - 09.20 Sharing results from yesterday's dinner (by Chair)
  • 09.20 - 09.30 Break (and moving to workshop rooms)
  • 09.30 - 11.45 Parallel workshops in MSA setting (Chatham House Rule)

1. Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (hosted by SDSN)

2. Sustainable Value Chains: Sector agreements on international responsible business conduct (hosted by tbc)

3. Implementing the Paris Agreement: An Energy Transformation for Europe (hosted by SDSN)

4. Implementing the Urban SDGs (hosted by SDSN)

5. Sustainable Societies: How will SDGs contribute to fighting poverty and reducing inequality? (hosted by EESC with Solidar and World Vision)

6. Innovative Finance for Realising SDGs: The Role of Financial Institutions, Governments and Philanthropic Organisations (hosted by Dutch SDG Charter)

7. Exploring a European SDG Charter: Partnership for Multi-stakeholder SDG Initiatives (hosted by Dutch SDG Charter)

8. Developing a Long-Term European Narrative for Sustainable Development: What Should Europe Look Like in 2050? (hosted by SDSN)

 

Each Working Group will tackle concrete thematic issues and explore 3 challenging questions for their area of activity:

  • What needs to be done and what should be Europe’s role?
  • How could a MSA be helpful and what would be required or this?
  • What can this conference do to set this forward?

 

  • 11.45 - 12.00 Break (and moving to plenary)
  • 12.00 - 13.00 Closing session 
  • 13.00 - 14.00 Sandwiches