SDG Accelerator DIALOGUES

The SDG Accelerator runs and participates in events which facilitate dialogue between scholars and practitioners, disseminate research findings and promote and support academic collaborations.

Climate, health and sustainability goals at the municipal level TBC June 2024: This event is the second in a series of events discussing the synergies and tensions between climate, health and sustainability goals in the city. This time it will focus on the local government level in London. Speakers will reflect on the benefits and trade-offs of aligning climate and health goals at the municipal level, and how relevant policy goals not only can contradict or compete against each when pursued individually, but also undermine other policy and/or wider sustainability goals such as equality, justice and prosperity for all. This event is open to the public.

UNEP 7th Global Environment Outlook (GEO7) Authors Meeting 15-19 January 2024: Professor Catalina Turcu will attend the second UNEP GEO7 Authors Meeting in Vienna. The Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) is a series of reports that review the state and direction of the global environment. It is a global process conducted by UNEP at regional, national, and local levels around the world. The process provides an assessment of the current state of the environment, an evaluation of the effectiveness of policies and actions taken to address environmental issues, and projections of future environmental trends. Professor Catalina Turcu currently coordinates work on the GEO7 Assessment, due to be published in 2026.

Past events

2023

	A North-South conversation on the implementation of SDG goals and targets at the local level 23 November 2023: In this public dialogue Professor Adriana Allen (UCL, DPU) and Professor Catalina Turcu (UCL Partlett Planning) draw on own research and discuss the challenges and opportunities of sustainable urban transformations (SDG11 targets) for local communities in the Global South and Global North, respectively. They reflect on lessons learned in each context, commonalities and differences, and what a post-SDG framewok may look like. This event is open to the public.
	Strategic outlook into EU’s 2024-2029 policy priorities 12 October 2023: High-level workshop in Brussels to explore alternative future scenarios and pathways for EU's environmental and sustainability-centred policies in the 2024-2029 policy cycle. The outcomes of the workshop will contribute to a dedicated strategic foresight report on the opportunities and challenges for achieving the EU long-term vision of ‘living well within the limits of the planet’ and on what short-term steps need to be taken in the next five years in this regard. This report is due to be published in early 2024 in the run-up to the EEA’s flagship State and Outlook of the European Environment Report 2025.
	Fostering open policy discussion on climate and health 3 October 2023: Roundtable organised by UCL Public Policy and funded by the Wellcome Policy Lab, testing creative approaches to policy development. The roundtable brings together local government policy makers and academics from UCL to establish shared priorities and conflicts in climate change and health policy, and to identify how these priorities can be supported by new and existing evidence and research approaches.
	Determinants of spatial and social inequalities in Stockholm and London Photo: UNSPLASH/ Adam Gavlak 5-6 September 2023: A two-day research workshop in Stockholm looking at similarities and differences in experiencing spatial and social disparities in Stockholm and London in relation to 1. sustainable transportation; and 2. Climate mitigation and adaptation plans in the two cities. Organised by KTH Royal Institute of Technology with Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute.

2022

Coming soon

2021

Horizon Europe Coordinators Workshop 1 November 2021: The Cities Partnerships Programme convened a Horizon Europe Coordinators’ Workshop, which included two half-days of training and capacity building sessions with the Stockholm Trio and UCL. The workshop’s aim was twofold: to support Principal Investigators and their teams to apply for Horizon Europe funding; and to encourage future British-Swedish collaborations.

Cities Partnerships Programme (Stockholm) Summit and Horizon Europe launch  21 June 2021: UCL, Karolinska Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University met for the Cities Partnerships Programme (Stockholm) Research and Innovation Summit, as well as to discuss Horizon Europe, the new European programme for research funding. Watch the videos from the event here.