The two-day European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) conference “European Recovery and Resilience Mechanisms – Challenges in systemic approaches in Sustainable Development” concluded on Wednesday 1 December. The conference, co-organised by ESDN, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia and the SLOGA platform, was held as an official event of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. More than 80 experts from research, the public sector and NGOs from across the European Union took part in the conference.
The ESDN Conference 2021 provided an opportunity to present and discuss our efforts to strengthen mechanisms and solutions for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the efforts of civil society in the context of the international Bridge 47 network on Global Learning or Transformative Education for Sustainable Development to a wider professional audience.
In the area of PCSD, the joint discussion highlighted, inter alia, the importance of the ESDN network’s cooperation with the Courts of Auditors across countries. As a result of the discussion, a recommendation was made to the ESDN to dedicate one of the future thematic meetings to the organisation of a meeting between the Network, the European Court of Auditors and other actors involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the European Union and its Member States.
The debate on global learning confirmed the need for a holistic approach in the design and implementation of educational activities. The answer lies in transformative education that teaches and supports interconnection for active citizenship, taking into account the 2030 Agenda principle of leaving no one behind or, to put it positively, of involving everyone in implementing sustainable practices and finding sustainable solutions. In particular, the need for a greater presence of intergenerational and cross-sectoral networking was highlighted.
The debate in other areas was also very rich and we invite you to watch the recording of the conference which will be available on the ESDN website.