National level exchange and capacity building workshop for cross-sectoral coalition building

October 8th 2018, Vienna, Austria

Time: 10:30-17:45

Are you working in a European country on the implementation of the SDGs? Are you looking for inspiration on advocacy, awareness raising and networking along the SDGs? Do you want to meet colleagues from Europe that work on sustainable development?

Then this is the workshop for you.

In a day-long session, European CSOs will come together for an to discuss strategies and best practice examples linked to SDG monitoring and implementation. With showcases from different countries and lots of room for exchange and mutual learning, we want to strengthen our collective work around the SDGs in order to make them a progressive agenda for all.

Please register here to attend the event by 30 September..

Looking forward to meeting you!

SDG Watch Europe Steering Group

SDG Watch Europe will be able to cover travel costs for some participants. Please contact us with a short explanatory statement for need of funding. In case of a large number of applicants the Steering Group will decide on funding based on geographic, sectoral and gender balance.

Programme

10:30-11:00

Welcome and Introduction

11:00-12:30

Workshop 1: Collective SDG Work – Open Partners Exchange

Since the adoption of the SDGs, new ways have been established by CSOs to work together on the many issues of the agenda and to increase political pressure. Different kinds of networks, coalitions or institutionalized platforms have been established dealing with very different political backgrounds. The workshop will focus on an open exchange of common practices and in inspirations.

In this session we want to discuss:

- What are good and bad experiences of these (new) CSO cooperation on the SDGs?

- What are necessary structures, what are different approaches?

- How far are the alliances beneficial to develop the capacity of the members and facilitate useful exchange?

- Are they actually helping to leverage the work of CSOs and realize the SDGs?

- Who is missing from these alliances and why?

Open discussion in World Café

12:30-13:30

Lunch Break

13:30-15:00

Workshop 2: Advocacy: Bringing the SDGs to the Parliament

As an intergovernmental agenda, the main responsibility of implementing the SDGs lies with the governments. In many cases, parliaments are insufficiently involved in the SDG processes and can thus not realize their checks-and-balances role. Keeping in mind the speedy work process in the parliaments and short-term political challenges, what is the relevance of the SDGs for the day-to-day life of parliamentarians? And what kind of advocacy and training structures are useful to get them more engaged?

In this session we want to discuss:

- What are good and bad experiences of strategies to include the SDGs in parliamentarian processes? How to start and keep them onboard?

- What is the role of CSOs in these processes? What is meaningful participation, a critical monitoring, legitimate opposition?

- How to deal with conservative parliaments?

Input from different national contexts

Discussion and break out session

15:00-15:30

Coffee Break

15:30-17:30

Workshop 3: Rethinking SDG Awareness Raising

Power to the people – this idea can be applied to the SDGs as well. Why make the SDGs a top-down PR process if you can tap into the potential of telling stories close to people’s hearts? In this workshop we want to discuss examples on how to raise awareness on the SDGs in a way that motivates and leads to political engagement, without patronizing people. What are good strategies to reach people and overcome the gap between knowing and doing?

In this session we want to discuss:

- What are innovative ways of communicating the SDGs?

- What are ways to link the SDG to topics that are relevant for the public and create political pressure?

- What is the role CSOs in communicating the SDGs – keeping in mind the agenda’s flaws and unambitious parts as well as its watch dog role concerning political processes?

Input from different national contexts

Discussion and break out session

17:30-17:45

Closing

This event is organized with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents are the sole responsibility of ‘Make Europe Sustainable For All’ project and can under no circumstances be taken as reflecting the position of the European Union.