ABOUT
In 2019, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens (BKMC) launched a project in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Chancellery to promote the SDGs in Austria. The objective of the project is to improve SDG implementation efforts in Austria and subsequently improve the ranking of Austria in international SDG indexes.
Over the course of 2019, the BKMC organized multi-stakeholder consultations while working on a set of concrete recommendations for the Austrian government. By the end of 2019, the BKMC had produced a recommendation paper distilling 14 recommendations for Austria and the improvement of SDG implementation. The paper was issued to the coalition government negotiators in Fall 2019 to find reflection in the overall governmental coalition agreement. At the beginning of the cooperation with the BKMC, Austria was still ranked 9th in the overall index; it now ranks 5th.
ACTIVITIES
2. SDG Dialogforum Austria
On October 6th and 7th, 2022 the Austrian Federal Government, SDG Watch Austria and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens convened the 2. SDG Dialogforum Austria to discuss current opportunities and prospects for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The two-day forum featured multistakeholder discussions in various formats aiming to accelerate the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ban Ki-moon Centre co-organized a HLPF high-level side event “Linking SDG 16 & SDG 5 in a time of crisis – Women in Peacebuilding & Justice”
At the HLPF 2022, the Republic of Austria and the Hashemite Kingdome of Jordan in cooperation with UN-Women, SDG Watch Europe, and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens hosted a multistakeholder-discussion on how peacebuilding efforts including the concept of environmental peace-building, strengthening the rule of law, equal participation, and stopping violence against women are essential components to the work on linking SDG 16 and SDG 5.
SDG Dialogforum Austria “Building forward better with Agenda 2030”
On 28 September 2021, the first-ever “SDG Dialogforum Österreich” took place in a hybrid format at the Natural History Museum of Vienna.
To curate ideas, solutions, and concrete questions for decision-makers, the forum began with four separate breakout sessions or so-called “Innovation Pools” on the main themes of Austria’s Voluntary National Review (VNR), which was presented to the United Nations in July 2019:
- Digitalization
- Climate mitigation and adaptation
- Women, Youth and Leaving no one behind
- Austria in a global context
High Level Advising For The Sdgs
The BKMC coordinated a high-level SDG retreat at the margins of European Forum Alpbach 2019. The retreat gathered high-level Austrian stakeholders at the governmental level along with international experts and youth representatives for an exchange of ideas and recommendations with reference to the main themes for Austria’s upcoming Voluntary National Review (VNR): Women/Youth/leaving no one behind, Climate Change and Digitalization.
Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
Over the course of 2019, the BKMC worked with the Austrian Federal Chancellery to conduct a multi-stakeholder process for the SDGs, including a brainstorming workshop in preparation for the high-level retreat at European Forum Alpbach and several meetings with NGOs, CSOs, the private sector and Austrian ministries where inputs could be gathered.
High Level Sessions
The BKMC organized a Breakout Session at European Forum Alpbach featuring both Co-chairs of the Centre, H.E. Ban Ki-moon and H.E. Heinz Fischer, as well as the Austrian Federal Chancellor and Minister for Sustainability and Tourism and international experts on the SDGs. The session was open to all attendees of the forum and featured an interactive component to engage audience members, many of which were young scholarship holders at the forum.
