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.

What has happened?

SDG Dialogforum 3.0

Where does Austria stand in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and which successes or challenges have shaped the years 2020 – 2023? Which strategies and solutions can advance the SDGs in Austria and globally? On October 3rd, 5th, 11th and 12th, 2023, the Austrian Federal Government, SDG Watch Austria and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens are once again invited representatives from politics, administration, science, business, and civil society to discuss the 2030 Agenda in Austria in a variety of dialog formats in the fall of 2023.

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Austria’s Commitment to the 2030 Agenda

On the margins of the UN High-Level Political Forum 2023, we are very proud to have launched the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens publication “Austria’s Commitment to the 2030 Agenda”. Since 2018 we have been closely collaborating with the Federal Chancellery to advance SDG implementation in and by Austria. Check out milestone activities, good practice examples, and initiatives of SDG implementation in Austria between 2019 to 2023.

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Read the German version

SDG dialogforum Austria 2022

On October 6th and 7th, 2022, the Austrian Federal Government, SDG Watch Austria and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens convened the SDG Dialogforum Austria 2022 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 SDGs.

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High Level Political Forum Side Event

At the HLPF 2022, together with the Republic of Austria, the Hashemite Kingdome of Jordan and in cooperation with UN-Women, SDG Watch Europe, we hosted the side event “Linking SDG 16 & SDG 5 in a time of crisis – Women in Peacebuilding & Justice”. It was a multistakeholder-discussion on peacebuilding efforts including environmental peace-building, strengthening the rule of law, equal participation, and stopping violence against women.

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SDG Dialogforum Austria 2021

On 28 September 2021, the first-ever SDG Dialogforum 2021 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 followed by an open discussion on these topics by the Ministries invited.

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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.

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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.

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Peer learning and best practices

In order to facilitate peer-to-peer exchange, the BKMC organized an event in cooperation with the Swedish Permanent Mission in Vienna featuring best practice examples for the SDGs in Europe with speakers from both the governmental level and the private sector. The Centre also hosted a peer-learning round table on the topic of SDG implementation and reporting to the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which featured interventions from government representatives from the Netherlands, Finland, Slovakia, and Estonia.

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Our partners

Austria is committed to implementing the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and presented its first Voluntary National Report on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals/SDGs (FNU) at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on July 15, 2020.

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SDG Watch Austria is a broad, cross-sectorial network of more than 215 civil society and non-profit organisations working in alliance with the private and academic sector. Together, we work for an ambitious implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Austria.

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ÖKOBÜRO is the Alliance of the Austrian Environmental Movement. It consists of 20 Austrian organizations engaged in environmental, nature, and animal protection like GLOBAL 2000 (Friends of the Earth Austria), FOUR PAWS, BirdLife Austria and WWF Austria. ÖKOBÜRO works politically and legally for environmental protection and the alliance of the environmental movement. We provide our members and other environmental practitioners with our expertise in environmental law, public participation and in solving political problems.

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Combating poverty, ensuring peace and preserving the environment: These are the three major concerns of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation. ADA currently funds projects and programmes with a total volume of more than 640 million euros to improve living conditions in developing countries. Together with the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (MFA), partner countries, public institutions, civil society organisations and businesses, ADA seeks to ensure that sustainable development works to the benefit of all people in Africa, Asia, Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus. ADA staff on the ground in 25 local offices (14 of them are project offices) make sure that ADA operations are in line both with national development goals and the needs of the local population, and that the funds are put to the best possible use.

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