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Final Agenda for "SDGeneration: A Citizen Science Movement" - joint conference from IGP and LIDC

13 February 2019, 9:30 am–5:00 pm

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We have finalised the agenda for this flagship event from the Institute for Global Prosperity and London International Development Centre, exploring the support needed in order to achieve the SDGs, and the contribution citizen-science can make towards their evaluation. We welcome keynotes from Dr David Nabarro, Professor and Chair of Global Health, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College and Former Adviser to the UN, and Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Professor of Resilience and Sustainable Development, and former Chief Scientist and Director of the Science Division of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi.

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

Annelise Andersen

Location

Amnesty International Offices
25 New Inn Yard
London
EC2A 3EA

The Conference

The Institute for Global Prosperity and London International Development Centre are organising the conference "SDGeneration: A Citizen Science Movement" on 13th February 2019, 09:30 - 17:00, at the Amnesty International Offices in East London. 

This flagship event will explore the support needed in order to achieve the SDGs, and the contribution citizen-science can make towards their evaluation.

We will bring together 100 university students, academics, businesses and wider civil society for a day-long event of expert panel discussions and interactive working groups, as well as arts events including a poetry performance from IGP poet-in-residence Cameron Holleran, photography exhibition from Lensational, a global social enterprise committed to sharing women's stories through the transformative power of photography and videography, and jazz recital from researcher and singer Corina Kwami. 

Aims

1. Explore how universities and global youth movements can connect and engage students and communities to deliver on the SDGs

2. Explore a citizen-science approach to implementing and monitoring progress on the SDGs

3. Explore the role of philanthropy, policy and finance in delivering on the SDGs

TimeActivityLocation
09:30 - 09:45RegistrationAtrium
09:45 - 10:00

Welcome by Professor Claire Heffernan, Director of the London International Development Centre

Auditorium
10:00 - 10:15Introduction from Professor Henrietta L. Moore, Founder and Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity, UCLAuditorium
10:15

Seize the Present, poetry performance from IGP Poet-in-Residence Cameron Holleran

Auditorium
10:15 - 10:30Keynote from Dr David Nabarro, Professor and Chair of Global Health, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial CollegeAuditorium
10:30 - 10:45

Break

Photography Exhibition: Empowering Women Through Photography, Lensational

Atrium/Auditorium
10:45 - 11:45

High-level Morning Panel Session: Ecosystems of Support for the SDGs

Dr Joanna Newman - Chief Executive and Secretary General, Association of Commonwealth Universities 

Ms. Rachel Stephenson-Sheff - Philanthropy and Fundraising Advisor, Lightful, I.G. Advisors

Mr Dave Hughes - Global Head of Technology Scouting, Syngenta

Ms. Olivia Sibony - Head of Impsct Crowdfunding, SeedTribte

Ms. Leanne Armitage - UK Queen's Young Leader, Founder and CEO of the Armitage Foundation, Medical Student

Auditorium
11:45 - 12:00Presentations: Innovations for the SDGsAuditorium
12:00 - 12:30Tales of jazz performers in civic duty - jazz performance from researcher and singer Corina KwamiAuditorium
12:30 - 13:30

Lunch

Presentation: Empowering Youth Towards the SDGs - voices from Commonwealth Scholars

Atrium/Auditorium
13:30 - 13:45Keynote: Regenerating the Planet, Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Professor of Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity, Institute for Global Prosperity Auditorium
13:45 - 14:45

High-level Afternoon Panel Session: Citizen-science Action on the SDGs

Dr Enass Abo-Hamed - CEO at H2GO Power and Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow

Dr Adam Kucharski - Associate Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Dr Brooke Simmons - Galaxy Zoo Project Scientist, University of Oxford

Professor Muki Haklay - Professor of GIScience, Extreme Citizen Science, Department of Geography, UCL

Auditorium
14:45 - 15:00BreakAtrium
15:00 - 16:00

Workshops

The Role of Research and Higher Education in Monitoring the SDGs - Dr Marta Tufet, Executive Director of the UK Collaborative on Development Research

Identifying Indicators Across the Mission-Critical SDGs - Yi Jun Mock, Project Lead, Arifa Mujahid, Project Office, SDSN Youth

The World Food Programme and the SDGs - Kathryn Ogden, Nutrition-sensitive Programme Officer

The Commonwealth and the SDGs: Experiences from a Commonwealth Scholar - TBC

 

 

Action Room 2

 

 

Conference Room

 

Auditorium

 

Garfield Weston Action Room

 

16:00 - 16:10Workshop FeedbackAuditorium
16:10 - 16:25Conference ObservationAuditorium
16:15 - 17:00RefreshmentsAtrium

About

Sustainable Development is an intergenerational challenge that requires urgent and sustained action in order to ensure the whole of humanity can flourish within the means of the planet. Yet the public, and particularly its younger members, have largely been disengaged in the delivery and monitoring of sustainable development. This is a missed opportuntity, as global development challenges require the energy and support of every country, and people of all ages. As the leaders of tomorrow, the youth are a largely untapped resource that can help us progress on sustainable development. 

The London International Development Centre (LIDC) and the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP), UCL, propose that universities and their communities, both in the global north and south, can empower young people to take action on the SDGs. We believe that universities across the world play a crucial role in efforts towards delivering and monitoring these global goals. 

Combining academic expertise with a global community of students has a number of advantages. Universities are active stakeholders that are highly engaged in sustaining the long-term prosperity of their local communities and beyond. They also have, or are part of, established networks that enable resources and activities to be shared within and beyond their student populations. The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) are great examples of this. Additionally, by engaging young people in action on the SDGs, universities can simultaneously provide faculties through which to monitor real-time progress on sustainable development. 

Efforts are already being made by the UN to connect young people's views directly to the sustainable development agenda. The UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth, UN Youth Assembly, the UN Major Group on Children and Youth and UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Youth Initiative (SDSN) are examples of this. In addition, there are some compelling examples of youth-oriented and youth-led platforms that are already tracking and achieving the SDGs (see Youth Action Mapper, Youth-led Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals). 

LIDC and the IGP propose it is time to galvanise the energy of youth movements into action on the ground. Connecting communities to academic expertise and a global network of students has a number of advantages in achieving and monitoring the SDGs. Students can help co-create pathways to prosperity, share knowledge, and forge lasting connections between youth and community action.

In this conference, we will explore the feasibility of universities as progressive institutions to create enabling environments for sustainable development, and to build the capacity of the young, and the communities to which they belong, towards achieving the SDGs.