Plenary programme SDG 2018
From a global perspective, the conference addresses Norwegian universities and their role in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, officially known as 鈥淭ransforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development鈥�.
Main content
The University of Bergen (UiB) is organising a major conference on the role of Norwegian universities and their international networks听in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The ambition is to engage Norway鈥檚 research and higher education communities, politicians, government officials, NGOs, and business sector in a collective effort to take responsibility for the implementation of the SDGs. The objective is to discuss how universities can carry out research to inform the implementation of the goals, and to explore transformations of higher education to meet the needs of future generations.
In this conference, we will discuss what actions universities can take to reach the SDGs: How do the SDGs call for the transformation of research and research dissemination?听How do we transform our higher education institutions in line with these goals?
Five听plenary panels and several parallel workshops with researchers, politicians, UN officials, representatives of civil society and the business sector, will illuminate opportunities for innovation in research practice, collaboration, and the design of higher education curricula.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018
Morning coffee and registration
09:00 鈥� 10:00
Conference opening
10:00 鈥� 10:30
Professor Dag Rune Olsen, Rector, University of Bergen.
Minister of Research and听Higher Education听,听Government of Norway.
Professor Annelin Eriksen, Vice-Rector for Global Relations, University of Bergen.
Panel 1: Universities and the role of knowledge in shaping and implementing the SDGs
10:30 鈥� 12:00
Professor of Biological Oceanography, University of Copenhagen, and听member of the group of eminent scientists and experts who will prepare the听UN听Global Sustainable Development Report.
Chief, Policy and Analysis Branch, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations听Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA).
Project Manager, SDSN Northern Europe, Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV), Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Dr. Tore Furevik
Professor, Geophysical Institute, and Director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen (UiB).
Moderator: Professor Inga Berre, Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen (UiB).
In his letter of May 2017 to Leaders of Universities and other higher education institutions around the World, then President of the United Nations General Assembly, Peter Thomson, emphasized the importance of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs: 鈥淭heir universality, their integrated nature, and most importantly, the logic behind them鈥�. His request was to 鈥渕ake these goals an integral part of research, teaching and study鈥�. The 17 SDGs and how they interact as a whole ask for a new kind of knowledge. Interlinking the goals challenges established disciplinary borders, and opens avenues for creative and innovative听interdisciplinary cooperation. How should universities use and channel research and education for best to promote relevant knowledge in approaching and implementing the SDGs?
Lunch
12:00 鈥� 13:00
Panel 2: The social, economic and ecological dimensions of development and their relevance for听the SDGs
13:00 鈥� 14:30
Secretary-General,听United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Coordinator, Institute for Sustainable Development, University of the West Indies, and听member of the group of eminent scientists and experts to听prepare the United Nations听Global Sustainable Development Report.
Senior Research Coordinator, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).
Associate Professor, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Dr. Peter M. Haugan
Professor, Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen (UiB), and听Chair of UNESCO's听Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).
Moderator: Professor Amund Maage, Marine Director, University of Bergen (UiB).
An UNRISD report from 2016 concluded that 鈥渂y bringing together the social, economic and ecological dimensions of development, the 2030 Agenda seeks to lay the foundation for a new twenty-first century compact, one that overcomes the mid-twentieth century arrangement that guided development theory鈥�. How is this 鈥渘ew compact鈥� to be developed? To what degree will environmentally friendly technology also lead to less inequality, more jobs, and redistribution of wealth and to a separation from energy growth? How can universities, shaped by disciplines, develop new interconnections among disparate fields of knowledge towards the transformations needed for this new compact?
Coffee break
14:30 鈥� 14:45
Panel 3: Transformation from within:听creating SDG-reformed universities
14:45 鈥� 16:15
Professor and former听Rector, Gothenburg University, and Chair of International Association of Universities (IAU).
Senior Academic Librarian,听University of Oslo (UiO).
International Secretary for global activities at Unio (Confederation of Unions for Professionals), Norway.
Associate Professor and UNESCO Chair for Education about Sustainable Lifestyles,听Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Professor and Principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences,听Makerere University, Uganda.
Moderator: Mr. Jakob Grandin, PhD candidate, Department of Geography, University of Bergen (UiB).
Many universities are transforming themselves to accommodate the SDGs as part of their education and research, be it through curriculum changes, revision of learning outcomes, or through the ways disciplines and faculties connect to promote new shared understandings of how the SDGs are linked. Universities have a unique position for mediating knowledge to society as a whole, from the educational system, via state governance and to the general public. How do we best educate students for the jobs of the future 鈥� for professions that naturally integrate the universal scope of the SDGs in their operations? Can this be achieved without first using our own knowledge on ourselves, in terms of becoming role models for general employee behaviour, energy use, and procurement, and in terms of how we interact with other universities, in research networks and a diversity of partners across borders?
Parallel workshops
16:30听鈥� 18:00
Conference dinner
19:30
The conference dinner is at Sch酶tstuene, 脴vregaten 50, 5003 Bergen.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2018
Morning coffee
08:30 鈥� 09:00
Prime minister , Government of Norway
09:00听鈥� 09:30
Commentary by:
Rector, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Coffee break
09:30 鈥� 09:45
Panel 4: Knowledge and politics: the science-policy interface
09:45 鈥� 11:15
Professor of Physiology,听University of Sydney, and听Chief Executive of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).
Professor, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo (UiO).
Professor of Industrial Ecology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology听(NTNU), and Acting Director of NTNU Sustainability.
Secretary-General and Executive Director, International Association of Universities (IAU).
Managing Director, Sanitation Africa, and听one of the 17 Young Leaders for the United Nations听Sustainable Development Goals, working with the Office of the United Nations Secretary General鈥檚 Envoy on Youth.
Moderator: Associate Professor听Kikki Kleiven, Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen (UiB).
The design and agreement by the United Nations on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals was an intense process involving delegations, politicians, civil society and scientific experts. The global academic community and its networks engaged in both advising and informing politics and in acting politically on behalf of knowledge. The United Nations 2015 Global Sustainable Development Report noted that more than 500 independent scientists, as well as experts from a number of UN agencies and affiliated organisations from all over the globe, contributed to the report鈥檚 debates on the science-policy interface. How can universities as a global network contribute with, and engage knowledge in interaction with, politics in the implementation of the SDGs?
Coffee break
11:15听鈥� 11:30
Minister of International Development , Government of Norway
11:30 鈥� 12:00
Question by a student from the student meeting organised by the Executive Committee of the Student Parliament at the University of Bergen.
Lunch
12:00 鈥� 12:30
Parallel workshops
12:30听鈥� 14:00
Coffee break
14:00 鈥� 14:15
Special event on SDG14:听Universities and the Future of the Ocean
14:15 鈥� 14:45
United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for听the Ocean.听(Video address)
Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability, DNV GL Group.
Dr. Peter M. Haugan
Professor, Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen (UiB), and听Chair of UNESCO's听Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).
In June 2017, the United Nations highlighted SDG14 and the special role of the ocean in Agenda 2030 by hosting a large in New York. The conference produced a call for action and more than 1400 voluntary commitments were made by governments, industry, NGOs and academia. Subsequently Ambassador Peter Thomson was appointed as UN Special Envoy for the Ocean. In December 2017 the UN proclaimed 2021-2030 as the International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. With Norway鈥檚 strong focus on ocean related business and the global emphasis on ocean science to support sustainable development, this setting offers a splendid opportunity for universities to contribute to achieve the ocean we need for the future we want. How should we do that? How can we work with industry? And can work with the ocean and SDG14 lead the way for how to deal with other parts of the sustainable development agenda?
Panel 5:听The way forward for the SDGs: How can universities make a difference?
14:45听鈥� 16:15
Dr. Dag Rune Olsen
Rector, University of Bergen (UiB).
Vice-Rector, University of Oslo (UiO).
Chief Executive, The Research Council of Norway.
Director General of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
Executive Director,听The Norwegian ForUM for Development and Environment.
Adviser, United Nations Association of Norway.
MA听student, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (UiB).
Moderator: Professor Edvard Hviding, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen (UiB).
Universities need to reform themselves as organisations, as teaching institutions, and in their research profiles. Universities need to give advice on difficult issues and take on academic controversies about how the SDGs can best be realised. Ideally, universities should contribute to the transformative shift by being a societal actor volunteering the 鈥渂est argument鈥�. How can, and should, universities build and give advice to the UN, the EU, other regional organisations, and national governments striving to implement the SDGs? How do we reform curricula to ensure that students are graduating from our institutions with the necessary SDG credentials?
Closing
16:15听鈥� 16:30
Professor Annelin Eriksen, Vice-Rector for Global Relations, University of Bergen (UiB).
