Austria's Commitment to the 2030 Agenda

ACTIVE ON
EUROPEAN LEVEL
16th December 2019: Peer Learning Roundtable
in the Ban Ki-moon Centre. Everything
was new on this December day: the participants,
the location, and the oncoming
Voluntary National Review. And new things
are exciting. The momentum, the energy,
the anticipation that one can contribute
to something “greater”, that Austria would
report to the UNO on the 2030 Agenda for
the first time. And “get help”, for example,
from Finland - the SDG hero.
But new things also have something vague,
undefined, and worrying about them.
Trust had to be built between the civil
society and the government first. There
were initial hardships and expectations,
demands, discussions, work methods were
miles apart from one another. But there
was the good will which ultimately led the
right people at the right time and place to
success. It could have been different. As
always in history a lot depends on so little,
on nuances, on moments, discussions.
The importance of cooperation and mutual
learning to achieve the SDGs was emphasised
at the event and it was the first
indication of what should be essential.
Namely, to involve various stakeholders in
the implementation and reporting process.
The civil society, as a “watchdog” over
implementation has been well engaged by
SDG Watch Austria through an integrated
approach.
Now, 4 years and one VNR later, Austria
should focus again on creating an inclusive
and informative review for 2024 which
shows the challenges and interconnections
between the SDGs to direct future efforts
and sustainable development.
It starts all over again, the “new” is perceptible
again, and the trust between the
stakeholders is greater than before. There
is still a long way to go.
Bernhard Zlanabitnig
SDG Watch Austria and Director EU-Umweltbüro
Österreichs
(Environmental Office) Engagement
zu den SDGs in
Zusammenarbeit mit
dem Ban Ki-moon Centre
für Global Citizens
© Josef Bramer
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