How will your city look in 2030?
Localizing the SDGs and
the role of SDG Voluntary Local Reviews in CIS countries
Online Workshop
Date: 20 December 2021 Time: 9:00 – 11:20 CET Platform: Zoom Language: English and Russian with simultaneous interpretation
Rationale
The first UN Forum of Mayors was convened by UNECE in October 2020. The participating mayors expressed their commitment to work on localizing the SDGs and requested UNECE to provide support in facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices as well as peer-learning. To provide such support to the cities, UNECE elaborated the Guidelines for the Development of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) in the UNECE Region which were endorsed by the UNECE Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management in October 2021.
UNECE is also working on the development of an online training module to support cities in the
localization of the SDGs and preparation of VLRs, in cooperation with its centres of excellence,
hosted by University of Geneva, Switzerland; Trondheim Commune in Norway; and with Zofnass
Programme at Harvard University, USA.
The workshop aims to discuss existing experiences of developing VLRs in countries of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The workshop will contribute to updating the regional Guidelines and fine-tuning of the online training module on the VLRs.
Please register to participate using the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zmU1VWUiSUeLs_slro05Dw
Following registration, you will receive the online connection link.
For questions regarding the workshop, please contact Gulnara Roll, Secretary to the Committee
on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe, at email: Gulnara.Roll@un.org
Draft programme
Moderator:
Matteo Tarantino, Assistant Professor, Catholic University of Milan; Lecturer,
University of Geneva.
9:00 Doris Andoni, Chair, Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land
Management, UNECE – Opening and welcome
09:05-09:30 Session 1. Regional and subregional approaches to the localization of the SDGs
in the UNECE region and CIS countries
09:05-09:10 Alexandre Hedjazi, Director, Global Environmental Policy Programme,
University of Geneva – Outcomes of the First workshop on VLRs
09:10-09:25 Juan Valle Robles, Regional Urban Consultant, UNECE – Approaches to
localization of the SDGs in the UNECE region and presentation of the
“Guidelines for the Development of Voluntary Local Reviews in the UNECE
Region”
09:25-09:30 Questions and answers
09:30-10:00 Roundtable 1. Discussion on opportunities for developing VLRs in Russia and CIS
Moderator:
Alexandre Hedjazi, University of Geneva
Questions to presenters:
• How could VLRs, if developed for your city, contribute to the economic and social
development and urban resilience building at city level?
• What are the needs of cities in your region in the development of the VLRs?
• How could the UNECE regional guidelines be updated to support better improving quality
of life in cities?
09:30-09:40 Emil Petrosyan, Deputy Head of the Department of Investment and Industrial
Policy, City Government of Moscow, Russian Federation
09:40-09:50 Vanuhi Bareghamyan, Responsible Officer for Economic Development,
City Government of Hrazdan, Armenia – TBC
09:50-10:00 Kubanychbek Kudabayev, Deputy Director of the Department of Economy
and Investments, City Government of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
10:00-10:05 Break
10:05-10:35 Roundtable 2. Main Challenges for the development of VLRs in Russia and CIS
Moderator: Matteo Tarantino, University of Geneva
Questions to presenters:
• What are the key challenges of
assessing SDG progress at the local level in your context?
• What are your experiences with data
sharing among institutions and scales?
• How can Voluntary National Reviews
and Voluntary Local Reviews reinforce each other
and advance sustainability agendas?
10:05-10:15 Irina Ilina, Director, Department of Urban and
Regional Development,
Institute of Regional Studies and Urban Planning, Higher
School of Economics – TBC
10:15-10:25 Aigul Zharkynbaeva, Head of Department of Regional
Statistics, National
Statistics Committee of Kyrgyzstan
10:25-10:35 Questions and answers, discussion.
10:35-10:55 Roundtable 3. Ways forward for the development of VLRs
Moderator:
Alexandre Hedjazi, University of Geneva
Questions to presenters:
• What activities your organization is implementing to support VLRs
• How VLRs can contribute to the economic and social development and urban resilience
building at city level?
• How could the UNECE regional guidelines be updated to support better improving quality
of life in cities?
10:35-10:45 Stefano Marta, Coordinator, A Territorial Approach to the SDGs, Centre for
Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD – OECD approaches in the
localization of the SDGs
10:45-10:55 Martino Miraglia, Project Coordinator of a new project on “Voluntary local
reviews: evidence for greener, resilient and sustainable urban recovery in Eastern
European and Central Asian countries in transition”
10:55-11:00 Spiro Pollalis, Head of Zofnass Programme, Harvard University, USA
11:00 Conclusions by the Moderators. Closing.