Sustainable Development Goals

International event aims to empower people to drive sustainability

Climate Journal reporting — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 09:01:12 +0000

International event aims to empower people to drive sustainability

Tags

Sustainable Business

Event

Sustainable Development Goals

Topic

Business Sustainability

The two-day live event, IMPACT FESTIVAL, will gather about 3,000 visitors from the business and investment sectors to provide inspiration and professional networking opportunities to embrace sustainability solutions on 13-14 September in Frankfurt, Germany.

Besides the conference format with over 80 speakers on three stages, 200 start-ups and companies will showcase their work in sustainable transformation at the exhibitor area to engage with attendees.

The annual Impact Festival takes place for the third time on 13-14 September in Frankfurt, Germany.

Discussions will include transformation researcher Maja Göpel, mobility expert Katja Diehl, and experts from well-known companies such as Google, Bosch and Salesforce that will take place on-site and online.

The event's content is spread across six innovation areas rooted in the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with an additional Investor Conference embedded into the agenda.

Visitors will have the chance to engage with the IMPACT ART exhibition as part of the program that will feature the work of artist Verena Kandler using previously used materials from last year`s Impact Festival and can visit the photo exhibition "Dry Tears" by Frank Bayh and Steff Rosenberger-Ochs focused on water.

One of the highlights of the event is expected to be the Impact Award ceremony that honours companies committed to contributing to a more sustainable economy in various categories.

Tickets are available on the organiser`s website to join the gathering in person or online.

This annual event is taking place for the third time thanks to a strong support network, including StartHub Hessen, Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Telekom, EY and adelphi.

The IMPACT FESTIVAL is a project of the neosfer GmbH, the early-stage investor and innovation unit of Commerzbank Group, that investigates future technologies relevant to business and society and promotes and develops sustainable and digital solutions.

In addition to the annual two-day event, the project acts as a platform for key stakeholders of the sustainable transformation to network and exchange ideas year-round through the IMPACT COMMUNITY.

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September 2023

Piloting innovative sustainability ideas for increased adaptability, relentlessly

Bronagh Loughlin — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 19:37:26 +0000

Piloting innovative sustainability ideas for increased adaptability, relentlessly

Tags

Circular Economy

Sustainability

Sustainable Development Goals

Topic

Sustainability

Circular Economy

Axfoundation is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Sweden, working concretely and practically toward building a sustainable society.

Together with more than 300 partners across industries and sectors, the Foundation tackles local and global sustainability challenges based on practical issues related to what we buy, the food we consume, and the resources we utilise.

The organisation sees itself more as a ‘do tank’ as opposed to a think tank and innovates and accelerates solutions within Circular Economy, Future Food, Sustainable Production and Consumption. They believe entrepreneurship is a powerful force for change and use business to accelerate long-term transformative change.

Their current projects stretch across 15 industries, including textile, waste, fishing, food, retail, recycling, agriculture, and technology.

The home of many projects they run is the Torsåker Farm, Axfoundation’s test and development centre for sustainable food systems, located 30 kilometres north of Stockholm, Sweden.

The environment at the test farm is ideal for evaluating sustainable farming methods, identifying waste streams for circular solutions, and test growing both new and old crops.

Torsåker Farm - Axfoundation’s test and development centre for sustainable food systems in Sweden. Image: Axfoundation

At the farm, actors across industries and sectors come together to take on complex issues in real-world conditions and explore solutions that would be impossible to test alone. They then bring the results from the fields and the lake for processing in the test kitchens.

The Farm contributes to the increased use of sustainable animal husbandry and agroecological farming methods while also fuelling the efficient and circular use of resources and reducing the use of antibiotics for food-producing animals.

Another interesting project led by Axfoundation with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) was a pilot-scale infrastructure to convert waste from the Swedish food industry into quality raw protein material for animal feed.

The result was Sweden’s first green rainbow trout fed with a circular-based fish feed composed mainly of insects. The project ended in 2022, and the life cycle analysis revealed a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent compared to conventional fish feed. The next step was to take the lessons learnt further by testing circular feed for chickens, pigs, and laying hens.

Embracing an underutilised fish species, the Swedish bream, is part of Axfoundation`s work. Image: Axfoundation

Although sometimes innovation comes from simply realising what is missing.

That was the case with embracing an underutilised fish species, the Swedish bream, to get more recognition.

With a from-lake-to-plate approach, they created the Minced Bream – a versatile product with a neutral, fine taste that has received positive reactions from school students and chefs.

A circular project led by the Foundation is the Swedish Wool Initiative, paving the way to zero waste since 2020.

Sweden imports more than 1,700 tonnes of wool annually; meanwhile, less than 50% of all the wool produced by Swedish farmers is used.

Teaming with 20 partners, they set out to develop a new yarn made from previously discarded wool and enable brands within fashion, outdoor, and home textiles to access qualitative and competitive wool easily.

A circular project led by the Axfoundation is the Swedish Wool Initiative. Image: Axfoundation

Axfoundation took on another challenge in the field of agriculture about using tonnes of residual product generated from oat drink production.

The Over & Oat project was launched to explore how to turn oat drink residues into new food and materials in a sustainable and economically viable way.

Looking at global issues, such as plastic consumption, predicted to quadruple in the coming century, the organisation launched the Plastics Progress Tools initiative to support companies on their journey toward more responsible use of plastics.

They designed a digital tool that will compile and analyse plastic data, which can form a basis for strategic prioritisation and decision-making. Further embracing digital tools, they took the lead on the ProPare project under the Sustainable Production and Consumption branch.

This technology aims to act as a global standard for digital product passports. It is perfectly timed as the EU is expected to implement new legislation requiring nearly all products available on the European market to have a digital product passport.

These passports will offer sustainability data to help drive the adoption of the circular economy. Axfoundation is on the journey to prove that turning great ideas into practical solutions by pivoting can help address large-scale sustainability challenges immensely.

They may not always go as planned, but that is the point and a crucial part of the learning curve. To innovate sustainable solutions and achieve transformative change, failure must not be feared but embraced.

These pilot projects are telling us, clear and loud, that ideas with great potential deserve a fighting chance because they could have a real, genuine impact when scaled up and implemented.

Headline image: Unsplash

This article is an extract from content originally published in the Circular Economy in Action special edition of the Profit with Purpose Magazine - you can read the full article and other features in the magazine.

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August 2023

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Impulses on the path to accelerating sustainability in business

Business Spirit News reporting — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 08:49:24 +0000

Impulses on the path to accelerating sustainability in business

Tags

Business Sustainability

Event

Sustainable Development Goals

Topic

Business Sustainability

Europe's largest B2B annual event for sustainable transformation, the IMPACT FESTIVAL, is returning for its third edition on 13 and 14 September in Germany with top-class speakers to provide visitors with inspiration, knowledge and concrete solutions for embracing a sustainable economy.

The two-day event will present keynote speeches, panel discussions, start-up pitches and performances on three main stages focusing on the six innovation areas derived from the EU Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Speakers will include Dr Med. Eckart von Hirschhausen, delivering a keynote on "Healthy Earth - Healthy People. What we can now achieve with assets - and what it costs us to do nothing".

Sustainability expert Maja Göpel will discuss the meaning of value in the 21st century, while Godo Röben, former managing director of vegan food production company Rügenwalder Mühle will share his vision on the future of food.

The IMPACT FESTIVAL offers knowledge exchange, networking and inspiration to innovators to embrace sustainability.

Visitors can also expect networking sessions, the next edition of the IMPACT AWARD, music performances, and how an artist will create a live art object from banners and signs used in the previous two IMPACT FESTIVALs.

Different tickets are available for students, businesses and investors to join the event.

The event first took place in 2021 and has grown into a movement that offers opportunities and content all year round as a platform for key stakeholders of the sustainable transformation to network and exchange ideas.

The IMPACT FESTIVAL is a project of the neosfer GmbH, an early-stage investor and innovation unit of Commerzbank Group that investigates future technologies relevant to business and society while promoting and developing sustainable and digital solutions.

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June 2023

Leading global sustainability summit returns to Lisbon

Business Spirit News reporting — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 10:12:47 +0000

Leading global sustainability summit returns to Lisbon

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Conference

Sustainable Development Goals

Innovation

Social Innovation

Portugal

Topic

Sustainable Development Goals

Event

Lisbon

Climate Innovation

Changemakers and impact innovators from every corner of the world to meet in Lisbon.

The Planetiers World Gathering is back as an in-person and online event to bring together changemakers and impact innovators from every corner of the world to meet in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22-26 October.

The focus of this global event is to put sustainability and regeneration in the spotlight, showcasing green and inclusive innovations while elevating impact innovators and igniting system-level change.

Sérgio Ribeiro, CEO and Co-Founder of Planetiers and Co-Founder of Planetiers World Gathering, describes “Planetiers to be the ones who do not just break the system but transform it and make it better, fair and sustainable”.

“Planetiers acts as a call to mobilise companies, government organisations and civil/political decision-makers in the battle to build a sustainable planet for generations to come.”

The summit will be held at the Parque Eduardo VII and Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, Lisbon, focusing on topics such as ecology, climate change, health, poverty, education and peace.

Planetiers World Gathering 2022 edition brings together impact innovators and stakeholders to achive the Sustainable Development Goals. Image: Planetiers

With over 30,000 people from 90 countries expected to attend the event in person and online, it aims to bring together a diverse range of speakers and attendees, driven by the notion of contributing to a sustainable and inclusive transition.

Speakers include Chris Kroll, Founder & CEO of Ecosia and World Fund Investor, David Simas, President of the Obama Foundation and Ursula von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission, among others.

The event's ultimate goal is to help changemakers connect and highlight long-term sustainable solutions amid the impending climate crisis and accelerate a system transformation that can enable us to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Sérgio Ribeiro, CEO and Co-Founder of Planetiers and Co-Founder of Planetiers World Gathering. Image: Planetiers

“We’ve seen people joining this movement and claiming they are “Planetiers” mainly because they have found a community that brings a constructive narrative of cooperation and hope,” adds Sérgio.

Discussions will highlight the sustainability challenges of our time and raise awareness of the need for long-term solutions to counteract pressing global issues.

Sessions will cover a diverse range of topics, such as Cities for the future, Ocean Innovation, Inclusive green tourism and Sustainable investment and finance.

Showcasing the latest in sustainable technologies, innovative businesses and governance models, the 2022 Planetiers World Gathering will be bolstered by partnerships with several high-profile organisations, such as the European Commission, Tourism of Portugal and Lisbon Municipality.

Various ticket options are available, from daily tickets to all-inclusive access to match attendee’s interests.

Besides the conference program, there will be exhibition areas and interactive workshop sessions.

Planetiers was launched in 2017 as an online platform, and since it has become a leading event, a momentum, and even a symbol for people believing we still have a fighting chance to create a society that works for people and all other creatures on Earth.

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World Water Week calls for massive transformation to address pressing global water issues

Business Spirit News reporting — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:40:11 +0000

World Water Week calls for massive transformation to address pressing global water issues

Tags

Water

Conference

Sustainable Development Goals

Climate Change

Topic

Water

Conference

‘Building Resilience Faster’ is the central theme of the leading annual conference on global water issues.

The leading annual conference on global water issues, World Water Week, is held 23-27 August as a free, online event focusing on the theme Building Resilience Faster.

Top experts, politicians, business leaders, intergovernmental organizations, and grassroots groups from more than 150 countries will come together to discuss and co-create solutions that can help solve water-related challenges.

Participants will get the chance to choose from over 300 digital sessions to explore how water can help us tackle the most significant global challenges, such as the climate crisis, poverty, and the loss of biodiversity.

“We want World Water Week to be an action platform engaging all,”

said Henrika Thomasson, Director of World Water Week at Stockholm International Water Institute, organizer of this global gathering.

For the past 30 years, World Water Week has been a powerful movement for change, and it is also an important stepping stone leading up to global climate events such as the COP 26, the UN Climate Change Conference in November this year.

According to experts, freshwater is one of the nine planetary boundaries that should not be crossed. Image: Pexels

In his keynote, Professor Johan Rockström from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research described how humans are dangerously altering Earth’s life support systems.

One example is how human activity is linked to climate change and loss of biodiversity that also impacts freshwater.

Rockström and his team have identified freshwater as one of the nine planetary boundaries that should not be crossed.

“Freshwater must be integrated within the climate agenda,” Rockström said.

“We must first meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, but then transform towards a safer future within planetary boundaries.”

Highlights of the Week include the royal award ceremonies for the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize and Stockholm Junior Water Prize, which is honouring individuals and organizations for extraordinary water-related achievements.

Sandra Postel received the Stockholm Water Prize 2021 for her long and outstanding work to make sense of complex water-related issues.

Postel was one of the firsts to warn of a global water crisis in the early ’90s and to call for the conservation of water-based ecosystems.

She keeps inspiring decision-makers to find new solutions to water scarcity, climate change and biodiversity loss.

“Water is the basis of life – and it is finite.

Figuring out how to meet humanity’s needs for water while enabling freshwater ecosystems to thrive is now an existential challenge because those ecosystems support the web of life to which humanity belongs.

We can all play a part in rising to this challenge,” said Postel on being awarded the Stockholm Water Prize 2021.

Sandra Postel received the Stockholm Water Prize 2021

The World Water Week is hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) that aims to strengthen water governance for a just, prosperous, and sustainable future.

The Institute focuses on a range of research and development topics within and around water that supports decision-makers worldwide.

Headline image: Abigail Keenan, Unsplash

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August 2021

A week dedicated to celebrating and promoting Circular Economy across Europe

Business Spirit News reporting — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:22:19 +0000

A week dedicated to celebrating and promoting Circular Economy across Europe

Tags

Circular Economy

Conference

Event

Sustainable Development Goals

Topic

Series of events will be held as part of the fourth Circular Week, an international congress promoting sustainable solutions and Circular Economy.

The fourth edition of the Circular Week will be held 11-17 October 2021 to raise awareness and bring together stakeholders from the field of sustainable development and circular economy.

This year's congress will be held under the motto "Together for a sustainable future".

It will include a series of expert panels, webinars, workshops and networking sessions where representatives of businesses, start-ups, think tanks, and public administration can learn and connect.

“Last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Circular Week was attended by over 3,500 people from around the world.

We organized 56 events in cooperation with 17 countries - says Agnieszka Sznyk, president of the Board of the Institute for Innovation and Responsible Development INNOWO, lead organizer of the Circular Week.

This year's edition will focus on solutions addressing critical challenges of the modern economy, like extended producer responsibility, building circular cities, wise food management, development of bioeconomy, sustainable production in the fashion industry, and changes in the plastics industry.

Agnieszka Sznyk, president of the Board of the Institute for Innovation and Responsible Development INNOWO

During Circular Week 2021, daily thematic sessions are also planned for business representatives, such as Business Circular Matchmaking Sessions, devoted to circular industry issues, including textiles and food waste or sustainable agriculture and industry.

“Climate change, which we not only hear about in the media but also experience more and more often, requires decisive action.

Circular Week is an opportunity to exchange knowledge necessary for activities for the benefit of our planet,”

comments Cezary Ludwikowski from the National Centre of Climate Change, one of the partners of the Circular Week 2021.

Over 30 institutions, companies and start-ups, and embassies of European countries have been already joined as partners.

Partner organizations that want to get involved with the Circular Week can still submit their projects and events to be listed and promoted as part of the agenda.

Szynk adds: “This year we will be joined by partners from Scandinavia, Canada and Israel, which is why we focus even more on the topics of innovation that can be implemented and scaled to all markets.

I am pleased with the growing interest in the congress, which proves the growing need for implementing circular economy solutions.”

As every year, the Mazovia Circular Congress will be one of the highlights of the Circular Week 2021, which will take place on October 15 in Warsaw, Poland.

The week-long event is organized in partnership with the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, an EU organization associating Circular Economy stakeholders from the European Union.

Headline image: Circular Week

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August 2021

Virtual Youth Summit for Global Changemakers

Szilvia Szabó — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 17:04:08 +0000

Virtual Youth Summit for Global Changemakers

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Event

Sustainable Development Goals

Date

24th April 2020 - 28th April 2020

Venue

Online

Virtual Youth Summit for Global Changemakers - 24-28 April

You can still register to the Youth Summit 2020 which takes place online 24-28 April 2020 with up to 3000 young changemakers joining in globally.

The summit we will be celebrating and connecting changemakers from around the world who share a passion to create a better future. Participants will attend webinars and Q&A sessions with expert guests as well as facilitated networking sessions with other young changemakers online over five days.

The 2020 theme will be 'A Decade for Action: The Role of Young People in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals' and all sessions will be impact focused and youth-centered.

Over the course of the summit, participants will hear from and have the chance to engage with over 30 experienced changemakers from over 25 countries and working on all 17 SDGs, from youth-led NGOs to the private sector to media to the United Nations.

They will also have the opportunity to meet with other participants each day through networking sessions and join our Global Changemakers community Facebook group to keep the interaction going after the virtual event. Participants will receive a certificate for each of the main sessions that they attend at the summit. All donations raised through registration will go towards supporting youth to create positive change in their communities.

Join the Virtual Youth Summit

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Global Festival of Action

Szilvia Szabó — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 11:24:08 +0000

Global Festival of Action

Tags

Sustainable Development Goals

Conference

Date

1st April 2020 - 3rd April 2020

Venue

World Conference Centre, Bonn, Germany

Global Festival of Action - Transforming local action into global impact - Bonn, Germany

The SDG Global Festival of Action is a ground-breaking event designed by and for the international SDG action community and powered by the UN SDG Action Campaign with the support of the German Federal Government and partners to bring together SDGs activists, artists, innovators and leaders from the different sectors to connect and find new ways to inspire individuals and organizations to take action for people and the planet.

Five years into the agenda, 2020 will be a key critical for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. 2020 is also the kick start of the Decade of Action announced by the UN Secretary-General and marks the UN’s 75th anniversary.

The 2020 Festival will feature a range of session, workshop and meeting formats each positioned to further understanding and awareness, build practical skills and networks and be inspired by SDG Leaders.

The Festival also nurtures the growing SDG Action Community by making available a global platform to launch new campaigns, host network meetings and scout new initiatives and changemakers working towards the achievements of the Goals.

This flagship annual event brings together leaders from governments, local authorities, international organizations, civil society, media, foundations, youth, the creative sector and the private sector who are transforming their areas and driving change towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Meet great change-makers to put SDGs into action!

The event is hosted by the UN SDG Action Campaign to convene people from every part of the world to push for the SDGs—and hold decision-makers to account for progress. It mobilizes individuals and organizations to join the global movement for the SDGs. It inspires them to dream up new ideas and take bold actions. And it connects people to the corridors of decision-making where they can influence the plans, policies, investments and political commitments that will keep the promises made.

Global Festival of Action

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