Access to new technologies should provide the education sector with the means to innovate education systems and expand the access to better quality education for all. What matters even more is how innovative technology is used in the classroom by teachers to facilitate and encourage student learning beyond simple knowledge acquisition, and nurture a culture that values learning.

There is a general agreement that rapid technological change could have an important impact on the achievement of the SDGs. The vital role of science, technology and innovation in sustainable development and in facilitating efforts to address global challenges to improve education is widely recognised.

Technology is already a big part of the current classrooms, as teachers and education developers are looking for ways to improve our education systems. New technologies as artificial learning, digital innovations and educational software not only change the field of study for students, they also change the role of teachers and their approach to education.

During the Covid-19 crisis the education-system changed radically. The pandemic is giving technology massive insights at scale as to what human development and learning looks like, allowing it to potentially shift from just content dissemination to augmenting relationships with teachers, personalization, and independence.

On the other hand: moving the world’s students online has exposed deep inequities in the education system, from the shocking number of children who rely on school for food and a safe environment, to a digital divide in which kids without devices or reliable internet connections are cut off from learning completely.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents both an enormous challenge and tremendous opportunities for realising the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.

On one hand, it threatens achievements already made in many areas. Everyone has been affected, but the impact is being disproportionally experienced among the poorest and most vulnerable.

On the other hand, the intersection between health and sustainability challenges might never have been clearer. This is an opportunity to be seized. Far from undermining the case for the SDGs, the root causes of and unequal impacts from COVID-19 precisely demonstrate why the 2030 Agenda is needed, while underscoring the urgency for it to be implemented.

The COVID-19 crisis has affected societies and economies around the globe and will permanently reshape our world as it continues to unfold. While the fallout is both amplifying familiar risks and creating new ones, change at this scale also creates new openings for managing systemic challenges and ways to build back better.

We are being forced to revisit our values and design a new area of development that truly balances economic, social and environmental progress, as envisioned by the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. Building the greener and more inclusive future which helps countries reach these is dependent on integrated solutions.

During this opening session, the keynote speakers will provide their perspectives on why deep changes are needed, how they can be enabled and how they can be deployed to work for the benefit of all.

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are playing an essential role in solving the current COVID-19 crisis and will continue to do so for future catastrophes. The pandemic was a catalyst for new developments and faster evolution of vaccines. Tests and pharmaceuticals were innovated at unprecedented speed.

The intensive use of telemedicine and other communication technologies also helped increase the productivity and responsiveness of health systems. Meanwhile, the integration of mathematical sciences for prediction and modeling of essential elements proved to be a valuable resource for health field decision-makers.

The impressive gains achieved were only possible due to significant collaboration between sectors, including the private sector and countries, under coordination by the World Health Organization. But while STI have the potential to embrace universal access, an insupportable duality is being created between those who can afford knowledge and technology and those who cannot. International collaboration is necessary to enhance equity on digital and technology access and to guide strategically STI development for the future.

This session will present lessons learned from the international community about the emergency of the pandemic, the challenges in controlling it, as well as the recovery plans and preparedness for future outbreaks.

International coalitions are essential for tackling water-related issues. Not just for dealing with transboundary situations, but also for sharing best practices to ensure water is properly conserved and made available to all. We have therefore invited representatives from new and already-established international coalitions to share their experiences and visions with regard to promoting cooperation and revealing the true value of water. Understanding the lessons they’ve learnt will further equip us to achieve Water SDGs and create conditions that enable new coalitions to form.

Entrepreneurial approaches provide novel ways for turning ideas into impact. More specifically, public-purpose-driven entrepreneurship is about understanding local needs and coming up with innovative solutions paired with appropriate business models that promote social inclusion and environmental resilience.

There is growing interest in the role science, technology, and innovation can play in addressing a broad set of societal challenges. However, identifying and/or designing and scaling appropriate solutions is no small undertaking. Transforming today’s economy into a mission economy requires a broad range of actors from different sectors to work together as they take on different roles in the process (such as research, innovation, regulation, market access and skill development). This raises its own challenge, as interactions between these actors within the entrepreneurial ecosystem are often not well understood, especially in the context of SDGs.

The Learning Lab is an interactive, hands-on participatory workshop aimed at bringing together different stakeholders who are passionate about SDGs and entrepreneurial approaches to achieving them. Following the release of a report on the topic, participants will be able to test a framework for better understanding of SDGs-driven innovation ecosystems.

Objectives of this session:

• Present framework – building on concepts related to entrepreneurial ecosystems, place-based innovation, and the mission-oriented economy – aimed at fostering breakthrough partnerships at a local level to drive progress in the SDGs
• Explore the role of different actors within an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the functions that such a network needs to fulfill in order to reach the mission around which it was constructed
• Use the framework provided to help visualise the network of actors and their interactions in order to accelerate progress or partnerships for the SDGs
• Use a systems thinking approach to identify gaps or bottlenecks that limit impact of entrepreneurial activities aimed at achieving targets at a local/national level and SDGs at a global level
• Design and test integrated policy and technology innovations across different areas (e.g., resource mobilisation, impact monitoring, technology assessment, behavioural change) that further stimulate the ecosystem to meet its mission

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), energy generation is by far the world’s largest source of GHG emissions from human activities. About two thirds of global GHG emissions are linked to burning fossil fuels to generate energy for heating, electricity, transport and industry. Decarbonising the energy system means replacing fossil fuel sources (such as coal, oil/petroleum, and natural gas) with those that emit far less carbon dioxide (such as wind, geothermal, solar and hydro).

Industries and the transport sector are playing a major role in the energy transition by adopting new technologies, developing new value chains and replacing fossil fuel-based approaches with renewable and sustainable ones.

One such approach is power-to-X, in which various conversion, storage and reconversion pathways make use of surplus electric power from renewable sources. Power-to-X thereby offers a multitude of economic, environmental and societal benefits including reduced CO₂ emissions and increased energy independence. Enabling energy storage through power-to-X approaches is crucial for achieving the objectives of energy system decarbonisation.

This session will bring together experts and practitioners from different fields, including industry stakeholders who are adopting these new technologies, building pilot demonstrations and setting up new value chains, along with policy makers responsible for determining regulations and R&D people who are at the forefront of making the relevant technologies available, at scale. In particular, these speakers will include leading players from Europe, which is at the forefront of these changes, and from the Middle East region, which is rich with solar energy and opportunities for implementing decarbonisation.

COP26 concluded with a clear statement that the 1.5 degrees scenario is still alive, but will only remain so if promises are kept and commitments translated into rapid action. Systematic approaches and transformations will be crucial for delivering solutions at the necessary speed and scale, while guaranteeing fairness in transition.

Spurred on by all that has been revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of what needs to be done has shifted heavily towards the intricately linked nature of societal challenges and the exponential combination of solutions needed to tackle them. Climate action discussions cannot be separated from those around other challenges, such as housing, healthcare, digitalisation, the future of work, redefining production and consumption, rethinking mobility and transport, and designing long term recovery strategies.

Turning ambitions into large-scale implementation means addressing the “missing middle”:

• How can engagements and commitments be translated into viable, replicable and affordable solutions, while taking regional disparities into account?
• What is the role of urban environments as centres of promise and hope, hubs of knowledge, culture, diversity and creativity? And as testing grounds for technology, innovation and change?
• What are the transformative answers that shift the focus from a sector-based and problem-oriented approach to a need-based and solution-oriented journey and endeavour?
• What does it take to go beyond silos and departmental thinking and deliver integrated, on-the-ground solutions?
• How can we really improve quality of life, build resilience against future shocks, integrate nature-based solutions and indigenous knowledge, secure land value to help decarbonisation, design sustained funding for wicked problems, train and reskill people to deal with complexity, and rebuild communities to go beyond individualism and seemingly opposed agendas?
• What is the story and narrative that builds on core human needs and involves all societal actors, and allows for deep change?

And, ultimately, how can all this be orchestrated?

This session will comprise of an open dialogue between world class innovation and sustainability experts who are able to connect systemic and often abstract challenges with on-the-ground experience, and who help design pathways to make the twenties a decade of delivery.

Climate change impacts are often expressed in terms of rising sea levels, rising temperatures, flooding, shrinking glaciers and thawing permafrost. Less talked about, are the consequential impacts on people’s lives, such as damage to homes, higher insurance premiums, reduced food availability, reduced water quality and rises in allergies and other health problems.

In this session, speakers will examine how these challenges can be addressed from various angles, including governance, economic measures and financing.

The recent COP26 in Glasgow produced a series of commitments to mitigation and conservation efforts, including pledges to end deforestation and overseas financing of oil and gas projects, reduce methane emissions and a steel and aluminium trade agreement. However, fulfilling such pledges costs money. It is up to governments to implement policies which unlock access to the relevant climate finance. This session will also take learnings from COP26 into account, in the effort to accelerate utilisation of the technologies designed to mitigate and adapt to climate change.