4EU+ European University Alliance Panel Discussion: How Universities and Cities Can Cooperate to Implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals
9 May 2025
4EU+ European University Alliance extends an invitation to attend the public event entitled “From Advocacy to Action”
The question of how universities and cities can cooperate to implement the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is the topic of a panel discussion coming up at Heidelberg University, to which the 4EU+ European University Alliance is inviting the general public. The event, with experts from Heidelberg, Copenhagen (Denmark) and Geneva (Switzerland) will focus on the opportunities and challenges related to the coordination of different interest groups for sustainable urban development. The panel, to be held in English, is entitled “From Advocacy to Action. How Can Universities and Cities Work Together to Achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals?” It is to take place on 15 May 2025 in the Great Hall of the Old University, starting at 5.30pm, and will also be livestreamed. In both cases registration is required.
Climate change and its repercussions are confronting society with urgent ecological and social challenges, which cities and universities can tackle through creating valuable synergies. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research supplies important expertise, while citizen science and civic involvement can give crucial initiatives for developing inclusive strategies. Discussing the opportunities and challenges of joint action for sustainable change are Prof. Dr Géraldine Pflieger (University of Geneva), Prof. Dr Natasha de Vere (University of Copenhagen), Prof. Dr Ulrike Gerhard (Heidelberg University) and Raoul Schmidt-Lamontain, the mayor responsible for Climate Protection, Environment and Mobility of the City of Heidelberg. The moderator is Dr Max Jungmann, executive manager of the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), the environmental research center of Heidelberg University.
The panel discussion “From Advocacy to Action” is part of the HCE “Heidelberger Brücke” colloquium and takes place in the context of the project “1CORE – One Comprehensive Research-Intensive European University”. 1CORE aims to enable the eight 4EU+ partner universities to organize themselves in an integrated European university consortium – a seamlessly interconnected, transnational European university. It is steered by four flagships, with which the Alliance sets thematic priorities in research and teaching. The HCE is involved in the “Environmental Transitions” flagship, which deals with questions of socio-economic change for a sustainable economy and society. With the panel discussion, the organizers aim to promote the dialogue between researchers, political decision-makers, students and committed citizens, and to open up new perspectives.
The 4EU+ European University Alliance brings together the eight universities of Prague, Heidelberg, Paris-Panthéon-Assas, Sorbonne/Paris, Copenhagen, Geneva, Milan and Warsaw. The group of partner universities is one of the university alliances funded in the context of the Erasmus+ European Universities call. By supporting strategic higher education partnerships and building up an integrated university system, the European Commission pursues the goal of clustering research, teaching and innovation in Europe in new structures, thereby modernizing and strengthening the European Education Area.
Those attending the panel “From Advocacy to Action” will need to register on the event website.