The Kick-off event of the REGIONS2030 pilot project: Monitoring the SDGs in EU regions – filling the data gaps was hosted at the Committee of the Regions premises on 29 November 2022. 

The Pilot Project "REGIONS2030: Monitoring the SDGs in the EU regions - Filling the data gaps", supported by the European Parliament is developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in collaboration with ESTAT and DG REGIO.

The pilot project has been proposed by MEP Petros Kokkalis in 2021 and approved by the EC in 2022.

The regions are: Βόρειο Αιγαίο (North Aegean), Δυτική Μακεδονία (Western Macedonia), Comunidad Foral de Navarra, Andalucía, Piemonte, Puglia, Pomorskie, Centro (PT), Nord-Vest, and Manisa, Afyonkarahisar, Kütahya, Uşak.

The REGIONS2030 Pilot Project will be carried out, inter alia, involving 10 European regions, which share a strong ambition to monitor the achievement of the SDGs and are willing to explore the synergies of SDGs monitoring, policy-making and sustainable regional development.

The participating regions will work with experts and partners to develop, test and improve a framework of indicators for monitoring the achievement of the SDGs at regional level. They will contribute to define the method and identify the relevant indicators at NUTS2 level, which will be eventually used in the whole of the EU. Where relevant, regions could propose additional customised indicators to reflect different contexts. The overall aim is to cover all SDGs and the majority of the 169 targets.

Objectives

The objectives of the meeting were:

• Present the project plan and the foreseen activities.
• Share the objectives of the Pilot Regions starting from their previous activities on the SDG localisation and monitoring 

Participation Attendance is by invitation only

For more information: JRC-URBAN2030@ec.europa.eu 

1. 10.00 -10:30

   Welcome addresses moderated by Thomas Wobben, Director, European Committee of the Regions

   Stephen Quest, Director-General, Joint Research Centre
   Petros Kokkalis, EP Member
   Wallis Vandebrock-Goelen, Senior expert, Directorate-General Regional and Urban Policy

2. 10:30 – 10:50

   Presentation of the pilot project REGIONS2030

   Alessandro Rainoldi, Head of Unit, Joint Research Centre

3. 10:50 - 12:20

   Roundtable of pilot regions Moderated by Mikel Landabaso, Director, Joint Research Centre

   Georgios Kasapidis, Governor, Western Macedonia (EL)
   Alberto Cirio, President, Piemonte (IT)
   Leonidas Athinadis, Vice Governor for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, North Aegean (EL)
   Annagrazia Maraschio, Regional Minister for the Environment, Puglia (IT)
   Carmen Maeztu Villafranca, Consejera de Derechos Sociales Navarra (ES)
   Celia Rosell Martí, Director Agencia Andaluza de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, Andalucía (ES)
   Alexandra Rodrigues, Director of Regional Development Department, Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro –CCDRC, Centro (PT)
   Veli Oguz, Secretary General, Zafer Development Agency, Manisa, Afyonkarahisar, Kütahya, Uşak Region (TR)
   Anna Drążek, Director of the Pomorskie Regional EU Office in Brussels, Pomorskie (PL)
   Dorin C. Domuța, Head of the Department of Regional Development, Projects and International Relations, North West Regional Development Agency – Nord Vest (RO)

4. 12:20 – 12:30

   Concluding remarks

   Markku Markkula President of Helsinki Region, Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions