A Panel Discussion, May 16, 2018
Dr. Serdar Turkeli attended a special highlight event “Symposium – Make the SDGs Yours!” organised in a joint effort of ImpactLab, The InnBetween, NovUM Maastricht, Rhetorica Debating Society and the Green Office on May 16, 2018.
The purpose of the panel discussion was to make the SDGs tangible to the audience. The questions posed served towards this purpose, and thereby focused on how the private the sector, the public sector and institutions such as UM (but most of all individuals) can contribute towards SDGs.
The symposium followed keynote’s speech by Alan Atkisson, a renowned author, senior advisor on sustainability transformations, on frameworks for sustainable development, the evaluation of these frameworks, how we generally think about these frameworks and how we can generate a positive environment for innovation using these frameworks.
Panel:
| Panelist | Organisation | Role |
| Alex Baker-Shelley | ICIS– Green Office | Moderator |
| Serdar Turkeli | United Nations University/Maastricht Graduate School of Governance | Panelist |
| Jeske van Seters | European Centre for Development Policy Management | Panelist |
| Jarrod Ormiston | Maastricht Centre for Entrepreneurship | Panelist |
| Aniek Willems | DOPE Student Representative Party | Panelist |
| Liza Ovsyanko | NovUM Student Representative Party | Panelist |
| Anne Lefevre | LOCOtuinen | Panelist |
Section I – Perception and importance of SDGs
The first section focused on the SDGs more broadly, as well the personal relevance of the SDGs for the panelists. As such, this section focused on how the panelists perceive the SDGs (i.e. what the SDGs mean for each individual panelist), as well how the panelists link the SDGs to their work and workplace.
Section II – Introducing the stakeholders: The role of institutions versus the role of individuals in contributing towards the SDGs
The second section of the panel discussion critically looked at where the responsibility for tackling the SDGs lies (currently) and how this responsibility should (ideally) be distributed. Each of the panelists based on their backgrounds as members of the academic community, the private sector, and the public sector provided their views on this topic.
Section III – Current actions and challenges in achieving the SDGs: Introducing action points
The third section focused on concrete actions (present and future) taken by the panelists (either personally or at their workplace) to contribute towards the SDGs. Key challenges faced by the panelists in contributing towards the SDGs are addressed. To wrap the panel discussion up, collaborative opportunities within the Maastricht community is discussed with participatory, engaging views and ideas of the audience, to come up with concrete actions that we, as a community, can take.
Download:
