The first Participatory Assembly dedicated to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) brought together this Wednesday, March 1st, civil society, representatives of official bodies and Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva, at the Solar da Música Nova Auditorium, in Loule.
The session was part of the “Government + Next” initiative.
«The work that the mayor of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, has been doing in the field of sustainable development objectives made this choice mandatory. And for that reason, it is also Vítor Aleixo who is president of this Section of Municipalities of the ANMP and who, in his representation, was part of the Monitoring Committee of this new model of governance of the SDGs», explained André Moz Caldas, Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, one of the leaders who participated in the meeting.
Through this session promoted by the presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Regional Development Coordination Commission, with the support of the Loulé municipality, it was possible to assess which SDGs matter most to the Loulé community and which, as such, should be a priority.
After a vote at the time, through mobile devices, Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva, who also joined this event, announced the three winners: climate action (SDG 13), eradicate poverty (SDG 1) and quality education (SDG 4).
One of the focuses of this Assembly was matters related to climate action, also because these are a concern «in a county and in a region particularly exposed to phenomena such as rising sea levels and drought, it is necessary to act very quickly», as highlighted by Ana Fontoura Gouveia, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate.
In a territory that has tourism as the basis of its economy, there was talk of the sector's concern for issues of sustainability and openness to welcome the changes that are needed. The areas of renewable energies, reforestation, drought, agriculture, education and employment were also discussed, with some of the participants stressing that it is urgent to combat the lack of knowledge that still exists, redoubling efforts to inform people about these matters.
Vítor Aleixo, host of a moment «that says a lot to the Municipality of Loulé», left the hope that all the information gathered in this session and all the contributions of the interveners «can be systematized and give substance to the report that will be presented in New York, next summer".
«This is still a new topic for Portuguese society, but I would say that it is an unavoidable topic. We all realize that the world is full of dead ends, doors that won't open, and the objective that the United Nations has set for us all over the world is precisely to open doors, to find answers to the very difficult problems with which the world today is confronted”, he added.
Mariana Vieira da Silva, who came to the Algarve with the government team to participate in the “Governo +Próximo” initiative, highlighted the fact that the approximately 50 events planned during these two days throughout the region took the SDGs into account.
Aware of the differences in terms of priorities in other regions of the country and in other parts of the world, the Minister of the Presidency pointed out the importance of this participation for the involvement of citizens.
«If we have the general population to know that these 17 objectives are some of their priorities for action on a day-to-day basis, in their daily lives, we already have a great gain», he said.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was approved in 2015 by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. In 2017, Portugal presented the first National Voluntary Report.
The President of the Republic undertook to proceed with a second Report which, as André Moz Caldas said, should be "a catalyst for the new model of governance, monitoring and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in our country".
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