Schedule
June 12, 2024
10:00 a.m.
Welcome Session
10:15 a.m.
Panel: State of the SDGs
National, State, and Regional Perspectives
Speakers: Tony Pipa, Mark Ritchie, and Anna Wasescha
Tony Pipa is a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution. Tony launched and leads the Reimagining Rural Policy initiative, which seeks to modernize and transform U.S. policy to better enable equitable and sustainable development across rural America. He also launched and leads the Local Leadership on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative, which explores the approach cities and local institutions are taking to solve local problems while driving progress on global policy and transnational issues.
Mark Ritchie is the former Minnesota Secretary of State and serves as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Minnesota. Over the past decade, Mark led the public-private partnership working to bring a World’s Fair focused on the Sustainable Development Goals to Minnesota.
Anna Wasescha has served as president of West Central Initiative, headquartered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, since 2017. Prior to that, she held leadership positions in higher education, most recently as president of Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut, and provost of Minnesota State Community & Technical College in Fergus Falls. During her time in higher education, she led efforts to deepen relationships with communities and develop programs focused on workforce needs. Her work at West Central Initiative has led the organization to center its work on creating a more sustainable, equitable, and vibrant region.
11:00 a.m.
Panel: Momentum on the Ground
Youth, Native Nations’, and Federal/State Government Perspectives
11:45 a.m.
17 Rooms – Setting the Intention
Speaker: Jacob Taylor, Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development, Brookings Institution
Jacob Taylor is a fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development. He is a core secretariat member of the 17 Rooms initiative, a new approach to catalyzing action for the Sustainable Development Goals. His research focuses on mechanisms for advancing collaboration and collective intelligence for global-scale sustainable development challenges across disciplines, sectors, and geographies.
Noon
Break
12:30 p.m.
17 Rooms Convene
Participants gather in SDG breakout rooms for discussion guided by room leaders. Each room identifies 1 to 3 viable actions to implement in the next 12 to 18 months.
2:00 p.m.
Cross Room Exchange
Rooms share their ideas with others to encourage collaborative actions and insights.
2:30 p.m.
Break
3:00 p.m.
Rapid Report Out
During this fast-paced, high-energy session, rooms share key insights and actions with all participants.
3:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Speaker: Dr. Heidi Roop, Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership and Assistant Professor of Climate Science and Extension Specialist at the University of Minnesota.
Heidi’s research and Extension programs combine cutting-edge climate science and effective science communication to increase the use and integration of climate change information in decision-making. In addition to her appointments at the University of Minnesota, she’s an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington and serves as an expert advisor to a range of organizations and agencies as they seek to build resilience to climate change. Heidi’s book, The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions for Everyone, outlines, in a highly visual format, everyday ways we can contribute to collective and individual climate solutions.