Key Takeaways:

• The forum led to informed and nuanced discussions that set the ground for further research and the way forward.
• Creation of methodologies on how the JSDP network can engage in the best possible way with various stakeholders/target groups, e.g., local authorities, educational institutions, banks and industrial companies as well as other NGOs to achieve the SDGs at the grassroots level.
• The importance of appropriate systems to monitor and collect data was underlined with regard to achieving the SDGs, especially in the context of the pandemic.
• Policies to achieve the SDGs are only as good as their implementation and conceptualisation within the local context. Without such contextualisation processes and awareness-raising measures, even on paper, sound policies will not be effectively implementable.
• As much has moved online, business models have changed and jobs have to become more adaptable. Therefore, learning strategies must also change, apart from the fact that the children who go to school today will take on jobs that do not even exist today.
• Non-governmental organisations play a crucial role, especially in times of the pandemic, as they should, among other things, act as helping hands for ordinary people to access government aid programmes that exist but are very difficult for vulnerable groups to access without help.
• More critical discussions and sharing of best practices should take place among NGOs to streamline the shared efforts to achieve SDGs.
• The prevailing dichotomy between the messages brought out by science and solutions such as the introduction of clean technology often miss out on the importance of climate literacy to create active change. The human dimension to the problem thus becomes essential.
• Cooperation over competition drew consensus as a preferred response for viable exchange of green energy know-how to aid in achieving the SDGs.
• With a pressing necessity to act with tailor-made responses, the discussions resonated on the importance of technologically open and economically efficient partnerships.

To continue reading the outcome report, kindly refer to the pdf attached on this website.