The 2015 European Development Days (EDD) takes place in a critical year for development cooperation, with key conferences and processes on disaster resilience, financing for development, sustainable development goals, and climate change as well as the EU's own setting of 2015 as the European Year for Development. In line with the major themes of this pivotal year, the World Bank Group (WBG)’s participation in this year’s EDDs on 3-4 June in Brussels will focus on sustainable energy, competitivity, innovation, agriculture and resilience.
The EU premier development conference, now in its ninth edition, should provide a valuable opportunity for the Bank Group, the EU and stakeholders to engage in a productive exchange views on the above mentioned issues as building blocks for the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Specifically WBG’s engagement with stakeholders at the 2015 EDDs will include:
Interactive panel discussions on:
- Revolutionising data use to feed the planet, co-organized by the WBG and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). This session focuses on the use of data collection in: increasing productivity and agricultural transformation, promoting trade and increased market access for farmers and natural resource management by communities.
- Innovative approaches in scaling up inclusive community resilience, that aims at sharing the findings of promising initiative and show how the humanitarian and development gap is being bridged to strengthen community resilience at the necessary scale. co-organized by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the Red Cross and Wetlands International.
- Sustainable energy and the role of the private sector co-organized by IFC (the WBG’s private sector arm) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) that aims to find suitable solutions to promote sustainable energy and growth, and examine how international financial institutions, such as IFC and EBRD could act as a catalyst for innovation.
Brainstorming lab sessions on:
- Fighting poverty through Innovative Business Models co-organized by IFC and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). This session explores how inclusive or shared value business models could be part of a successful long-term growth strategy that creates new market-based opportunities, eliminates market inefficiencies, solidifies supply chains, and builds future brand loyalty.
- Supporting public policies and investments that promote sector-level competitiveness and innovation: The case of competitive cities. This session will present a ‘sneak preview’ of the main findings of the forthcoming Bank report “Competitive Cities for Jobs and Growth: Who, What, and How”.
WBG representatives will also speak at a number events organized by partner organizations. These include:
- Migration is development: Making migration a driver for development
- Social enterprise: Stemming the tide on income inequality
- Tackling inequality: From measurement to policy imperatives
For more information, please contact Guggi Laryea – glaryea@worldbankgroup.org
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