(AGENPARL) - Roma, 8 Maggio 2026 - The second stage of the Festival of Sustainable Development, “European Leadership for the Future: Civil Society at the Helm of the Post-2030 Agenda”, held in Brussels for the first time.
Hosted by the Civil Society Organisations’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and promoted by the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS ETS), the event took place at a delicate moment for the future of the EU. Instead of accelerating, Europe risks slowing down precisely in the areas of the ecological transition and the protection of social rights outlined by the Green Deal and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
On that occasion, Agenparl interviewed Maria Nikolopoulou, President SDG Observatory of the EESC.
«Civil society in Europe has a different perspective when it comes to the SDGs. There are some countries where there is deep knowledge and people are very committed.
There are other countries where we see a deeper disconnection from the Agenda 2030, or even people who actively fight against it, not necessarily because they do not have a full understanding, but because they are triggered by other conversations and simply do not want to implement the agenda.
But we do see a very vibrant movement among civil society organizations that work on the SDGs to promote them, to continue working on implementation by 2030, and especially to start thinking about what comes after 2030.»
