Progress report for
University of Bergen - SDG Bergen Initiative
Achievement at a glance
Since launching this SDG action three of the four deliverables have been delivered on time and the fourth is on schedule, while several more have been added. Through the SDG Conference Bergen since 2019, the University of Bergen has brought together the university sector with decision-makers in politics, government and UN officials, civil society, and industry to discuss how universities can contribute on the science-policy nexus. In addition to the deliverables the university has also provided science advice through a series of side events at high level events such as COP24, HLPF 2018, HLPF 2019, and Our Ocean 2019, all of which were co-organized by the university with diplomatic missions, intergovernmental organizations and UN bodies.Challenges faced in implementation
Considering that this is a new initiative at the University of Bergen, SDG Bergen has turned out to be quite a smooth operation. The main challenge faced has been the early success of the project, resulting in massive numbers of internal and external requests (for collaborations, information, partnerships). Also, the overall interest among students and scientists as well as society at large has at times strained the limited resources of the SDG Bergen secretariat.Next Steps
A lot of the measures implemented have become annual events and courses: ranging from the annual national SDG Conference Bergen to the launch of the first three of several University of Bergen annual SDG-oriented courses (on SDGs 13,14 and 15 respectively). All of these will be followed up and strengthened in the years to come. The university is also in the process of building a global team of ocean-oriented partner universities on SDG14, as part of a leadership role given to the University of Bergen by the UNESCO-affiliated International Association of Universities (IAU). As part of the work on the science-policy nexus the SDG Bergen Policy Briefs will be launched; these are SDG specific policy briefs mainly aimed at decision-makers to achieve impact for peer-reviewed research.Beneficiaries
The UN and its various subsidiary organizations, The university sector, The general public, Politicians, Diplomats, Decision-makers, Students, Scientists, The university itself.