News
According to recent reports, Cyprus ranks at the bottom of the European Union states for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is ranked 58th among 167 states worldwide (https://tinyurl.com/yvcbbhek).
One aspect of this poor ranking is due to education and how, in Cyprus, the education system continues to fail to incorporate systemically and appropriately Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education curricula. According to the 2030 Agenda deadline stipulated by the United Nations (UN), higher education (HE) aims to guarantee that all learners will develop the necessary competencies to advocate for sustainability (Education, SDG 4, Target 4.7). This target includes ESD, human rights, gender equality, promotion of peace culture, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity.
At the start of the autumn semester of 2024, a group of final-year design students at Cyprus University of Technology (Georgia Demetriou, Pavlina Eythimiou, Sofia Mina, Socrates Socratous, Styliani Michael, Valeria Loizou, Anna Kotzampasaki and Panagiotis Christou) and as part of module ‘Design for Social Change, Innovation and Entrepreneurship’, decided to address the lack of SDG awareness among young Cypriots.
Firstly, the students circulated a survey among university learners, with a total of 78 participants. Among other issues examined in this survey, it was found that 50% of the participants had never heard of the SDGs, while 79.5% stated that universities in Cyprus do not provide learners with adequate information about the SDGs. Subsequently, the students used design thinking to identify a message for their target audience (the education system) and develop a visual communication campaign that targets educators (linktr.ee/cyprusyouthsdgs). ‘You never told us!’ became the main slogan of their campaign, and for each SDG, they identified facts that the education system failed to inform them about.
As visual communication students, the group had two ways to promote their campaign: social media and print-based material. Despite their efforts to find a sponsor for this worthwhile project, none has been forthcoming to help them with costs and dissemination. Despite this, and anything but discouraged, the students decided to share the costs among themselves and used their own social media accounts to promote their work.
The ‘You never told us!’ campaign runs until the end of November 2024, and you can view it online at Cyprus Youth SDGs | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Halting the Extinction of the Emblematic Griffon Vulture in Cyprus
Tuesday, 5 November 2024 | Starts: 16:00
Venue: Join us at the John Ioannides Auditorium, Fresnel Building, The Cyprus Institute
Or alternatively, view a livestream of the event on The Cyprus Institute YouTube channel
Speaker: Mrs Melpo Apostolidou, Director, BirdLife Cyprus
RSVP by Monday, 4 November 2024
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 22 397 595
In memory of Dr Martin Hellicar
More details are available here.
The International Conference on "Climate Crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East" that was held on the 26-28 September, at the Radisson beach resort in Larnaca, concluded successfully, even though it was held in the middle of intensifying hostilities in the region.
To view the full press release with the key findings of the Conference, you may click here.
SDSN Cyprus was one of the key supporters of the Conference.
Below, you may find some highlights of the press release:
The Conference was attended by leading scientists, affiliated with more than 40 educational and research institutions and 12 National and International Academies. In addition to the Cypriot Ministers, there was strong presence from political personalities from the region, Europe and North America.
The extremely critical situation in the region, due to the geopolitical conflicts, was referred to by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the United Nations Sustainable Development Network (UN-SDSN), indicating that these conflicts also make it difficult to implement a regional climate action plan. This is why Cyprus' initiative for regional cooperation to address the climate crisis, he stressed, is extremely important, as it is a bridge that allows scientists and politicians to work together to collectively seek solutions in a region where political-military confrontation prevails. Without a regional approach, Professor Sachs concluded, there is no way the nations of the region can solve their problems.
In addition to the announcement relaunching of the Regional Climate Initiative led by the Cyprus government, most impressive was the unanimity on the need for regional cooperation on climate action, especially those of transboundary nature, by the participants to the Conference from countries including Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, in the background of the intensifying hostilities in the Middle East.
Based on the 4 regional calls of University Presidents that UN SDSN recently hosted and the superb contributions made by university leaders from across the world, the “Statement by University Leaders in Support of The Summit of the Future" is now published.
Attached please find the Summary of the four meetings, a Resources table which includes all links and contact information shared during the meetings, and the Zoom recordings here:
Remembering Martin Hellicar, a giant of environmental conservation in Cyprus
It is with great shock that we were all informed last Sunday of the loss of one of Cyprus’ foremost environmentalists, and one of SDSN Cyprus’ Leadership most active Members, Dr. Martin Hellicar. Martin passed away, at the age of only 56, as a result of a tragic car accident. Click here to view the in memoriam note.
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World Happiness Report 2024
In this issue of the World Happiness Report we focus on the happiness of people at different stages of life. We encourage you to explore the 2024 report for the latest findings on the happiness of the world’s young, the old – and everyone in between.
World Happiness Report 2024: Most comprehensive picture yet of happiness across generations. Press release available here.
To view the countries' rankings, please click here. Cyprus ranked 50 out of 143 countries.
Following the launch of the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2023/24 on the 25th January 2024 by SDSN (click here to view the press release), SDSN Cyprus has published an article stating the results of Cyprus (see attached the overall performance and the performance by SDG). Cyprus ranked 32nd out of 34 EU countries in total; this result demonstrates the need of developing an action plan on how to reverse the situation towards the improvement of the critical SDGs.
- Results of Cyprus (To view our press release in Greek click here)
Below you may find an indicative list of the articles (greek and english) that were published in the Cypriot newspapers:
2023 Sustainable Development report: Press release on the position of Cyprus in greek available here.
Below you may find a link to view the press release [Greek] published in various Cypriot newspapers about the 2023 Sustainable Development Report and the position of Cyprus:
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11 July 2023 |
2023 SDR and position of Cyprus |
SDSN’s Senior Working Group on the European Green Deal is excited to announce the launch of its 3rd annual report, "Transforming Our World: Interdisciplinary Insights on the Sustainable Development Goals", at the 28th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 27th to 30th June, in Limassol, Cyprus. The programme's overview is available here. To view the programme's booklet, please click here. Read the full article here.
World Happiness Report 2023
It has been over ten years since the first World Happiness Report was published. And it is exactly ten years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281, proclaiming 20 March to be observed annually as International Day of Happiness. Since then, more and more people have come to believe that our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our people. There is also a growing consensus about how happiness should be measured. This consensus means that national happiness can now become an operational objective for governments.
Happiest Countries Prove Resilient Despite Overlapping Crises - press release available here.
To view the countries' rankings click here. Cyprus made it into the top 50 happiest countries worldwide, securing the 46th position out of 137.
Our latest press release, in Greek and English, on the state of the SDGs in Cyprus, based on SDSN's 2022 Sustainable Development Report.
World Happiness Report 2022
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report, which uses global survey data to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide.
The World Happiness Report is out! Read the Press Release: click here
Media round up on the World Happiness Report 2022: click here
To view the country rankings, please click here. Cyprus ranked 41 out of 146 countries worldwide.
EARTH DAY 2021 and the SDGs – NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL
SDSN Cyprus would like to join its voice to countless citizens from over 190 countries all over the world in celebration of Earth Day 2021, whose theme is “Restore our Earth”. As stated by the organisers of Earth Day, “as the world returns to normal, we can’t go back to business as usual”, and as we emerge from the COVID crisis we need to join forces to face the twin catastrophes of climate change and environmental destruction.
The “Earth Day” celebrations and mobilization started in 1970 and it expanded to a global event, the most massive yearly mobilization on the planet. Earth Day takes place on 22nd April each year. It is estimated that over a billion citizens of planet earth will participate in this year’s celebrations. EARTHDAY.ORG™, which coordinates and advances activities around the spirit of the yearly event, works in countries around the world to drive meaningful action for our planet across key planetary challenges such as Climate Action Science and Education, People and Communities, Conservation and Restoration.
The Earth Day 2021 theme is intimately linked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular SDG15 (Life on Land). SDSN-Cyprus is therefore launching a call to action to all stakeholders on our island, to focus on a recovery to the COVID crisis, a recovery which will result in a sustainable future, in which the pandemic will be terminated and the destruction of our vital ecosystems will be halted.
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) was set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership
SDSN Cyprus, member of this global network, works with all sectors of society to improve the country’s performance in implementing the SDGs, collecting and disseminating best practices, raising awareness, promoting sustainable development education, engaging with youth, and assisting the authorities, the private sector and civil society organisations in mainstreaming the SDGs into their daily operations. We call all Cypriots to mark this special day, as the beginning of an uncompromising and relentless effort to Restore our Earth”!
SDSN’s SDG Academy Library provides numerous resources to learn more about Life on Land (SDG 15) and how to take action with videos on topics such as biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, social-ecological systems, and more! Watch “Introduction to SDG 15” to learn how you can take action! (https://buff.ly/32eT3ll).
On Friday, 12th of June 2020, the official launching ceremony of the Cyprus Chapter of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (#SDSN #Cyprus), was held virtually via teleconferencing in the presence of H.E. The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, leading economist, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Global Director of UN SDSN, and Member of the CyI Board of Trustees, and the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Dr. Costas Kadis.
