Following the representation of The American College of Greece (ACG) in the UN Millennium Fellowship Program 2020 by eleven Deree students, a three-day online Symposium on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was organized by the Fellows and the Office of Public Affairs, The American College of Greece, November 11-13, 2020.
Aiming at increasing awareness about the UN SDGs and furthering their social impact on campus, the Symposium welcomed over twenty distinguished representatives of local authorities as well as NGO representatives and members of academia, in the fields of gender equality, diversity and inclusion, women empowerment, food waste and sustainable consumption, sustainable fashion, and sustainable cities.
“We are very excited we were able to host this Symposium amid the second wave of the pandemic and a second lockdown. This was the first time Greece was represented in the UN Millennium Fellowship Program since its launch in 2013 and I would like to congratulate our students on their success.”, says Ms. Claudia Carydis, Vice President of Public Affairs, The American College of Greece.
An essential part of ACG’s sustainability efforts, the Symposium delved into four of the 17 Goals: SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, SGD 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 12 – Sustainable Consumption and Production, through panel sessions with notable academics and experts in their respective fields, who engaged in insightful discussions and presented hand-on solutions maintaining Athens as their focal point. On Day 2, the ACG Senior Manager for Sustainability had the opportunity to provide insight on the educational institution perspective by presenting how ACG promotes and enhances the implementation of the SDGs on campus.
During these three days, 1,156 viewers primarily from Greece and abroad, had the opportunity to participate in this interactive event and learn more about these ‘hot’ issues that are at the forefront of public and academic discourse as well as the reality we all face on a daily basis.
As Deree Millennium Fellows Hasan Oksuz, Jo Pierri, and Barbara Radmann, mentioned in the closing remarks, the process of organizing this Symposium was long and intense, but was achieved through teamwork and collaboration between the Fellows themselves and the guidance of Professor Chryssa Zachou, Ms. Rania Assariotaki, ACG Senior Manager for Sustainability, and the Office of Public Affairs.
The Symposium was held under the auspices of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), the Millennium Campus Network (MCN), and the Millennium Fellowship Program and is supported by the Deree Psychology Society, the Deree Sociology Society, and the Deree International Honors Program Society.
