"We cannot remain indifferent": Universidade Católica launches Conference Cycle on the SDGs
"Universidade Católica Portuguesa is an institution deeply committed to sustainability". It was with these words that Margarida Mano, Vice-Rector of Católica, launched the Cycle of Conferences on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on March 23.
With the aim of leading by example in the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Agenda, Católica is holding a Cycle of Conferences on the SDGs during 2023, focusing on the Environmental, Social and Economic dimensions.
"We can look at the world through two lenses: we can focus on all the problems that exist, or we can look at the world through the lens of hope and the transformation we can make," said Filipa Pires de Almeida, Deputy Director of the Center for Responsible Business and Leadership.
The researcher, an expert in sustainable strategies for business, explained that "the SDGs are an agenda that helps us look towards the other side of the world, towards the future. They are the most comprehensive agenda, and the only universal language we have as humans to lead us to the other side of the globe."
Launched in 2015, this agenda includes 17 SDGs, agreed upon between 179 States, companies and Non-Governmental Organisations, with 2030 as the deadline to achieve these goals. However, for Mónica Dias, lecturer in the Chair on SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Effective Institutions, "what matters is not whether we will reach this goal in 2030, but that we are acting".
The lecturer and Vice-Director of the Institute for Political Studies highlighted that "these goals are a kind of beacon, a horizon, an expectation, for the future of the planet and of humanity".
Also present at the conference, Sofia Monteiro, President of the Academic Association of the Católica Faculty of Law, in Lisbon, spoke about the problems of higher education in Portugal and the SDGs that most impact students: quality education, gender equality, action against global climate change and peace, justice and effective institutions.
"We are part of the solution, as leaders of the future," she said about all young people. The law student suggested that for young people to get in touch more directly with the SDGs, they should start from the beginning of their degree, with practical projects, in their different areas of study.
Closing the conference, Filipe Santos, Dean of Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, recalled that "having this agenda is fundamental" for the action of individuals, companies, universities and governments to go beyond what is "comfortable".
"We cannot remain indifferent to the challenges that exist in the world and we have to take responsibility," he concluded.