On April 9, the SDG Meetings: Future in Action event took place at CATÓLICA-LISBON, bringing together more than 200 participants from large, medium-sized, and small companies, as well as representatives from the public sector and other public and private organizations.

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In the opening session, Filipe Santos, Dean of CATÓLICA-LISBON, spoke about the urgency of the environmental and social agendas, the importance of sustainability for business competitiveness, and the need for a pragmatic approach to implementing the actions required to advance the Sustainable Development Agenda.

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Following this, Filipa Pires de Almeida, Deputy Director of the Center for Responsible Business and Leadership, presented the activities of the SDG Observatory in Portuguese companies within the scope of Year 2 of the project:

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1. launch of the Year 2 Report in October of last year;

2. publication of the report in English;

3. individualized analyses;

4. 2030 Minute videos;

5. opening of the project to international investors;

6. replication of the project;

7. monthly newsletters; and

8. the training program Beyond ESG: Shaping the Future of Business.

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Additionally, she explained the progress of the data collection phase (which is currently ongoing) and revealed the three studies that will be included in the Year 3 report:

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• Balancing Profit and Purpose: The Strategic Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals for Corporate Success (published on the day of the event and available HERE)

• Governance: Strategic Alignment with Sustainability (to be published within the next two weeks)

• Sustainability Reports: Integration and Strategic Communication of the SDGs​

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Following the presentations, three workshops were held, each with around forty participants, covering different topics and including practical exercises on: the SDG business case, governance processes and their connection to sustainability and double materiality, and the link between ESG and the SDGs.​​​​​

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The event concluded with a panel discussion on the theme “Accelerating the Goals: Tech for SDG Achievement,” moderated by Margarida Anselmo, Partner at MAZE - Decoding Impact.

The panel featured David Veloso, Sustainability Director at Luz Saúde, Rui Solheiro, Innovation & Business Development Manager da MEXT – Mota-Engil, Bruno Abreu, co-founder & CEO of SCUBIC and Filipe Machado, Chief Engineering, Marketing and R&D Officer at Boome. 

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Nuno Moreira da Cruz, Executive Director do Center for Responsible Business and Leadership, Executive Director of the Center for Responsible Business and Leadership, delivered the closing remarks, during which he reminded participants of the significant progress sustainability is making in the business context and emphasized the fundamental importance of “implementation.”

Across all its initiatives, the Observatory aims to build a community of companies and researchers with the goal of promoting Sustainable Development and advancing knowledge on these topics.

We thank everyone who joined us for this event and look forward to seeing you again at the launch of the Year 3 Report in November 2024.

We also take this opportunity to share the event summary video, as well as the presentations from the event.