Peter Hazlewood, World Resources Institute PEP-20, Edinburgh, May 2015 Sessions on “Knowledge generation, communications and role of networks for SDG implementation” Introduction

From MDG-7 to the Sustainable Development Goals What do these shifts imply for knowledge and communications?

We need knowledge and communication to…  Support more integrated and inclusive approaches to SD policy, planning and implementation at all levels  More effectively assess synergies and trade-offs – including benefits and costs (multi-dimensional) and distributional aspects  Empower local innovation and solutions – beyond anecdotes of ‘what works’; success factors; barriers to formalization/scaling; bridging the micro-macro divide  Learning, connecting and influencing – to create the conditions for achieving transformative change What do these shifts imply for knowledge and communication needs?

 New interdisciplinary frameworks/approaches – ecosystem services and well-being; resilience of socio-economic systems; natural capital accounting…  Potential of big data and geospatial technologies to model and analyze spatial relationships and assess options – increasingly in real time and at increasingly higher resolution  ICT; social media; participatory methods and tools… New knowledge and communication opportunities

 Knowledge synthesizer through joint analysis/products – e.g. LPREM; climate; health; REDD; EFR; water; inclusive green economy  Policy dialogue and awareness-raising through joint communications, special events – i.e World Summit; Rio+20  PEP website maintained by ADB  A ‘network-of-networks’ – multiplier effect PEP’s role to date

Session 7.2 Agenda Objective: Assess new knowledge and communication needs for the SDG agenda; the changing landscape of data, knowledge and communication methods, tools and networks; and implications for making knowledge relevant and accessible for SDG implementation..

Session 8 Break-out Agenda Objective: Develop recommendations for an action agenda on knowledge and communications for SDG implementation, and how to enhance PEP’s knowledge and communications role.