Sannam S4’s October conclave is on teaming up to achieve the SDGs

NEW DELHI : Sannam S4, the international business solutions company, has invited students, colleges and universities for a two-day conclave on achieving United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). The conclave will begin on October 21.

The two-day conclave , titled “Building Partnerships for the Recovery of our Planet” aims to reduce the gap in achieving SDGs in India by focusing on the ‘partnership for the goals’, the seventeenth goal of the SDG. Registration for it is now open.

“We recognize that the discourse on SDGs cannot be complete without schools, universities, non-profits and corporat[ions] playing a leading role since they serve as critical hubs of innovation, research, and capacity-building across borders,” Sannam S4 said on its website.

“At Sannam S4, we believe that the 17th SDG, namely ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ is the critical backbone for achieving the SDGs in India by 2030. Multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilise and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources are needed to leave no one behind,” it added.

The conclave also pointed out that India contributes to 20 percent of the global SDG gap in 10 out of the 17 goals.

Leading Indian and international organizations working on impacting the UN SDGs will be participating in the event.

It will also see participation from Indian schools and universities as well as International universities. Experts from the government will also be participating in the two-day conclave.

SDG Changemaker competition for students

The conclave also has an SDG Changemaker competition for students which invites creative solutions for local problems.

Students will need to showcase their solutions through a technology platform – they can build a mobile application, website, social media or YouTube page. The competition is open to individuals as well as teams.

“With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown imposed around the world, we as global citizens collectively realised that our everyday livelihoods cannot be taken lightly. Whether it is air pollution in cities or our wasteful consumption patterns – there is a lot we need to do to support the sustainable livelihood of our planet as well as our society,” Sannam S4 said on theri website.

“For the 2021 SDG High School Changemakers competition, we are looking for interesting solutions to local SDG challenges we are facing this year,” it added.

The winner of the competition will receive USD 5,000 and the runner-up will receive USD 2,500. Three individual prizes of USD 750 will also be awarded to students.

The winning teams or individuals will get seed money, access to international mentors and expertise to implement their projects, Sannam S4 said.

The competition will focus on four SDGs -- to ensure “healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, “decent work and economic growth",” responsible consumption and production” and “climate action”.

The first SDG Changemaker Competition was launched in 2020 in partnership with the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Students were asked to provide solutions to local sustainability problems through a poster.

In that competition, three changemakers were selected and awarded seed money and are currently implementing their project.

In 2020, the first three prizes were bagged by Radhika Sen of National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kannur; Nikunj Aggarwal, BCom student at Delhi University (DU) came second; and Chanchal Gupta from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) came third.

Sen’s first prize winning poster focussed on reducing carbon footprint. Aggarwal created a poster on ensuring poor children have access to quality education through technology and a healthy environment; and Gupta’s was focussed on clean water and sanitation.

Disclosure: Careers360 is media partner for Sannam S4 Annual SDG Conclave 2021