The Earth Institute, Columbia University; the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); the Global Association of Master’s in Development Practice Programs (MDP); and India China Institute (ICI), The New School are partnering on the Fourth Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) on September 21 & 22, 2016. The New School will host the closing session of the conference, entitled Social Justice, Peace, & Sustainable Futures, on September 22, from 6 pm to 8 pm.

In 2015 United Nations member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the most ambitious and encompassing agenda to date. The SDGs call for the eradication of poverty and hunger (SDGs 1 and 2), the achievement of universal healthcare and education (SDGs 3 and 4), sustainable cities that support resilient communities (SDG 11), and an end to conflict and the promotion of peace and justice (SDG 16). The closing session of ICSD will focus on the theme of SDGs 16 and its interconnectedness with other SDG priorities. Speakers will discuss how the promotion of peace and good governance globally are critical to achieving poverty eradication, universal health care and education, sustainable cities, and the preservation of ecosystem services.

Program Agenda

5:15           Doors Open, Seating begins

6:00           Welcome, David E. Van Zandt, President, The New School

6:10           Opening Remarks, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University

Professor Sachs will thank ICI, The New School for this wonderful partnership. He will talk broadly about the unprecedented agenda of the SDGs, especially their commitment to equality and social justice, and the role of good governance in strong institutions in their realization.

6:20           Video Message from President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia

In the President’s video message he discussed the recent progress towards peace between the federal government and the FARC in Colombia, and also Colombia’s strong commitment to the SDGs.

6:30           Keynote Address, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja

The Archbishop will discuss inter-faith partnerships for peace, how peace is fundamental to the achievement of all the SDGs, and how faith communities can come together to accelerate progress on the SDGs.

6:50           Discussants

Each person will make brief (5 minute) remarks in response to the earlier presentations and the event themes (social justice, peace, and sustainable futures)

Yves Leterme, Secretary General, UN IDEA; Former Prime Minister of Belgium

                    Abigail Moy, Director, Global Legal Empowerment Network, Namati

Mary Watson, Executive Dean for Public Engagement, The New School

7:05           Expanded Discussion

Prof. Sachs and Cardinal Onaiyekan will each have 5 minutes to respond to the discussants.

7:15           Discussion, Moderated by Ashok Gurung, Director, India China Institute, The New School

The moderator will put a few questions to the five panelists, and then open up the floor for questions from the audience.

Participant Biographies

David E. Van Zandt became The New School’s president in 2011. He has advanced a vision for The New School that elevates the university’s core values of creativity and social engagement and connects its strengths in design, social research, liberal arts, and performance. He has led the development of strategic initiatives to deepen The New School’s commitment to student success, global education, new and distinctive educational models, and institutional effectiveness and assessment.

David has spoken and written widely on higher education, including regular articles in the Huffington Post on topics such as college accountability, universities and the creative economy, and the importance of education that fosters innovation and the courage to bring about positive change in the world. He has spoken on panels at the United Nations, the Taihu World Culture Forum, and the World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He holds an AB from Princeton University, a JD from Yale Law School, and a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. He has twice been named among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. He was called by the New York Times, “probably the most important economist in the world,” and by Time Magazine “the world’s best known economist.” A recent survey by The Economist Magazine ranked Professor Sachs as among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade.

Professor Sachs served as the Director of the Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016. He was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016, and also serves as Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Sustainable Development Goals, and previously advised both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.  He is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. Sachs is Director of both the Center for Sustainable Development, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

H.E. John Cardinal Onaiyekan is the Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, and a Co-Moderator of the World Council and Co-Chair of the African Council of Religious Leaders at Religions for Peace. His Eminence Onaiyekan was elevated to Cardinal on 24 November 2012. He was born on 29 January 1944 in Kabba, Nigeria. He received a licentiate in theology, a licentiate in Sacred Scriptures and a doctorate in theology from Pontifical Urbanian University. Cardinal Onaiyekan was ordained in 1969 at Sacred Heart Church in Kabba. He served in a variety of posts as a priest before he was ordained titular bishop of Tunusuda and auxiliary bishop of Ilorian on 6 January 1983. He was later appointed Bishop of Ilorin in 1984 and then Coadjutor Bishop of Abuja in 1990. Cardinal Onaiyekan became Bishop of Abuja on 28 September 1992 and Archbishop of Abuja on 26 March 1994. Cardinal Onaiyekan has served as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and President of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. He has also served as President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. He currently serves as a Member of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and as a Member of the Presidential Committee of the Pontificial Council for the Family. Cardinal Onaiyekan was named Paz Christi International’s 2012 Peace Laureate.

Yves Leterme, a Belgian national, is the Secretary-General of the Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization International IDEA. Prior to International IDEA, Leterme served as Prime Minister of Belgium (2007 to 2011) and then as Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris (2011 to 2014).

Before serving as Prime Minister, Leterme held a variety of political posts in Belgium. After starting his career as an Alderman in his home town of Ypres, he became a Member of Parliament in the Chamber of Representatives, Group Chairman and leader of the opposition, Secretary-General and Chairman of the CD&V party, Minister-President and Minister for Agriculture of the Flemish Government, Federal Senator, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Budget and Mobility, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. During Leterme’s tenure as Prime Minister, Belgium held the Presidency of the European Union. Leterme has also worked, inter alia, as a deputy auditor at the Belgian Court of Audit and as an administrator at the European Parliament. Leterme, who was born on 6 October 1960, has degrees in Law and in Political Sciences from the University of Ghent.

Abigail Moy is Director of the Global Legal Empowerment Network at Namati. Abigail has worked with access to justice programs in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, in cooperation with the World Bank, The Asia Foundation, Fundacion Soros-Guatemala, and Timap for Justice. She previously clerked for the Hon. David H. Coar in the Northern District of Illinois, served in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the United States Department of State, and worked in the New York office of White & Case, LLP.  Abigail was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, and holds a master’s degree in law and development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Mary R. Watson is the Executive Dean of the New School for Public Engagement. She has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, and she was previously the Chair of the graduate programs in Organizational Change and Nonprofit Management. Watson is a recipient of The New School’s Distinguished University Teaching Award. She earned her PhD in organization studies from Vanderbilt University.

Watson serves in leadership roles worldwide to reimagine management, sustainability, and innovation education. Watson is a founding steering committee member of the The New School Social Innovation Initiative, a university-wide initiative that created The New Challenge, the New School’s social innovation ideas competition, as well as The New School Collaboratory, a university wide fund and action research project to study collaboration between the University and its community partners. She has been active in Ashoka University’s global network, a project of more than 20 universities advancing empathy and innovation education. Watson is a member of 50+20, a global network of business school deans and partners reinventing management education worldwide, focusing on sustainability, collaboration, and globally responsible leadership. The 50+20 project, in partnership with the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GLRI, Brussels), Principles for Responsible Leadership (New York, PRME), and the UN Global Compact, has launched a higher education leadership innovation cohort project in four global locations: The New School (January 2014), University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, Oulu University in Finland, and CENTRUM in Peru.