Policy Innovations for Transformative Change: Peer Talk LIVE on 7th December

Join us for our upcoming Peer Talk LIVE on Policy Innovations for Transformative Change with Katja Hujo, Senior Research Coordinator and Report Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and Gabriele Koehler, Senior Research Associate at UNRISD, on 7th December 2016 from 2-3 pm (GMT+1) as they address the challenge of putting the Sustainable Development Agenda into action by focusing on the innovations and pathways to policy change.

The speakers will engage in a lively discussion by delving into UNRISD’s 2016 Flagship Report that calls for radical change in political priorities to implement the Sustainable Development Agenda. It proposes to achieve this by putting social and ecological justice at the top of the to-do list and making the economy work for people and planet. The strength of the report lies in the evidence it builds for this argument through a wide range of case studies which show that integrated and coherent policy making with an “eco-social” focus can create more inclusive, equitable and sustainable societies.

Drawing on numerous policy innovations from the South, the report goes beyond buzzwords and brings to the development community a definition of transformation which can be used as a benchmark for policy making towards the 2030 Agenda. Bringing together five years of UNRISD research across six areas— social policy, care policy, social and solidarity economy, eco-social policy, domestic resource mobilisation, and politics and governance—the report explores what transformative change really means for societies and individuals. The full report can be found here http://bit.ly/UNRISDReport

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session where the two speakers will take live questions from the audience. You may also ask your questions in advance on Twitter by using #PeerTalkLIVE. To join the live webinar, go to http://bit.ly/PeerTalk_PolicyInnov (event number: 957 404 916; event password: KCSD2030)

The event will be moderated by Simona Costanzo-Sow, Course-Coordinator at the UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development.

About the Speakers:

Katja Hujo

Katja Hujo is Senior Research Coordinator in the Social Policy and Development Programme of UNRISD and member of the Institute’s Senior Management Group, supporting the Director in research management, quality control and external relations. She is coordinator and lead author of the new UNRISD flagship report “Policy Innovations for Transformative Social Change – Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Katja’s academic work focuses on social policy, poverty reduction and socio-economic development. Much of her research is at the interface of economics and politics, for example her research on the political economy of pension reform, on social protection and poverty reduction, on social policy in mineral-rich contexts, migration governance and social rights for migrants, and more recently, on the politics of domestic resource mobilisation for social development. In her work, she combines macro analysis with analysis of impacts of policies on specific vulnerable groups such as women, children or migrants. In addition, she advocates for an integration of development and human rights’ perspectives in research, policy and practice.

Katja joined UNRISD in 2006. Before, she worked as a research fellow and lecturer at the Latin American Institute at Free University Berlin (FUB). She studied economics (Diplom-Volkswirtschaft) and political science (MA) at Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) and National University of Córdoba, Argentina, and holds a doctoral degree in economics from FUB.

Gabriele Koehler

Gabriele has been an UNRISD Senior Research Associate since 2014. She is a development economist. After a career with the United Nations spanning more than 25 years in a wide range of positions with UN-ESCAP, UNCTAD, UNDP and UNICEF, she is interested in three areas of research and policy thinking: the emerging development agenda beyond 2015 and the – neglected – role of the state; the discourse around human security and human rights; and the interface of social protection with broader social and economic policies, notably employment and decent work, international trade and investment policies. Her publications, journalistic articles and advisory work focus on political economy and policy issues. Her regional specialisation is Asia, notably South Asia and Southeast Asia.

By training, Gabriele is a macroeconomist educated at the universities of Tübingen, Munich and Regensburg in Germany. She has been an ACUNS Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Ottawa (1989/90) and a Visiting Fellow at the IDS Sussex (2010/12).

About UNSSC Peer Talk

UNSSC Peer Talk offers a free online collection of videos provided by UN senior colleagues sharing their knowledge and discussing their viewpoints on issues related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNSSC Peer Talk LIVE provides a platform for UN staff and stakeholders from academia, foundations, civil society and the private sector to join a series of free live webinars and allows the audience to ask and interact with senior UN officials and representatives from different stakeholders in real-time. It offers a space for peers to talk to each other on topics related to their work on sustainable development and leverage their knowledge to contribute in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Website: http://peertalk.unssc.org/en

You can also access Peer Talk through a mobile app on Android and iOS devices.

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peer-talk/id1058885248?mt=8  
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.unssc.peertalk