The EEAC (European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils) celebrated its jubilee 25th annual conference and general assembly in Maastricht between 12 and 13 October 2017.

The anniversary conference was entitled: Towards the 2030 Agenda and beyond. In order to promote sustainable development, mutual cooperation and efficient dialogue is necessary between Europe’s citizens, science and policy. At the conference, Hungary was represented by EEAC members: the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) and the National Environmental Protection Council. To ensure overall success, the interface between science, policy and society needs rethinking. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for this through keynote speeches to be followed by round table sessions. 

For the first time, all member organisations could delegate a number of youth representatives to discuss their vision for Europe’s sustainable development and environmental protection in the next 25 years. Their joint vision was presented at the conference by the speakers of youth representatives.

One of NCSD’s delegates from the University of Debrecen, Zsuzsanna Pálfi commented on the conference: “This was a great initiative to encourage mutual dialogue, exchange of information and flow of ideas starting from younger generations through more influential people. What this event confirmed for me is that decision makers will not be able to move forward unless we adjust our values and change the way we think in our everyday life. They cannot take effective action to promote sustainability and environmental protection. What we can help with is our everyday ACTIONS. As I stressed in my interview: everybody needs to act in order to create a better and more sustainable Europe.”