Institute of Future and Innovation Studies Director Francesco Lapenta Presents Report at UN Event
The JCU Institute of Future and Innovation Studies’ Director Francesco Lapenta presented his report of a new Digital Compact at the “Navigating through the Poly-Crisis: Towards a Global Pact for a better Future for People and Planet” event organized by the UN Office in Brussels, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) EU Office in Brussels, and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS).
The symposium, which took place in Brussels, opened with insightful remarks by Maria João Rodrigues, President of FEPS and coordinator and editor of the report, Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Camilla Brückner, Director of the UN Office in Brussels, Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, and Caroline Gennez, Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities, Belgium.
A select group of four experts was invited to present key findings from the forthcoming report “For a New Global Deal. Preparing the Summit of the Future,” preparing the groundwork for an informed discussion: Azita Berar Awad, Chair of the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and Director of Policy at the Global Labor Organization; Paolo Guerrieri, Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs and former Italian Senator; Arancha González Laya, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs at the European Union and Cooperation of Spain; and Francesco Lapenta, Director of the John Cabot University Institute of Future and Innovation Studies.
Other presenters were Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS); Oliver Röpke, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC); Pedro Miguel Da Costa e Silva, Ambassador of Brazil to the EU; Mekondjo Kaapanda-Girnus, Ambassador of Namibia to Belgium, the Netherlands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and Mission to the European Union; Renata Dwan, Special Adviser, Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.
The symposium ended with closing remarks by Maria João Rodrigues, President of FEPS, and Belén Martinez Carbonell, EEAS Acting Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, along with a concluding statement by Christiane Kesper, Director of the FES Office in Brussels.
This event not only highlighted the urgency of global cooperation, but also set a collaborative tone for the upcoming opening of the UN Summit of the Future in Nairobi where the Institute’s Director Francesco Lapenta will present the report.
