The Facility supports policy dialogue, and exchange across EU partner countries with events ranging from technical meetings to high-level policy debates. Support from the Switch to Green Facility  includes full assistance in policy dialogue events, ranging from content formulation to event organisation and communication. The Facility may indicatively develop a concept for the agenda, select qualified speakers, and take care of communication and media as needed. A tailor-made approach to event organisation is applied by the Facility.

Creating platforms for policy exchange

Events and meetings, including on-line events, can be effective tools in exchanging lessons learnt,  highlighting impact to development practitioners and stakeholders, and facilitating policy debates to move the green or circular economy agenda forward.

Policy and technical dialogue with EU development partners, supported by the Facility,  may  include, for example, contributions to the organisation of EU Circular Economy Missions and other outreach events to mobilise government counterparts and businesses in third countries, or bringing entrepreneurs and their stories on green and circular businesses to global events, such as the European Development Days, to highlight the potential for replication of good practices.

Inspiring and learning

On a regular basis, SWITCH to Green also hosts, organises and facilitates events promoting the circular (and more broadly the green) economy, with recent highlights including side-events at the 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, the 2019 High-level Regional Conference on Circular and Green Industry in Dakar, and the 4th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA4) in Nairobi.

A media round table at the 4th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA4), for example, brought different SWITCH programmes together, enabling stakeholders from SWITCH partner countries to:

  • Share their experience
  • Encourage cross regional learning to scale up and replicate good practices
  • Highlight examples of the transition to a green economy across Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean
  • Share stories of success with journalists to generate media coverage on the SWITCH Programmes.
  • Complement the exhibition by some of the project beneficiaries at the Sustainable Innovative Expo

High-level representatives of the UN Environment and the EU joint the roundtable to share their insights into the unique role of the Programme in steering the switch to an inclusive green economy.