The SDG Pavilion at the United Nations General Assembly
The theme for the 78th annual United Nations General Assembly was “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
To reflect this theme and to answer the urgent need to put the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track, a bold initiative took shape to create a purpose-built SDG Pavilion, on the grounds of the United Nations during UN General Assembly week to serve as a forum for programming to bring together world leaders, business decision makers, NGOs, celebrities and advocates to advance the goals.
The custom-built venue featured a large tent structure, encased by an interactive scenic installation by world-renowned designer Es Devlin, that represented the 17 SDGs. Each 16’ tall monolith represented one of the SDGs and contained a multimedia exhibit from different cultural collaborators that spoke to the Goals, from zero hunger and quality education to responsible consumption and production and sustainable cities and communities.
The Pavilion interior transported guests into a forest with over 100 living trees and plants. All fauna species were indigenous to New York and found a second life after the Pavilion with the New York Restoration Project, a local organization whose mission is to work collaboratively with communities across the five boroughs to renovate gardens, restore parks and plant trees to transform the city’s landscape.
Programming at the Pavilion kicked off with a Half Time Show, a nod to reaching the halfway mark of the 2030 deadline initially set by the UN General Assembly in 2015 to achieved the SDGs. The Halftime Show commenced with a performance by Brooklyn United, a local youth music and arts program, and featured speakers such as Orlando Bloom, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Richard Curtis and more. The evening ended on a high note with musical performances by Grammy Award winning artists Yo-Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo.
Throughout High Level Week, there were over 15 unique programming sessions at the SDG Pavilion including a Women’s Rise lunch which hosted guests such as actress Natalie Portman, Queen Rania of Jordan, designer Diane von Fürstenberg and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. Invitees listened to a conversation onstage between former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and philanthropist Melinda Gates before enjoying lunch. Other program highlights include the SDG Advocates Meeting with Secretary General António Guterres and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley; a screening of The Agreement, a film directed by Raeshem Nijhon; and Global Carbon Pricing Challenge, Driving Global Climate Action, which featured remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Empire was honored to collaborate with the United Nations Office of Partnerships, the United Nations Foundation, Project Everyone, and countless other partners to present the 2023 SDG Pavilion.
To learn view the programming from the 2023 SDG Pavilion including the Half Time Show visit https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1w/k1wrak7roa
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
