The Council of Europe’s very structure (consisting of the Committee of Ministers and other intergovernmental bodies, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Conference of International NGOs, as well as the European Court of Human Rights) facilitates partnerships with and between national, regional and local authorities and civil society in member States and beyond to promote sustainable development. In addition, our inter-institutional agreements and contacts with other international organisations (in particular, the European Union, the United Nations and the OSCE) facilitate co-operation for SDG implementation.

The Council of Europe Landscape Convention (ETS No. 176)  encourages and requires European and international cooperation between States, international organisations (such as UNESCO, the European Union, and the IUCN), and non-governmental organisations, specifically for the effective protection, management, and planning of landscapes. It requires Parties to cooperate through technical and scientific assistance, the exchange of information and best practices, and the training and exchange of experts in landscape matters. It recognises the value of international treaties and instruments working in tandem and stresses the importance of aligning with and complementing other international sustainable development frameworks. While it does not address all aspects of Goal 17 (such as finance, technology, or systemic issues outside the landscape context), its mechanisms for partnership and cooperation are strongly aligned with the spirit of Goal 17.

The Guiding principles for an integrated approach to culture, nature and landscape management - “L.I.N.K.E.D.”, elaborated by the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP), encourage broad cooperation between authorities, NGOs, and citizens and transdisciplinary approaches, which reflects global and local partnerships for sustainability.

The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention,  ETS No. 104) serves as a vital tool for advancing sustainable development by conserving biodiversity, encouraging international cooperation, and supporting the responsible use of natural resources.

The Bern Convention has worked to improve policy coherence in biodiversity conservation, particularly regarding protected areas. Through the Emerald Network of areas of special conservation interest, the Convention promotes regular monitoring of key parameters within designated sites. It also evaluates the sufficiency and effectiveness of protected area networks at the national level, as well as their complementarity across the Pan-European scale. These efforts contribute to harmonising policies and strengthening cooperation among countries for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of natural resources.

The Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards contributes to SDG 17 by fostering international cooperation, partnerships and multilateral dialogue that promote human rights, responsible business conduct, the rule of law and sustainable development. Through targeted intergovernmental engagement, normative instruments, joint initiatives and active participation in global processes, the Council of Europe works with UN bodies, governments, civil society and the private sector to advance shared goals and catalyse collective action. These actions are based on the alignment of national and regional regulatory frameworks with international standards — including the Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)3 on Human Rights and Business, anchored in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

To support policy coherence and information sharing, the Department established an online Human Rights and Business Platform — a centralised repository of national action plans, legislative frameworks, good practices and implementation tools. Representatives of the Department took part in the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the annual global gathering convened by the UN to accelerate implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This participation helps integrate European human rights and rule-of-law perspectives into global policy discussions, strengthens partnerships with UN entities and contributes CoE expertise to multistakeholder deliberations on corporate respect for human rights and access to remedy.

Partnerships are strengthened by hosting and co-organising international events that bring together diverse actors in pursuit of SDG 17 objectives. Notably, the first Council of Europe Business and Human Rights Forum — 2025 BRAVE (Business-Rights- Action-Values-Ethics) brought together businesses, business associations, representatives of authorities and Council of Europe experts to discuss human rights, democracy, and the rule of law as basis for economic and social progress.

Likewise, Online Academic Forum on Business and Human Rights demonstrates the organisation’s role as a bridge between research, policy and practice reaffirmed the Council of Europe’s role in shaping the human rights and business agenda and an international platform for cooperation between policymakers, academia and businesses.

 

The World Conference on Constitutional Justice, for which the Venice Commission acts as the Secretariat, unites 121 Constitutional Courts and equivalent bodies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. Its main purpose is to facilitate judicial dialogue between constitutional court judges on a global scale. The exchange of information that takes in the World Conference furthers reflection on arguments that promote the basic goals inherent to national constitutions. Even if these texts often differ substantially, discussion on the underlying constitutional concepts unites constitutional court judges from various parts of the world committed to promoting constitutional justice in their own country.

In 2022, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia hosted the World Conference’s 5th Congress in Bali (4-7 October 2022). The topic of this event was “Constitutional Justice and Peace,” and discussed the role of constitutional courts in preventing conflict, maintaining peace within the state and settling disputes that otherwise result in internal conflict, as well as reconciliation following internal armed conflicts.

The 6th Congress of the WCCJ will be hosted by the Constitutional Court of Spain in 2025.

The Venice Commission's secretariat also participates in the annual events of different linguistic and regional groups of the WCCJ. In 2023, the Secretary of the Venice Commission and the Special Representative took part in the Conference and annual general meeting of the South and Eastern African Chief Justices' Forum held in Arusha, Tanzania.

In 2021, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons called on national parliaments to mobilise for the adoption and implementation of the United Nations Global Compacts for Migrants and Refugees by all Council of Europe member states. The Committee had stressed "that by joining forces, parliaments can change the course of things at the national, regional and global levels". These international instruments of the United Nations, non-binding and optional, constitute according to the Commission "an unprecedented push forward for the protection of the human rights of refugees and migrants". They create a better-defined framework for international cooperation and development and set clear guidelines for targeted actions and support programs. In the Resolution 2379 (2021) on the Role of parliaments in implementing the United Nations global compacts for migrants and refugees, the Assembly lists a number of parliamentary action measures based on their functions of representation, legislation, control and international parliamentary diplomacy .

This was further supported by the Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2408 (2021) on the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention: the Council of Europe and the international protection of refugees . The Assembly welcomed initiatives to consolidate and make more effective the international protection of refugees and asylum seekers. Having expressed its concern about the increasing frequency of expulsions and pushbacks of refugees and asylum-seekers at Europe’s borders, the Assembly recalled that the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights required States to protect the rights of people to seek asylum and ensure protection from refoulement, even if they enter a country irregularly. The Assembly aligned itself with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in recognising that the efficient and expeditious return of persons found not to be in need of international protection was key to maintaining the integrity of asylum systems in Europe and of the international protection system as a whole. National parliaments should play their role in putting in place efficient asylum procedures and systems that maintain fairness safeguards and adhere to international law. To uphold fundamental rights of those who flee persecution for reasons specified in the 1951 Refugee Convention, States were called upon to ensure full support to UN-led priority initiatives for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers and the relevant Council of Europe actions. The support and political will of State parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and their commitment and generosity, are crucial and should not be taken for granted. Finally, national parliaments were called upon to act resolutely at the political level to ensure positive attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and beyond.

 

The Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe and its courses on human rights, many of which focus on CoE Convention(s) standards are increasingly available in more European language and Arabic. They are more and more used beyond the European continent, including in the neighbouring regions (South Mediterranean and Central Asia) or third countries interested or party to CoE Conventions open for their ratification. This is particularly the case of some Latin-American countries. The online courses are accessible in the HELP e-learning platform

 

Most of the Council of Europe Criminal Law Conventions, particularly those on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters, provide an international framework for practical cooperation among their parties, enhancing the effectiveness of cross-border investigations, evidence gathering, and prosecution, while upholding human rights and the rule of law. Having demonstrated their effectiveness for decades, many of these conventions should be promoted globally to extend their benefits to third countries.

The Saint-Denis Convention promotes a multiagency integrated approach as the key for successful safe, secure and welcoming sports events, emphasising the need to reinforce partnerships between public and private stakeholders in the field of sport – Governments, law enforcement, local authorities, sports authorities, supporter organisations and local communities -, from local to international levels, to effectively meet these goals.

The Anti-Doping Convention provides a cooperation network between governmental institutions, international anti-doping and sport organisations for the harmonization and mutual support in implementation of programmes aimed at promoting clean sport and protecting athletes. This network consists of 52 States parties, 3 Observer states and 13 organisations, among which are the UNESCO, EU, International Olympic Committee, World Athletics, as well as organizations that have concluded Memoranda of Understanding with the Council of Europe – FIFA, UEFA, WADA.

The Macolin Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions provides for both a national and international framework of cooperation between all interested stakeholders, in the form of national platforms and their international network (the Group of Copenhagen).

See also:

Promotion of human rights in sport

Through its co-operation activities, the CoE works towards strengthening and promoting civil participation in decision making, particularly, in partnership with other NGOs and local authorities, an example being The “Kyiv Public platform” composed of over 40 NGOs that was established and became a sustainable structure and which is regularly consulted in policymaking and to facilitate the communication between the civil society and the Kyiv City State administration and Kyiv City Council.

 

The North-South Centre - an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe - was established as the organisation’s window to the world and to appeal for greater international solidarity, to promote North-South dialogue and to raise awareness on global interdependence. In pursuing this task, under the principles of dialogue, partnership and solidarity, through a quadrilogue bottom-up approach, it brings together representatives from national governments, national parliaments, local and regional authorities and civil society.

The North-South Centre’s Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship also contributes to this goal. It encourages the definition of a common agenda, through the quadrilogue approach, and the implementation of common actions to foster democratic participation and global citizenship among young people, contributing to this goal of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

From 2016 to 2020 the North-South Centre’s Network on Youth and Global Citizenship has been focusing on SGD16. The umbrella theme of the Universities represent the thread that connects all the activities, advocacy efforts and awareness raising initiatives taking place in the framework of the universities, ensuring coherence and greater impact in the medium term. Every year, the umbrella theme is broken down into specific annual focuses. In 2018 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies”, in 2019 “Youth and justice” and in 2020 the theme is “Institutions”.

Take an insight into the latest editions of the University on Youth and Development and Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship.

During the biennium 2018-2019 the North-South Centre’s contribution to the “Youth, Peace and Security” (YPS) agenda was recognised by its main stakeholders. Funded through a transversal scheme of projects and programmes - South Programme III funded by the European Union, the Euro-Mediterranean youth cooperation project and in synergy with the Network on Youth and Global Citizenship - the North-South Centre explored the complementary relationship between democratic participation, human rights and peacebuilding. To that end, the North-South Centre has been promoting and participating in a series of initiatives, following a path that goes form uplifting youth engagement in peace and democratic processes in the 2018 Lisbon Forum, to enhancing the interregional and multilevel cooperation to support such youth engagement in peace processes in the 2019 follow-up seminar organised in Jordan.

The 2019 Lisbon Forum addressed the relation between Development and Human Rights, the Rule of Law and Democracy: achieving together the Sustainable Development Goals. It not only promoted a Council of Europe coordinated approach but also prompted widespread support for the notion that the implementation of the UN SDGs could greatly benefit from a stronger regional (continental) effort of SDG governance and coordination.

For 2020-2023, the North-South Centre implemented a project which aimed to ensure youth partnership for development and global citizenship through interregional cooperation between Europe, the Southern Mediterranean and beyond. The project was a follow-up action of the Euro-Mediterranean Youth Cooperation Project (2018-2019), which incorporated in an integral manner the work of the North-South Centre's Network on Youth and Global Citizenship and its universities for the period 2020-2023.

The European Heritage Strategy for the 21st century aims to promote a unifying approach to cultural heritage as a resource for democracy. The ST21 MooC (Massive Open Online Course) helps to address some of the challenges related to social cohesion, economic and territorial development, as well as education and knowledge. It provides heritage managers at local, regional and national levels with the knowledge and skills to implement the Strategy’s recommendations. The MooC also guides participants in the analysis of their heritage related projects and activities to become part of the Strategy 21 good practices and network. The objective of the (10 module) course is for each activity/initiative to become a good practice model - for setting Strategy 21 standards - and to be included on the ST21 website collection. This will help the spread of good practices in and among the member States of the Council of Europe, further enable exchange of project information and increase networking possibilities with other stakeholders.

The 2026 annual theme of the European Heritage Days “Heritage at Risk” fosters cross-border cooperation and multi-sectoral partnerships among heritage professionals, local communities, governments, and international organisations. The theme supports collaborative preservation efforts, encourages knowledge sharing, and leverages resources to address threats to cultural heritage on a pan-European scale

As stated in CM/Res(2013)66  Article 1§2 and CM/Res(2023)2 Section II, Priority Field of Action 5, the Enlarged Partial Agreement (EPA) on Cultural Routes should foster the development of partnerships to increase the resources available for cultural tourism, including partnerships with public and private organisations active in the tourism sector to develop tourist products and tools targeting all potential publics. In doing so, the EPA aligns with the broader goal of SDG 17 on promoting effective partnerships to achieve sustainable development objectives, insofar as participative and sustainable tourism development supports multiple SDGs.

This approach was reaffirmed during the 14th Advisory Forum, which noted that partnerships between Cultural Routes, tour operators, craftspeople, farmers, food producers and small businesses can generate high-quality, place-based experiences that revitalise traditional crafts and energise rural economies.  The Forum also emphasised that collaboration among route members, municipalities and non-governmental organisations can amplify bottom-up initiatives to develop local intangible cultural heritage and connect them to wider networks. This closely aligns with Target 17.H on encouraging and promoting effective public, public-private and civil-society partnerships.

Such partnerships frequently involve entities located in countries and regions with differing financial capacities and socio-economic development levels, including more vulnerable and peripheral territories within the European landscape, thereby facilitating knowledge-sharing and joint projects across asymmetric contexts, in line with SDG 17 Targets 17.6, 17.9, and 17.G, emphasizing the importance of cooperation across asymmetrical contexts to pursue the SDGs.

 

The EU/CoE Roma Integration III JP strengthens regional co-operation in the Western Balkans and Türkiye and promotes partnerships among governments, civil society,  international organisations, and Roma communities to ensure coordinated and sustainable policy implementation.

The Parliamentary Assembly plays an active part in mobilising partnerships at local, national and international levels towards implementation of SDGs. In Resolution 2271 (2019) on Strengthening co-operation with the United Nations in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Resolution 2272 (2019) on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals: synergy needed on the part of all stakeholders, from parliaments to local authorities, the Assembly called for enhancing the Council of Europe contribution to, and the role of Parliaments and local authorities in, implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Resolution 2644 (2026) on “The 65th anniversary of the European Social Charter: social rights as the foundation of resilient democracies and social justice” emphasises the need for social rights-centred approach towards reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and establishing cooperation on social rights between parliaments and the national human rights institutions.

Moreover, Implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals: contribution by Parliaments was one of the main topics of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament organised by the Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on 24-25 October 2019.

More recently, the Assembly adopted Resolution 2581 (2025) and Recommendation 2288 (2025) on “The need for a renewed rules-based international order”, urging member States to engage in dialogue, strengthen partnerships, and enhance cooperation with global institutions to effectively tackle pressing issues such as climate change, security, and humanitarian crises. In Resolution 2603 (2025) and Recommendation (2296) 2025 on “Strengthening relations between the Council of Europe and Latin America”, the Assembly emphasised the deep ties that Europe shares with Latin America, stressing the importance to enhance cooperation in addressing global challenges.

Furthermore, the Assembly is currently working on reports on “Shaping the Parliamentary Assembly’s relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council” and on “Role of the Parliamentary Assembly and National Parliaments in implementing the outcome of the 2024 Summit for the Future”.

 

The approach of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is based on three key principles: achieving SDGs is the shared responsibility of all levels of government; local and regional authorities must have the necessary competences and financial autonomy to achieve the goals in their respective areas; citizens must always remain at the heart of the action.

The Congress plays an active role in the field by promoting cooperation at all levels. In this context, the Congress is working towards the implementation of Objective 17, as demonstrated by its willingness to intercede among different NGOs and elected officials in different discussion forums. The Congress also cooperates closely with national associations of local and regional authorities. This partnership allows to establish a truly inclusive dialogue. That is why the Congress is redoubling its efforts to strengthen these associations and develop their efficiency and autonomy.

In order to implement successfully the SDGs, the Congress cooperates a wide range of actors:

  • its institutional partners within the Council of Europe, in particular, the Parliamentary Assembly which adopted, in 2019, a resolution calling for greater synergies between the two institutions in the implementation of the SDGs and the Directorate of Programme Co-ordination.
  • international organisations representing local and regional authorities, such as United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG),
  • European institutions, as the Committee of the Regions, the CALRE and the AER.

The Congress adopted the following texts in relation to SDG 17:

  • REC 511 (2024) - The UN Pact for the Future: The essential role of local and regional authorities in global sustainable development
  • RES 500 (2024) and REC 510 (2024) - Local and regional responses to natural disasters and climate hazards: from risk preparedness to resilience
  • Report CG(2023)45-20 and RES 495 (2023) - European Urban Charter III (2023): Urban living in the era of transformations

The Council of Europe is implementing a comprehensive co-operation programme to help its member states to integrate human rights standards in their penitentiary, probation and law-enforcement institutions with the aim, among other, to promote partnerships between the public and civil society sectors in relation to oversight of police activity, independent monitoring of places of detention, rehabilitation of prisoners and their reintegration into society.

 

 

This page reflects recent and ongoing developments in the activities of the Council of Europe towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The Council’s historical activities in this area have been archived.