THE ITALIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE 2030 AGENDA: A BEST PRACTICE EVENT

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze a best practice event organized and managed by the Italian Public Administration concerning the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For this reason, after a detailed literature review on event management, this paper explores the concept of sustainable development and focuses on the traditional elements of social, environmental and economic pillars within the context of planned events. From this point of view, a relevant experience is the case of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, coordinated by the Prefect of Rome. Indeed, the latter, decided to adopt actions consistent with sustainability standards, thanks to the design of an inter-institutional network and the engagement of institutions at different levels. The Prefect of Rome achieved, in a very short term, three main results: coordination of the activities of the working groups (SDG 17); integration of internal and external surveillance and communication systems (SDG 9); collaboration with higher education institutions to acquire and disseminate knowledge (SDG 4). To systemize and combine the outcomes of these processes, as well as to analyze their consistency with sustainable development, the System Thinking technique was used.