On February 5, European Investment Bank held its annual Civil Society Forum. Among the 130 representatives from civil society, the EIB and other stakeholders, were Partnership for Transparency e.V. members, Willem Struben, Horst Feuerstein, and Franz Kaps representing PTF e.V at the forum for the second time.
The meeting demonstrated the EIB’s strong interest in civil society engagement through the presence of senior management as well as Board members. In addition to plenary sessions the Forum had specific sessions focused on Sustainable Cities and Women’s Economic Empowerment
The first panel on Sustainable Cities: Towards a Low Carbon Future featured:
- Lina Liakou, former Deputy Mayor of Thessaloniki and Regional Director, Europe and the Middle East City and Practice Management at 100 Resilient Cities.
- Mark Major, Senior Adviser, Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)
- Eckart Würzner, Mayor, City of Heidelberg, and President Energy Cities Network.
The second on Gender in Operations: Financing Women’s Economic Empowermentfeatured:
- Madeleine Rees, Secretary General, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
- Joanna Maycock, Secretary General, European Women’s Lobby
- Mary Ellen Iskanderian, President and CEO, Women’s World Banking
- Elise Badoy, Managing Director and Deputy Head of Research at Citi
In addition to these areas, the EIB’s civil society unit will focus on how the EIB can strengthen its engagement with civil society. PTF/PTF e.V. remain eager to participate in these efforts.
