“Sustainability in Defence” Athenian Conference

The  “Sustainability  in  Defence”  Initiative,  with  the  acronym  “SiD”,  is  the Hellenic Ministry of Defence (HMoD) contribution to the current Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the EU in the area of incorporating the principles of Sustainable Development in both the Armed Forces and the Defence Industry.

This Initiative is the core business of the “SiD” Conference, which is being held in Athens, on 10th and 11th June, as part of a “Sustainability Week” that is organized by the HMoD.

The Conference will be separated in four sessions, which are: “Manpower”, “Infrastructure” and “Financing”, preceded by a “General” session, in order to cover the main components that play a decisive role in the actual implementation of Sustainability in Defence.

Speakers, representing the main stakeholders in both defence and sustainability level, not only from the domestic areas of expertise but also EU-wide, have been invited to present their views and proposals on how to render the interaction between defence and sustainability an effective and fruitful one.

The main aim of this Conference is to provide tangible evidence that certain projects, via using all available EU funding tools, can have a significant impact in improving  existing  infrastructures  and  developing  innovative  sustainable  ones, whilst, at  the  same time, are  accompanied by  initiatives that  sensitize not  only MoD’s personnel but also the society in general.

The outcome of  this  venture will  be  delivered  by  the  end  of the  Hellenic Presidency and will be passed to the forthcoming Italian Presidency, to all EU Member States and to the European External Action Service, in order to provide a useful tool towards the effort of formulation of a Defence Sustainability Concept within EU.