Tuesday afternoon will focus on children’s books with the celebrations of the SDG Book Club and its offshoot book clubs in Africa and Brazil.

Wednesday afternoon starts with The London Book Fair signing the SDG Publishers Compact and the opportunity for all signatories present at the fair to come together to celebrate the Compact reaching more than 200 signatories.

Three sessions follow starting with a keynote from Lancet editor, Dr. Richard Horton, followed by a fireside chat with IPA President Bodour Al Qasimi.

Michiel Kolman, Chair of the IPA’s Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee will take the audience through two sessions, starting with a big picture look at what publishing can do to before narrowing down on concrete examples of what publishers are already doing.

The IPA will mark the afternoon by publishing its latest InSPIRe report which brings together the results of a series of consultations, workshops and symposium with actors from across the book sector.

Bodour Al Qasimi, IPA President said: Sustainable publishing cannot be achieved with just talk. Global publishing needs to lead by example. This is what makes IPA-led discussions on sustainability so exciting – we’re supporting an industry agenda that goes beyond words. With IPA’s support, global publishing is starting to identify specific steps so that the industry can play a more active role in the global sustainable development dialogue. In particular, the International Sustainable Publishing and Industry Resilience (Inspire) Initiative has united the entire value chain to institutionalize sustainability standards, adopt progress reporting, and promote multi-stakeholder action.

Andy Ventris, Director of London Book Fair added: “I’m delighted that The London Book Fair is signing up to the SDG Publishers Compact. We are proud to back this important initiative, and look forward to working with our colleagues across the book industry to accelerate progress and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals together.”

Irina Lumelsky, Acting Head of United Nations Publications said: It is wonderful to see the milestone of 200 signatories of the SDG Publishers Compact. Each one of them not only raises awareness of the SDGs, but also transforms its business practice to be more sustainable. We hope to inspire more publishers at the LBF to join and lead by example. 

 

Full schedule:

 

Tuesday 5 April 2022

14:00 – 14:45 SDG Book Club: How important is sustainability in Children’s literature?   

Olympia Theatre

https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/whats-on/seminar-programme/programme/sessions-details.2568.146076.sdg-book-club-session-how-important-is-sustainability-in-children’s-literature.html

 

Moderator : Michiel Kolman, Chair of the IPA Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee

Panelists: 

  • Olatoun Gabi Williams – African Chapter SDG Book Club 
  • Karine Pansa – Brazilian SDG Book Club 
  • Irina Lumelsky – UN Publications

  

Wednesday 6 April 2022

 

Sustainability Afternoon

SDG Publishers Compact photo op – https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/whats-on/seminar-programme/programme/sessions-details.2568.146644.sdg-publishers-compact.html

 

13.00 – 14.30  Sustainability keynote https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/whats-on/seminar-programme/programme/sessions-details.2568.145412.sustainability-keynote.html

  • Dr. Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet

Followed by fireside chat with Bodour Al Qasimi, IPA President 

 

14.30 – 15.30 Sustainability in the Publishing industry https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/whats-on/seminar-programme/programme/sessions-details.2568.145413.sustainability-in-the-publishing-industry.html

Moderator: Michiel Kolman; Chair of the IPA’s Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee

  • Stephen Lottinga, The Publishers Association (UK)
  • Ken Wilson-Max, SDGs children’s author perspective
  • Jessica Lobo, UN Global Compact 
  • Q&A 

 

15.30 – 16.30 Taking practical steps towards sustainability https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/whats-on/seminar-programme/programme/sessions-details.2568.145414.taking-practical-steps-towards-sustainability.html

Moderator: Michiel Kolman 

  • Making the sector more inclusive: Caroline Priday, Co-Head of PUP Europe, Princeton University Press
  • Making the sector more sustainable: Rachel Martin, Elsevier
  • Making the sector more equitable: Stacy Scott, Taylor and Francis ( Winner WIPO ABC award)
  • Focus on the importance of collaboration and partnership: Karina Urquhart, Green Book Alliance 

About the InSPIRe Plan

InSPIRe stands for International Sustainable Publishing & Industry Resilience. It is an unprecedented IPA initiative to improve cooperation across the entire publishing spectrum, from publishers, booksellers, and libraries, to teachers, technology companies, regulators, and everyone in between.

InSPIRe grew from the 2020 IPA report From Response to Recovery, which presents the findings of an IPA member survey to gauge the effects of the pandemic on different markets. A key revelation of this exercise was a near-universal appetite for greater cooperation across the book space, especially with adjacent industries and functions that have no history of partnership.

 

About the SDG Book Club

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Book Club was launched at Bologna International Children’s Book Fair in 2019 and aims to use books as a tool to encourage children ages 6-12 to interact with the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a curated reading list of books from around the world related to each of the 17 SDGs in all six official UN languages—Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

The book club was created by the United Nations in cooperation with the International Publishers Association (IPA), the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Board for Books for Young People (IBBY) and Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdgbookclub

 

The SDG Publishers Compact

The compact features 10 action points that publishers, publishing associations and others can commit to undertaking in order to accelerate progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Signatories aspire to develop sustainable practices and act as champions of the SDGs, publishing books and journals that will help inform, develop and inspire action in that direction.

www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact

 

About the SDGs

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by world leaders at the historic Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. Encompassing everything from health, to gender equality, and education, the Goals will mobilize efforts around the world to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment