On Saturday, 17 May 2025, the City of Bonn, in cooperation with the Regional Representation of the European Commission in Bonn and together with many organizations committed to Europe, celebrated Bonn's Europe Day on the market square in front of the Old Town Hall. The motto of this year's event was “One Europe, many perspectives”. There was a special focus on accessibility and inclusion.

The Bonn Europe Day 2025 was financially supported by the state initiative Europe Checks of the Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media and Head of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia.

For the fifth time, the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), based in Bonn, organized the IRENA Innovation Week. The aim of the Innovation Week is to bring together a broad spectrum of leaders, experts, industry representatives, academics, young people and policy makers to discuss breakthrough innovations that can accelerate the global energy transition and promote sustainable development, driven by renewable energy and digitalization technologies.

The fifth edition, Innovation Week 2025, focused on innovation in infrastructure and renewable energy-based solutions for sustainable development.

For the sixth time, the city network ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Bonn, together with partners, are inviting you to Daring Cities, the forum for cities in the climate crisis.

Daring Cities is the global forum for cities that are taking ambitious action to tackle the climate crisis. It takes place at the same time as the June negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and enables mayors, experts and climate negotiators to engage in informal exchange to improve cooperation between decision-making levels.

This year, the focus will be on multi-level cooperation and municipal involvement in the Nationally Determined Contributions, which will be discussed at COP 30 in Belém in the fall.

Under the motto “Breaking Barriers - Building Bridges”, Deutsche Welle is once again inviting journalists and media professionals from all over the world to this year's Global Media Forum in Bonn. The conference will focus on dealing with challenges such as restricted access to information, intimidation, restrictive technologies and disinformation. The “DW Freedom of Speech Award” will also be presented during the Global Media Forum. For the first time, the DW Global Media Forum will take place at various decentralized locations (including the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Funkhaus Deutsche Welle).

The City of Bonn will continue to support the conference in terms of organization and protocol. As in previous years, the City of Bonn will support the conference by making it visible in the cityscape and by participating in the networking reception for the participants.

In August, the United Nations System Staff College for the Sustainable Development Goals (UNSSC) in cooperation with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is organizing the third Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians (GCAP). The GCAP is a five-day academy for leaders that brings together 30 selected parliamentarians from around the world.

It focuses on the importance and exploration of the land restoration agenda both globally and in its national and local context. Participants will take part in specialized workshops and have the opportunity to interact with leading experts and high-level representatives of the United Nations. The City of Bonn will once again host a networking reception for the participants of the Global Changemaker Academy at the Old Town Hall.

Under the motto “17 days for the 17 goals”, the Bonn SDG Days 2025 are bringing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Bonn's commitment to the public. All interested parties are invited to take part in the program. The #ZeroHungerRun organized by Welthungerhilfe is a firmly established event. The City of Bonn is actively supporting the charity run on September 28, 2025 as a cooperation partner. Related activities are planned with the Bonn Network for Development in the 17-Goals Zone on Friedrichstraße. 

To date, four EU Clean Air Fora have taken place in Paris (2017), Bratislava (2019), Madrid (2021) and Rotterdam (2023). These have facilitated the coordinated implementation of EU legislation and policies related to improving air quality. 

In 2025, a fifth EU Clean Air Forum will be hosted in Bonn. Starting and ending times are only indicative and subject to change.

This next edition will be framed in the context of the evaluation of the National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive, due to be completed by the end of 2025, and the ongoing transposition of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive. 

Monday 1 December 2025, 09:00 - Tuesday 2 December 2025, 18:00 (CET)

 https://environment.ec.europa.eu/events/fifth-eu-clean-air-forum-2025-2025-12-01_en (opens in a new tab)

On Saturday, May 11, 2024, Bonn's annual Europe Day will take place on Market Square and in the Old Town Hall. Against the backdrop of the European elections, which will be held in Germany on 9 June 2024, European and European policy organizations, associations and initiatives from Bonn will present their work and invite citizens to discover and talk about Europe and its potential and opportunities. 

From June 3 to 13, the so-called Subsidiary Bodies of the Bonn-based United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC SB60) will once again meet at the World Conference Center Bonn. Traditionally, these "interim negotiations" are of great importance for the preparation of the next climate conference, which will take place in Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22, 2024. Around 3,000 to 4,000 delegates from all over the world regularly take part in the two-week interim negotiations. 

For the fifth time, the city network ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Bonn, together with partners, are hosting the Daring Cities forum for cities in the climate crisis. Daring Cities is the global forum for cities that are taking ambitious action to tackle the climate crisis. It coincides with the June negotiations of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and enables mayors, experts and climate negotiators to engage in informal exchange to improve cooperation between the relevant decision-making levels. 

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Federal Republic of Germany will host the central ceremony for the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, 2024 in Bonn.

There are likely to be further campaigns and events around the World Day focusing on soil as a basis for life.

In 2024, Deutsche Welle is once again inviting media professionals from all over the world to the Global Media Forum in Bonn on June 17 and 18. Around 2,000 participants from around 100 countries are once again expected to attend – and to discuss and network at - the media conference in Bonn.

The City of Bonn will again provide organizational and protocol support for the conference.

The 14th International Kant Congress will be organized and hosted by the Insitute of Philosophy of the University of Bonn and the German Kant Society. In celebration of the 300th anniversary of Kant’s birth, and in view of the political developments of our time, the theme of the congress will be “Kant’s Project of Enlightenment”. 

The University of Bonn is expecting around 1000 participants. Hendrik Wüst, Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Mayor Katja Dörner have assumed the patronage of the 14th International Kant Congress. In 2024, Bonn will also be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the German constitution, which was released here on May 23, 1949 as the "Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany" and thus came into force. An exhibition on Kant has also been running at the Federal Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn from November and will still be on until March 17.

The annual conference of the European Forest Institute (EFI) will be held in Bonn from September 18 to 20, 2024.

The City of Bonn will provide organizational and protocol support for the conference, e.g. through visibility measures in the city and protocol events such as a reception in the Old Town Hall.

The Bonn SDG Days will be held from September 20 to October 6 as Bonn's traditional contribution to the German Sustainability Action Days of the German Council for Sustainable Development and the "Global Week to #Act4SDGs" of the UN SDG Action Campaign. The #ZeroHungerRun organized by Welthungerhilfe with the City of Bonn as a cooperation partner is a proven major event.

Under the motto "#Sustainability in the spotlight", there will once again be offers and activities in the 17-Goal Zone Friedrichstraße in cooperation with the One World Promoter for Bonn and southern NRW, the Bonn Network for Development, business people in and around Friedrichstraße and other partners. For example, offers around "Education meets development" are planned in cooperation with local schools in the vicinity of the action zone.

Following the successful premiere of "BonnFest meets Bonn SDG Days" in 2023, cooperation will also be continued at this year's BonnFest with a dedicated SDG stage on Market Square and various stands (SDG stand, stand against food waste by the European Commission Representation in Bonn, etc.) to make the global SDGs visible.

Organizer / Host: EZMW

Location: Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV)

FILIO is the world's largest network of lawyers dealing with institutional law in leading positions. Specialists from the UN, World Bank, IMF, ESA, NATO and many other institutions are represented. FILIO is organized independently by its members as a spin-off from the International Institute for Administrative Studies. The last conference took place in Geneva in 2023 under the leadership of CERN and the UNHCR.

The Charter of the United Nations came into force on October 24, 1945. Since then, this date has been celebrated as "United Nations Day" in many member states and host cities of the United Nations. For the UN City of Bonn, this day is of particular significance. Since 1996, the city has celebrated the birthday of the United Nations with a major event on Bonn's Market Square in front of the Old Town Hall, where various federal ministries and organizations present information on current United Nations issues alongside the United Nations Secretariats based in Bonn. The event is planned for October 12, 2024.

The content will once again focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to presentations in tents and at information stands, a colorful stage program for the whole family will again be on offer.

The United Nations/Germany World Space Forum 2024, jointly organized by Germany and the United Nations, will take place at the World Conference Center Bonn from 3 to 5 December 2024. The theme of the conference is "Sustainable Space for Sustainability on Earth".

The conference is organized by the German Space Agency at DLR on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action together with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Around 300 guests from politics, industry and science are expected to attend.