An ad hoc committee will organize four international workshops that focus on lessons learned and innovative approaches in expanding the availability of affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern electricity to the over 1 billion people in the world without such access. Clean Energy is a U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), and is a key to achieving other relevant SDGs, including Food Security, Health, Education, Water and Sanitation, Jobs, and Poverty Elimination.

The first workshop, at the Bellagio Conference Center in Italy, will involve participants who have considerable experience in addressing electrification challenges in various regions of the world. It will start by identifying lessons learned during global efforts to improve access to reliable and affordable electricity. Against this background the conference participants will consider approaches with potential to greatly accelerate progress. The subsequent workshops will build on the discussions of the initial workshop in Bellagio, addressing more specific experience, plans, and opportunities in specific regions or countries.

The second workshop will be held in Italy in early 2019. The purpose of the workshop is to encourage important engineering universities in developing countries to strengthen their educational, research, and business-oriented programs related to access to energy and to expand outreach to relevant governmental and private sector organizations. The workshop will focus on strengthening the human resource base throughout the developing world if the international efforts to provide more than 1.3 billion people in energy-deficit regions with access to reliable and affordable electricity are to be successful. The workshop will also take into account the importance of access to energy/electricity in meeting several other sustainable development goals and the roles that engineering universities can play in this regard.