scholarly journals Can the sustainable development goals harness the means and the manner of transformation?

Author(s):  
Siri Veland ◽  
Irmelin Gram-Hanssen ◽  
David Maggs ◽  
Amanda H. Lynch

AbstractThe 17 sustainable development goals and their 169 targets comprise a comprehensive list of prerequisites for human and planetary well-being, but they also implicitly invoke many of the very trade-offs, synergies, and parallelisms that drive global crises. Decision-makers are familiar with these internal conflicts, and there is no shortage of frameworks, blueprints, and roadmaps to accelerate sustainability. However, thus far, inevitable trade-offs among competing priorities for sustainability are not catalyzing the types of transformations called for, indeed, demanded, by the SDGs. Habitual technocratic approaches, which the SDG lend themselves to, will report on indicators and targets, but will not adequately represent the ambitions of the goals themselves. Addressing these habitual tendencies, this paper therefore considers the inner dimensions of transformation, including emotions and meaning-making. Music offers a rich source of metaphor to reimagine interconnections and communicates affectively the feelings and embodied dimensions of intellectual thought and creativity. We draw on Western musical composition and history to offer insights on an intellectual path-dependency leading up to the current disembodied indicator-based management and regulation of global environmental and societal crises, and on potential alternatives. As metaphors, we consider what the SDGs might ‘sound like’ as either 12-tone, contrapuntal, or improvisational expression. We suggest that for the SDGs to release their transformative potential, ‘sustainability improvisers’ with a handle on both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of transformation are needed: harnessed with deep understanding of SDG indicators and targets, but with an ability to listen deeply and invite others to co-create transformative pathways.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2025
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła ◽  
Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska

The 2030 Agenda with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a challenge for all countries in the world. Their implementation may turn out to be a compromise or the creation of effective interactions that dynamize sustainable development. To achieve the SDGs, it is essential to understand how they interact with each other. It seems that in the times of the climate and health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, caring for the environment and ensuring a healthy life and promoting well-being at all ages is the basis for environmental, economic and social sustainable development. The aim of the study is to compare the degree of implementation of the goals of sustainable development in the scope of goal 13 “Climate action” and goal 3 “Good health and well-being” in the EU countries. In addition, we analyze how trade-offs and synergies between these goals have developed. Data from the Eurostat database were used to achieve the goal. The study used the method of multivariate comparative analysis—linear ordering of objects. The technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method was used to measure the studied phenomenon. The results indicate a different degree of implementation of the sustainable development goals related to climate change and the improvement of health and social well-being. Only a few countries have synergy in achieving these goals, most of them compromise, manifesting themselves in improving one goal over another. In the group of analyzed EU countries, a simultaneous deterioration in the effectiveness of achieving both objectives were also noted. Our research also shows that energy policy is an important attribute in improving the achievement of these goals. The conducted analysis fills the gap in the research on the implementation of selected sustainable development goals and their interactions. It contributes to the discussion on increasing the links between them, in particular with regard to emerging compromises. This research can provide a basis for re-prioritizing and intensifying the actions where individual EU countries are lagging most behind.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yudha Gusti Wibowo ◽  
Ali Sadikin

The transformation in education must be directed in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) program. This article aimed to discuss the potential support of New Biology in achieving the formulated SDGs. This literature review covered 31 articles which were published since 2010 to 2019. The keywords used to collect the data were new biology, future biology, biology education, biological science, and biology. The review results informed that New Biology can potentially enact five goals of SDGs, i.e. goal 2 (Zero Hunger), goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being), goal 4 (Quality Education), goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). By considering the findings, it is suggested to promote New Biology approach in Indonesian educational system.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. e1501499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Obersteiner ◽  
Brian Walsh ◽  
Stefan Frank ◽  
Petr Havlík ◽  
Matthew Cantele ◽  
...  

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for a comprehensive new approach to development rooted in planetary boundaries, equity, and inclusivity. The wide scope of the SDGs will necessitate unprecedented integration of siloed policy portfolios to work at international, regional, and national levels toward multiple goals and mitigate the conflicts that arise from competing resource demands. In this analysis, we adopt a comprehensive modeling approach to understand how coherent policy combinations can manage trade-offs among environmental conservation initiatives and food prices. Our scenario results indicate that SDG strategies constructed around Sustainable Consumption and Production policies can minimize problem-shifting, which has long placed global development and conservation agendas at odds. We conclude that Sustainable Consumption and Production policies (goal 12) are most effective at minimizing trade-offs and argue for their centrality to the formulation of coherent SDG strategies. We also find that alternative socioeconomic futures—mainly, population and economic growth pathways—generate smaller impacts on the eventual achievement of land resource–related SDGs than do resource-use and management policies. We expect that this and future systems analyses will allow policy-makers to negotiate trade-offs and exploit synergies as they assemble sustainable development strategies equal in scope to the ambition of the SDGs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Hutton ◽  
Robert Nicholls ◽  
Attila Lázár ◽  
Alex Chapman ◽  
Marije Schaafsma ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Lansford ◽  
W. Andrew Rothenberg ◽  
Sombat Tapanya ◽  
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado ◽  
Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong ◽  
...  

This chapter uses evidence from the Parenting Across Cultures (PAC) project to illustrate ways in which longitudinal data can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) The chapter begins by providing an overview of the research questions that have guided the international PAC as well as a description of the participants, procedures, and measures. Next, empirical findings from PAC are summarized to illustrate implications for six specific SDGs related to child and adolescent development in relation to education, poverty, gender, mental health, and well-being. Then the chapter describes how longitudinal data offer advantages over cross-sectional data in operationalizing SDG targets and implementing the SDGs. Finally, limitations, future research directions, and conclusions are provided.


Author(s):  
Caroline Mwongera ◽  
Chris M. Mwungu ◽  
Mercy Lungaho ◽  
Steve Twomlow

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) focuses on productivity, climate-change adaptation, and mitigation, and the potential for developing resilient food production systems that lead to food and income security. Lately, several frameworks and tools have been developed to prioritize context-specific CSA technologies and assess the potential impacts of selected options. This study applied a mixed-method approach, the climate-smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) tool, to evaluate farmers’ preferred CSA technologies and to show how they link to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The chapter examines prioritized CSA options across diverse study sites. The authors find that the prioritized options align with the food security and livelihood needs of smallholder farmers, and relate to multiple sustainable development goals. Specifically, CSA technologies contribute to SDG1 (end poverty), SDG2 (end hunger and promote sustainable agriculture), SDG13 (combating climate change), and SDG15 (life on land). Limited awareness on the benefits of agriculture technologies and the diversity of outcomes desired by stakeholders’ present challenges and trade-offs for achieving the SDGs. The CSA-RA provides a methodological approach linking locally relevant indicators to the SDG targets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Meschede

In 2015, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing social, environmental, and economic targets. Global partnerships, transnational, and interdisciplinary research are essential for achieving progress towards the SDGs. This study analyzes 4593 research articles at the meta-level, explicitly referring to the SDGs. This a comparably small amount of research items directly addressing the goals. However, comparisons with existing approaches using different queries are possible. Research that links to the SDGs through its title, keywords, or abstract facilitates knowledge sharing on the goals as it is easier to identify relevant work. Using scientometric means, we assessed the corresponding sources, research areas, affiliated countries, thematic foci, and the availability of funding acknowledgments. The results are useful for identifying research gaps and potential collaboration possibilities. The outcomes suggest that most research referring to the SDGs comes from the research areas Life Sciences & Biomedicine and Social Sciences. The most predominant SDG among the analyzed research articles is SDG 3 (“good health and well-being”). A relatively high share of open access articles contributes to the idea of knowledge sharing for the SDGs. Nearly 37% of all articles count as international publications, i.e., as being co-authored by authors from affiliations of multiple countries.


Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veidemane

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030 are established to address global challenges including environment and human well-being. The SDGs are interconnected and achievement of them requires consideration of the planet’s ecosystems and resources - land, water and air. Ecosystem services (ES) approach has a high potential for better planning, policy and decision making. Understanding how different ecosystems (e.g., forests, rivers, wetlands, grasslands) contribute to the social and economic benefits is critical to ensure the long-term biodiversity protection and sustainable use of ecosystems. A conceptual framework linking biodiversity and ecosystem condition (its structure and functions), and ES to human well-being has been well-established in EU by so called MAES process (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services) lead by the European Commission. The framework is applied in recent research studies and projects, as well as national MAES processes. Various methods are applied for MAES in terms to determine biophysical, economic and social values and to deliver integrated ecosystem assessment. Assessment of ES and trade off analysis shall provide a new perspective for land use planning and decision making at different administrative and spatial levels and in different sectoral policies. EU and national policies for instance on agriculture, fishery, forestry, climate should account the benefits provided by relevant ecosystems and to ensure that the values are not diminished but rather enhanced during the implementation of the policies. Terrestrial and water ecosystems are interconnected as land-based human activities creates pressure that impacts the conditions in water ecosystems and thus delivery of ES by rivers and lakes. For example, intensive agricultural land use produces food for people and income; however, the activity also most frequently causes problems with water quality and quantity in the catchment area and a loss of biodiversity. A risk of such trade-off shall be handled in policy development. Ecosystems also contributes to the resilience of communities by reducing the risk of natural hazards and mitigate adverse impacts. Regulating services such as flood control are substituting investments in flood protection ensured by forests, wetlands and grasslands instead of human built infrastructure. Appropriate land cover and land use shall serve as a basic flood protection measure. Natural processes are increasingly recognised to create new-type solutions that use and deploy the properties of natural ecosystems and their services in an “engineered” way. A wide range of measures called also as nature-based solutions provide another opportunity to work with nature towards global sustainability.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reneema Hazarika ◽  
Robert Jandl

Since the inception of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, there has been much conceptual progress on the linkages across the 17 goals and their 169 targets. While this kind of conceptualization is an essential first step, action must now move towards systematic policy design, implementation, and multi-stakeholder collaborations that can translate such understanding into concrete results. This study is a reality check of such quasi-political global development agendas by the United Nations and its implications on Austrian forestry. Although forestry is not a goal in itself, forests as an element have been included under SDG15 (Life on Land). In this study, the linkages of forestry with potential synergies or trade-offs within and between the SDGs have been assessed through a literature survey and complemented with the perception of opinion leaders across the Austrian forestry sector on the same. The insights about awareness, design, implementation, and the necessity of mainstreaming the SDGs into the policy structure of Austria were reviewed. Besides facilitating the goals of sustainable forest management (SFM) in Austria, the SDG15 is not only strongly related to, but is likely to aid, the achievement of other SDGs, such as human health (SDG3), provision of clean water (SDG6), affordable & clean energy (SDG7), and climate action (SDG13). The opinion leaders perceive the SDGs as well-placed but broad. Some this broadness is a positive aspect of the SDGs. On the other hand, the 15-year (2015–2030) tenure of the SDGs is perceived to be inadequate to match the temporal scale of forest development. Apparently, the success of the SDGs will strictly depend upon coordination, governance, and most importantly, awareness among all stakeholders. Therefore, in addition to “leaving no one behind”, the SDGs must evidently provide incentives benefitting everybody.


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