scholarly journals Co-creating local socioeconomic pathways for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Szetey ◽  
Enayat A. Moallemi ◽  
Emma Ashton ◽  
Martin C Butcher ◽  
Beth Sprunt ◽  
...  

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise the importance of action across all scales to achieve a sustainable future. To contribute to overall national- and global-scale SDG achievement, local communities need to focus on a locally-relevant subset of goals and understand potential future pathways for key drivers which influence local sustainability. We developed a participatory method to co-create local socioeconomic pathways by downscaling the SDGs and driving forces of the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) via a local case study in southern Australia through contextual analysis and community engagement. We linked the SSPs and SDGs by identifying driving forces and describing how they affect the achievement of local SDGs. We co-created six local socioeconomic pathways with the local community which track towards futures with different levels of fulfilment of the SDGs and each encompasses a narrative storyline incorporating locally-specific ideas from the community. We tested and validated the local pathways with the community. This method extends the SSPs in two dimensions – into the broader field of sustainability via the SDGs, and by recontextualizing them at the local scale. The local socioeconomic pathways can contribute to achieving local sustainability goals from the bottom up in alignment with global initiatives.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10518
Author(s):  
Raquel Ajates ◽  
Gerid Hager ◽  
Pavlos Georgiadis ◽  
Saskia Coulson ◽  
Mel Woods ◽  
...  

This article reports on Citizen Observatories’ (COs) potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflecting on the experience of the GROW Observatory (GROW). The research aims to take the first steps in closing the gap in the literature on COs’ potential contributions to the SDG framework, beyond quantitative data contributions for indicator monitoring. Following an analysis of project activities and outcomes mapped against the SDG framework, the findings reveal GROW’s potential contributions across two dimensions: (i) Actions to advance the implementation of goals and targets through awareness raising and training; participatory methods; multi-stakeholder connections; and supporting citizens to move from data to action and (ii) Data contributions to SDG indicator monitoring through citizen-generated datasets. While earlier research has focused mostly on the latter (dimension ii), CO activities can impact numerous goals and targets, highlighting their potential to relate global SDGs to local level action, and vice versa. These findings align with the growing literature on COs’ ability to bring together policy makers, scientists and citizens, and support changes to environmental policy and practice. Furthermore, this research suggests groundwork activities that address the goal and target level can also enhance sustained data collection to contribute to indicator level monitoring. We conclude with future trends and recommendations for COs wishing to contribute to the SDGs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Estoque

The formulation of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) was a major leap forward in humankind’s quest for a sustainable future, which likely began in the 17th century, when declining forest resources in Europe led to proposals for the re-establishment and conservation of forests, a strategy that embodies the great idea that the current generation bears responsibility for future generations. Global progress toward SDG fulfillment is monitored by 231 unique social-ecological indicators spread across 169 targets, and remote sensing (RS) provides Earth observation data, directly or indirectly, for 30 (18%) of these indicators. Unfortunately, the UN Global Sustainable Development Report 2019—The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development concluded that, despite initial efforts, the world is not yet on track for achieving most of the SDG targets. Meanwhile, through the EO4SDG initiative by the Group on Earth Observations, the full potential of RS for SDG monitoring is now being explored at a global scale. As of April 2020, preliminary statistical data were available for 21 (70%) of the 30 RS-based SDG indicators, according to the Global SDG Indicators Database. Ten (33%) of the RS-based SDG indicators have also been included in the SDG Index and Dashboards found in the Sustainable Development Report 2019—Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. These statistics, however, do not necessarily reflect the actual status and availability of raw and processed geospatial data for the RS-based indicators, which remains an important issue. Nevertheless, various initiatives have been started to address the need for open access data. RS data can also help in the development of other potentially relevant complementary indicators or sub-indicators. By doing so, they can help meet one of the current challenges of SDG monitoring, which is how best to operationalize the SDG indicators.


2020 ◽  
pp. 4-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Bobylev ◽  
Leonid Grigoryev

The global COVID-19 pandemic and an unexpected recession of a dangerous magnitude have provided strong reasons to look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from three points of view: the SDGs as a victim of the recession; the SDGs as an opportunity for better coordination on the way out of recession; and the SDGs as an object of modernization for better adaptation to the realities on “the global ground”. The BRICS countries are, naturally, the primary group of interest for developing and implementing the SDGs on the global scale as a way of catching up.“Pandemic protocol” and additional indicators are proposed as an urgent update to several SDGs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Szetey ◽  
Enayat A. Moallemi ◽  
Emma Ashton ◽  
Martin C Butcher ◽  
Beth Sprunt ◽  
...  

Sustainability planning is required to achieve sustainable development across the world at all scales. Such planning should be aligned with and grounded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be comparable across scales, and use participatory techniques to understand local contexts. Planning for urban sustainability using the SDGs is well developed, but this concept has not yet been extended to rural sustainability. We describe an approach to co-create a local sustainability plan using the SDGs for a rural community in south-eastern Australia using participatory techniques for co-creation, data collection and review. We found that the community believes that infrastructure is fundamental to achieving sustainable growth and social equity while preserving their unique environment. By articulating their priorities in this community-led plan, the community are empowered to advocate for the sustainable development of their town with decision-makers and funding bodies. If rural communities create sustainability plans using the SDGs, then such planning will be consistent between and across scales, and aligned with the global goals. This will also aid in achievement of the SDGs at national and global scales, as suggested by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.


Author(s):  
S. N. Bobylev ◽  
L. M. Grigoriev ◽  
M. Yu. Beletskaya

The global COVID-19 pandemic and an unexpected recession of dangerous proportions have provided strong reasons to look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from three perspectives: The SDGs as a victim of the 2020 recession; the SDGs as an opportunity for better coordination on the way out of the recession; and the SDGs as an object of modernization for better adaptation to the realities "on the world stage". The BRICS countries are interested in developing and implementing the SDGs on a global scale as a way to catch up. The authors propose a "pandemic protocol", as well as a change in the methodology for including indicators in the SDGs: the introduction of new indicators that are important for sustainability and the incorporation of cross-cutting key indicators for the SDGs, both new and existing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3501
Author(s):  
Mengyi Lin ◽  
Fu-Yuan Li ◽  
Haibin Zhou

Tourism is one of the world’s fastest driving forces of economic development, playing an important role in achieving sustainable development goals. In modern society, mobile social media is a communication and decision-making platform for users and a source of big data information about travel. Obtaining and analyzing travel data can provide customer-oriented information about travel destinations and comprehensive services for both tourism operators and tourists. It has a positive impact on the sustainable development of society, economy, environment, and humanities. Starting with theoretical analysis and empirical research, this study combines social media and oblique photography, conducts a case study of the Pingtan comprehensive experimental area in China, and develops an app about online travelling to provide corresponding information for consumers’ decisions. This study also discusses the potential value of the app, i.e., assisting the development of smart travel in city, achieving sustainable development of tourism, and contributing to tourism globally.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5510
Author(s):  
Aleksander Buczacki ◽  
Bartłomiej Gładysz ◽  
Erika Palmer

A significant share of food waste originates in the food services domain and HoReCa sector. Organizational improvements leading to the decrease of food waste and related costs in HoReCa are needed to make progress in this issue. A systems engineering approach was applied to examine the links between food waste generated in the HoReCa industry and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A literature review discovered two dimensions of actions leading to decreasing food waste in HoReCa; i.e., actions triggered by companies and by authorities (e.g., governmental policies). Additionally, customers and society were also considered. A framework is proposed to explicitly illustrate the dependencies of different micro actions devoted to food waste reduction in HoReCa in support of the SDGs. The other dimension of this framework is macro policies and their impact on SDGs. To increase food waste reduction awareness and collaboration, stakeholders on both the macro (launched by authorities for the whole sector) and micro (initiated by single organizations on their own) levels must work together. The results of this research will be useful in coordinating the efforts of all (consumers, HoReCa companies and suppliers, policymakers and administrations on different levels) involved in the supply chain of food production and consumption.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bifeng Zhu ◽  
Chufan Zhu ◽  
Bart Dewancker

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the way to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Through the introduction and learning of a specific case, this paper summarizes the specific process of green campus’s development and construction and directly discusses how to achieve the goal of sustainable development. By analyzing the achievements and measures of its construction, on the one hand, the experience and shortcomings of its green campus construction are summarized; on the other hand, the impact of Stanford’s own green campus construction on the local community is discussed. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes Stanford, one of the best green campuses assessed by sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS), as a case study in three steps. First, it introduces the academics, energy supply and demand, water and land, waste, management, food and living, buildings and transportation of its campus construction in detail; second, it uses the STARS to make a comprehensive sustainable evaluation of Stanford; finally, it discusses the development relationship between Stanford and local community. Findings The four characteristics of its green campus development model are summarized, namely, based on its own scientific research; from the aspect of environmental friendliness; to achieve joint participation; and forming complementary development with the community. The construction of green campus has changed from a single triangle framework composed of SDGs, STARS and universities to a compound triangle framework composed of SDGs, universities and communities on the existing basis, greatly expanding the way to realize SDGs. Practical implications This development mode will have direct guiding significance for the sustainable construction of other campuses. Social implications This paper also discusses the development concept from green campus to sustainable community to provide positive reference to achieve the global SDGs from the perspective of colleges and universities. Originality/value According to the historical track of its development, this paper combines the two (SDGs and green campus) to discuss by using campus construction as an effective way to achieve the SDGs. On the basis of literature research and case study, STARS sustainable assessment is introduced. This will lead to quantitative analysis of sustainable construction in the discussion of the specific case, judging the specific sustainable degree of all aspects of campus construction, to provide a scientific basis for summarizing its characteristics of development mode.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document