By SDN Networks 14 Feb, 2024
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) is predicated on the idea that universities have a vital role to play in the Sustainable Development Goals. The work of the SDSN during the past dozen years, and remarkable interest of university leaders in the SDGs, are a testament to that special role. I am delighted and honored to contribute to the Report of the University Presidents on the SDGs. This report is based on the wise contributions of university presidents in a series of brainstorming sessions during 2022. The SDG agenda is not only vital for wellbeing, but is also very challenging for governments. It doesn’t fit the usual mold of government policymaking. First, the SDG Agenda requiring policy focus and consistency over the course of a whole generation or more, 20-30 years, and not simply a typical election cycle. Second, the SDG agenda is technically complex, as it addresses challenges that cut across economics, social justice, environmental sustainability, and geopolitics. Third, the SDG agenda requires deep cooperation across nations and at the global scale. Fourth, the SDG agenda aims to protect the global commons, such as the oceans, biodiversity, and climate, critical challenges in which normal “market forces” do not lead to the desired outcomes. Fifth, the SDG agenda specially aims to protect the wellbeing of future generations. Yet, these very conditions also mean that universities have a distinctive – indeed essential – role to play in supporting society to achieve the SDGs. The features that make the SDGs difficult for governments also make them appropriate for universities. First, universities regularly take on long-term research agendas that last for a generation or more. Second, universities bring together expertise across the physical sciences, engineering, social sciences (economics, politics, sociology), and behavioral sciences. Third, universities operate within global networks of knowledge, so that international cooperation comes naturally. Fourth, by their very nature, universities are mandated to pursue the common good, rather than financial gain or power. Fifth, universities work across generations, and train today’s young for future leadership. The wellbeing of future generations is therefore core to the university mission. The SDSN has the gratifying responsibility to support the world’s universities to fulfill their great potential in support of the SDGs. Over the past 10 years, we have universities the world over to rise to the occasion, introducing new teaching and research programs; instituting new university-wide SDG initiatives; re-engineering the campuses to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions; and convening governments, business, and civil society to find solutions to the most pressing SDG challenges of their communities and nations. The SDSN has been proud and gratified to be part of this worldwide scale-up of SDG activities in the world’s universities. The intense interest of the universities in these initiatives has been demonstrated by the active leadership of University Presidents, Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors, Provosts, Deans, faculty, and student groups, in these remarkable efforts. In 2022, SDSN hosted a series of online meetings of university leaders of all regions of the world, to brainstorm, compare notes, and present their SDG-related accomplishments to their peer institutions. The turnout was astounding, with hundreds of university presidents participating from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. This volume collects and summarizes the scintillating presentations made during those online gatherings. Readers will note the extraordinary commitment of the university leaders to the SDGs, and the boldness of university SDG initiatives around the world. Even in the short time since these online gatherings, the pace of the global university commitment continues to grow, so this volume will no doubt provide powerful inspiration and guidance for even bigger and bolder initiatives yet to come. It remains, therefore, only to express my deep appreciation and admiration for the many university leaders featured in these pages, and the extraordinary contributions they and their institutions are making towards the fulfillment of the sustainable development needs of our time.
By Info 31 Jan, 2024
The Global Schools guidebook, " Practicing Education for Sustainable Development: Case Study Guide for Educators, Volume 2," will launch at the 2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum centered around the theme: “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels.” Serving as a testament to innovation, leadership, and collective action, the guidebook showcases how Global Schools Advocates throughout the world incorporate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their curriculum, school-wide practices, and communities.
By Grayson Fuller & Leslie Bermont-Diaz 29 Jan, 2024
In 2015, all United Nations member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a shared vision for social, economic and environmental progress. Reaching the SDGs is a shared responsibility and calls for policy coherence, including sustainable trade systems based on responsible consumption and production practices. The progress of individual countries towards the SDGs is measured regularly. However, analyses of progress on the SDGs on a national level often do not consider how one country may positively or negatively affect the efforts of another country to implement the 2030 Agenda. As one of the world’s largest economies and a key player in the multilateral system, Germany’s efforts in managing its global responsibilities will be essential for the 2030 Agenda. The present study aims to provide a quantitative analysis of some of these positive and negative effects Germany has on other countries around the world. At the midpoint of 2030, Germany has completed two Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), developed a national indicator set for monitoring progress towards the SDGs, and elaborated a comprehensive strategy for meeting the SDGs (The Federal Government of Germany, 2021a). The German Sustainable Development Strategy identifies Six Areas of Transformation and Five Policy Levers (Figure A). These provide a context-specific and operational framework to implement the SDGs in Germany. This approach is very much aligned with the operational frameworks proposed by other organizations, including The Six Entry Points (GSDR, 2023) and SDSN’s Six SDG Transformations (Sachs et al., 2019). Organizing SDG implementation around Six Areas of Transformation allows for creating coherent policies. Policy coherence is central to the German Sustainable Development Strategy, and the German government has put institutional structures in place to ensure policies are conceived with a holistic approach towards sustainable development. This includes the alignment of domestic action with international action – encapsulated in one of the lever’s chosen to support the Areas of Transformation: International responsibility and cooperation. SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals) recognizes the importance of international cooperation to solve today’s global challenges. In an interdependent world, countries’ actions can help or undermine other countries’ efforts to achieve the SDGs. These “spillover effects” must be understood and measured so that they can be taken into consideration when developing national policy so as not to indirectly harm other countries’ sustainable development. A growing number of countries report on spillovers in the context of the SDGs, VNRs and national policy plans including Finland, France, Iceland the Netherlands, Switzerland and the European Union (EU). In the case of Germany, the national government has committed to achieve sustainable development not just within its borders, but also internationally. The country has issued The Transformation Report on International Responsibility and Cooperation which details the links between German policies in the field of sustainable development and spillovers. This study aims to provide a quantitative assessment of Germany’s performance on key measures of international spillovers and the key policy instruments that can be used to manage them. The study is organized into five parts: 1) Measuring international spillovers 2) Germany’s performance across key spillover indicators 3) The geographical origin of Germany’s spillovers 4) Measures to support spillover data and 5) Policy instruments to manage spillover effects.
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