SDGs in a nutshell
EU-Citizen.Science
Nov. 1, 2020, 12:21 p.m.
SDGs have been a key topic in the citizen science field in the past few weeks. We had a conversation with April Tash, from UNESCO, to be sure to understand what we were talking about.
The creation of the SDGs; the background story
Just before the turn of the century, the nearly 200-member states of the United Nations agreed to set practical and measurable objectives toward a better world.
The first initiative was the development of a vision of The World We Want and the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs): Inaugurated in 2000, these objectives identified global challenges and set a course to improve society and living conditions.
The participation and actions taken by the countries around the globe were remarkable, and in 2015, at the end of the timeframe set for the MDGs, it was unanimously accepted that such efforts should be pursued further.
What are they?
Building on the MDGs, a new “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” featuring 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was defined. These goals are also addressing global and common challenges, and have been endorsed by all the United Nations Member States.
They use the logic of the psychological tool of “goal setting”: goals help people focus and coordinate their efforts. After defining what has to be achieved, countries can each create a “roadmap” that can help them concentrate on specific issues and take concrete actions.
Acting as a universal language that is understandable by all, SDGs are also a vector of collaboration between organisations that would not have worked together otherwise. For example, an NGO working on oceans can use this tool to find organisations from other countries that are working on the same goal. Importantly, many businesses, churches, schools, and individuals have found ways to help achieve the SDGs.
How are they structured?
The 17 Goals highlight challenges everyone can agree are serious such as poverty, education, climate change, life in cities and gender equality. They are interrelated and all countries have agreed to try to meet all of them by 2030. The set of goals has been designed to be ambitious on purpose. Each goal is broken down into defined in different and specific targets that propose give concrete paths to reach the goal.
As an example, Goal 9 is entitled “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. This broad expression encompasses different issues that are then more detailed in different sub-targets. Target 9.5 for example focuses on strengthening research and innovation by substantially increasing the proportion of researchers in the population.
Different targets might seem unrelated at first sight, but they are all complementary strategies to fulfil their goal.
Each target has then its own indicators, which are the variables that can be measured and assessed to report on the progress made.
Concretely, what is being done?
This is a government-led endeavour: representatives of each country decided what would be targeted are the contents, and the Goals now serve to coordinate actions by UN agencies, non-governmental groups, businesses and any other entities working on a specific goal.
Yearly meetings are organised to present the actions undertaken and the progresses made. These meetings are an occasion to share experiences, compare results, work together on designing the best solutions, and adjust targets and indicators if that is considered useful.
But the work is not only done by public institutions. These goals actually match citizens’ interests and many citizens’ associations influence how they are monitored. Also, every action, every step made towards a more equal and sustainable future is a contribution to the SDGs, even if the effect is only local. Citizens can be valuable actors in the achievement of the goals through their initiatives and their involvement in innovation. Science and innovation are considered levers for achieving all the goals more quickly, so the more initiatives are launched in science and innovation, the more can be achieved.
How Science is Changing
In light of the research and innovation needs trigged by Agenda 2030 and its 17 SDGs, and after several decades of demands from associations of scientists, a clear set of common standards was set for research and innovation for the first time in late 2017.
They are the subject of another agreement --this time a legal agreement --that serves as a checklist for institutions and people to adjust practices to strengthen and open science.
In this ‘2017 Accord’, openness is for the first time clearly associated with human rights, and science is made a part of the commons - an activity open to all. While initially motivated by Agenda 2030, this accord on science will outlive Agenda 2030 and gives a legal basis for citizen science everywhere. This instrument helps create conditions in which public and private institutions will encourage an expanded science culture for all. And for the first time, this new set of global standards for science will be monitored in 2021, to help its wide adoption in the field.