Deciphering the scientific literature on SDG interactions: A review and reading guide

Bennich, Thérèse; Weitz, Nina; Carlsen, Henrik

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138405

Cited by 160 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The uncovered pathways succeeded in maintaining an integrative perspective and not overfocusing on specific details at the cost of losing the broader picture. This is well in line with our premise, as well as Bennich et al (2020) call for SDG interaction studies to engage stakeholders in integrated perspectives.…”

Section: Systems Perspective and Sdg Integrationsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…included: "Pathways [...] to sustainable social-economic transformation through modernizing agriculture" and "That transforming agriculture requires a multi-sectoral approach"). This wider focus on linkages across sectors has been missing in SDG interaction studies so far (Bennich et al 2020).…”

Section: Systems Perspective and Sdg Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the evidence shows that processes meeting these needs have been scarce so far (Bennich et al 2020), and that the 3H4SDGs approach fills several important gaps identified by the literature. Hitherto examples of SDG studies involving stakeholders include Hutton et al (2018) who combine integrated SDG modeling in coastal Bangladesh with stakeholders.…”

Section: Relation To Similar Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The overarching frame and systems perspective was for us mainly seen as a strength of the approach as called for elsewhere (e.g. Bennich et al 2020). It facilitates the visualization of alternatives to the prolongation of societal trends -which has been identified as an asset in future studies (Andersson and Westholm 2019).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only a few studies on SDG planning incorporate participatory approaches (e.g. Kanter et al 2016, Glover et al 2016, Hodes et al 2018; furthermore, there is an urgent need to incorporate an integrated perspective and promote systems thinking in participatory processes (Bennich et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach

Collste¹,

Aguiar²,

Harmáčková³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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One of the current challenges of human society lies in navigating the safe operating space defined by the planetary boundaries while reaching the aspirational Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is not a challenge that can be tackled everywhere in the same way. It is thus vital to ground the pursuit of the SDGs in locally prevalent worldviews and reflect specific contexts in developing coherent pathways. In addressing the need to couple global concerns with local aspirations and conditions, this paper introduces a stakeholder-based approach for visioning and exploring sustainable development pathways to meet the SDGs, inclusive to marginalized voices and facilitating a context-sensitive exploration of alternative futures. The approach departs from the Three horizons framework, a participatory approach developed for groups to think about transformative change. We present the benefits and challenges of the adapted approach in relation to an illustrative case study, the 2018 African Dialogue on The World In 2050, deliberating future pathways for agriculture and food systems in Africa. The key contribution of the paper is twofold. First, we detail the premises and steps of the Three Horizons for the SDGs (3H4SDG) approach. Second, we summarize the results of a pilot application of the approach -four alternative pathways for how food systems and agriculture can contribute to meeting the SDGs in Sub-Saharan Africa, integrated with the worldviews entangled in the narratives of the participating stakeholders. We conclude that participatory approaches grounded in systems thinking represent a promising way to link local aspirations with global goals.

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Section: Systems Perspective and Sdg Integrationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Systems Perspective and Sdg Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Relation To Similar Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach

Collste¹,

Aguiar²,

Harmáčková³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Analyzing companies' interactions with the Sustainable Development Goals through network analysis: Four corporate sustainability imperatives

Zanten

Tulder

2021

Bus Strat Env

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The alignment between corporate strategies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be an indicator of long-term sustainability success. But which types of companies are most, and which are least, aligned with the SDGs? This paper scores how 67 economic activities-as a proxy for companies' operations and the goods or services they deliver-interact with 59 SDG targets. It then uses network analysis to define which activities are most and least aligned with the SDG Agenda. The results reveal four types of corporate activities, each having a strategic sustainability imperative: (i) "core activities" predominantly generate positive, while having few negative, impacts on the SDGs, challenging companies to scale their contributions to further align with the SDG Agenda; (ii) "mixed activities" have moderate/high degrees of both negative/positive impacts, posing a decoupling imperative; (iii) "opposed activities" provide few benefits yet cause significant adverse impacts, implying that companies must transform in order to better align with the SDGs; and (iv) "peripheral activities" have immaterial positive and negative impacts, creating an imperative to explore innovative avenues for creating SDG contributions. Detailed network graphs are presented that map companies' interactions with the SDGs and guide the creation of corporate sustainability strategies. Policy implications include the potential for using companies' activities as a lever for adopting a "nexus approach" to the SDGs.

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Organizations' engagement with sustainable development goals: From cherry‐picking to SDG‐washing?

Saizarbitoria

Urbieta

Boiral

2021

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

163

183

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This article analyzes the organizational engagement with the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), an initiative for corporate social responsibility also referred to as the 2030 Agenda. Engagement with the SDGs by organizations all around the world, whatever their sector and size, has attracted a lot of media interest and heightened expectations. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical work that sheds light on the commitment to this initiative at the organizational level. In order to fill this gap, this article examines the characteristics of engagement with the SDGs of 1370 organizations from 97 countries, taking data from their sustainability reports. The study looks at how and why organizations engage with the SDGs, as well as the priority they assign to them. The findings point to a superficial engagement with the SDGs for the vast majority of organizations, which suggests a process of “SDG‐washing”. Implications for managers, public policy makers and other stakeholders are analyzed.

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Deciphering the scientific literature on SDG interactions: A review and reading guide

Cited by 160 publications

References 57 publications

Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach

Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach

Analyzing companies' interactions with the Sustainable Development Goals through network analysis: Four corporate sustainability imperatives

Organizations' engagement with sustainable development goals: From cherry‐picking to SDG‐washing?

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