Implementing the Global Sustainable Goals (SDGs) into Municipal Strategies Applying an Integrated Approach

Abstract

The UN emphasises the importance of collaboration and integrated approaches to effectively implement the SDGs. Much of the action will have to take place locally where municipalities will play an important role in coordinating the efforts towards SDG fulfilment. They are constant local actors close to citizens and they can also influence other actors through their strategies. This paper reflects on how the SDGs can be integrated into existing strategies in order to avoid parallel non-effective processes and to avoid the risk of the SDGs to become marginalised. Furthermore, the paper discusses roles and preconditions of municipalities in the SDG implementation process. This study focuses the implementation of the SDGs into a regional municipality's strategic planning and management, Region Östergötland, Sweden. The challenges and opportunities connected to implementing the SDGs will be problematized, and the paper gives recommendations on how this type of organisations can implement the SDGs taking advantage from qualities in already existing management and working procedures.

Localizing the sustainable development goals through an integrated approach in municipalities: early experiences from a Swedish forerunner

“…Having this integrated approach could be related to a wide consciousness of related activities and actors (Fenton et al 2015), and comes with the challenge of contextualizing and localizing the concept of sustainability to make it manageable (Keskitalo and Andersson 2017). The SDGs could be seen as an instrument for coordination of sustainability efforts and thereby enhancing a more coherent sustainability management (Gustafsson and Ivner 2018;Le Blanc 2015).…”

Grants for Local Community Initiatives as a Way to Increase Public Participation of Inhabitants of Rural Areas

“…This resulted in substantial interest and implementation of actions in this respect, undertaken by various regional authorities [39]. Furthermore, various scientific publications indicate that individual SDGs (in the framework of the three main distinguished pillars) cannot be achieved unless regional and local authorities are engaged [40][41][42][43][44]. The above stems from the fact that subnational governments are capable, under their internal regional policies, of "using the development potential of each area, in order to stimulate a progressive adjustment of the local economic system to the changing economic environment" [20].…”

Beyond the Indicators: Improving Science, Scholarship, Policy and Practice to Meet the Complex Challenges of Sustainability

“…To attain the desired goals, we need to focus on sprints to feasible near-future goals and concentrate on regional contexts, while keeping the global requirements in mind. As we have seen in the Conferences of the Parties in the years up to 2015, being fixated on the global scale slows down the process, risks glossing over local and regional differences in context and culture, and removes incentives and agency from many actors [22]. We will face only resistance if we try to prescribe uniform "solutions" for all instances: for example, that all nations must phase out fossil fuels or become vegetarians.…”