The transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Stevens, Casey; Kanie, Norichika

doi:10.1007/s10784-016-9324-y

Cited by 168 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Among other reasons, this trend might be due to the prominent role that governmental support has in encouraging the integration of sustainable practices within HEIs [28]. Such a focus contrasts, however, with the recognition for local partnerships as a prime way to tackle the need of interconnected governance responses demanded by the Agenda 2030 multidisciplinary approach [32,33]. Many universities have been compelled for more than 25 years now to develop community engagement work toward sustainable development (see for instance the COPERNICUS Charter, signed by more than 300 HEIs in Europe) [34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Sustainability? Higher Education Institutions’ Pathways to Reach the Agenda 2030 Goals

2020

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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have the mandate of promoting sustainability through addressing the Agenda 2030. However, how this is being understood and framed in both discourse and practice by HEIs remains an underexplored issue. This article interrogates the concept of sustainability embraced by ten key HEIs networks at global and regional levels while identifying and discussing the main pathways for action displayed. We rely on HEIs networks' data from available online documents related to the Agenda 2030. "Greening" is the dominant sustainability discourse among the global and many regional HEIs networks, that is, the one that refers to the links between people, planet and profit. Two other discourses are minor and regional, "resilience" and "alternative". The "alternative" discourse is the only one entailing a critical approach to the Agenda 2030 goals. All networks promote changes in HEIs organizational culture to embed sustainability values in strategic planning, academic and managerial work. Yet there is a need for further engagement with society to readdress HEIs societal role. Deep and critical reflection of the worldviews, contradictions and tensions in the discourses and practices proposed by HEIs networks at global and regional scales is also needed to build common pathways toward sustainability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Sustainability? Higher Education Institutions’ Pathways to Reach the Agenda 2030 Goals

2020

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“…Their voluntary nature, lack of sanctions, and the few formal mechanisms in place to ensure the achievement of the goals (Biermann, Kanie, & Kim, 2017;Bowen et al, 2017), allow for understanding the SDGs as ''soft'' international law (Persson, Weitz, & Nilsson, 2016). An important dimension of the SDG framework is, therefore, the liberty it offers to governments, as well as to other stakeholders, to decide which goals to act upon (Stevens & Kanie, 2016). Additionally, by starting with aspirations without defining concrete implementation methods, the SDGs are an opportunity for an institutional initiative centred on creative thinking that involves increasingly diverse actors (Stevens & Kanie, 2016).…”

Section: The Sdgs As a Goal-based Institutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important dimension of the SDG framework is, therefore, the liberty it offers to governments, as well as to other stakeholders, to decide which goals to act upon (Stevens & Kanie, 2016). Additionally, by starting with aspirations without defining concrete implementation methods, the SDGs are an opportunity for an institutional initiative centred on creative thinking that involves increasingly diverse actors (Stevens & Kanie, 2016). On this basis, Biermann et al (2017) argue that the SDGs amount to a distinct type of institution -termed ''global governance through goals'' -that introduces a unique and new way of steering global development efforts.…”

Section: The Sdgs As a Goal-based Institutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

2018

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without the contributions of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, extant international business research hardly covers the private sector's role in achieving international policy goals. This article conceptualises the SDGs as a goal-based institution. Building on institutional theory, it develops propositions that help explain MNEs' engagement with SDGs. Exploratory survey results from 81 European and North American Financial Times Global 500 companies indicate that MNEs engage more with SDG targets that are actionable within their (value chain) operations than those outside of it, and more with SDG targets that ''avoid harm'' than those that ''do good''. Differences in SDG engagement based on MNEs' home-and host-countries and their industrial sectors are also explored. We draw policy conclusions for a more pro-active involvement of MNEs in sustainable development, and we define avenues for future international business research. In particular, cross-sector partnerships deserve further attention.

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“…The universality of the Agenda is built on 'Global Partnership' and "global solidarity, focussed in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable […]" (UN 2015). Although the implementation process is viewed with scepticism due to insufficient financing 1 , the SDGs are acclaimed for their transformative potential and designated as a "new global governance approach" (Stevens and Kanie 2016). The 'Leave Noone behind' Agenda was a direct consequence of the critique on the omission of social and economic inequalities in the 'Minor Development Goals' (Stuart and Woodroffe 2016).…”

Section: The Sustainable Development Goals and The Recognition Of Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marxist Perspectives on the Global Enclosures of Social Reproduction

Beier

2018

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Women's unpaid care and domestic work is gaining relevance in policy-making as well as in academia. Feminist scholars and activists have lobbied successfully for the integration of unpaid care and domestic work into the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 5.4) of the United Nations in the hope for greater recognition of women's contribution to the economy. Policy documents about social reproduction highlight women's disproportionate share of reproductive activities as an obstacle to women's economic empowerment and as a relic of 'traditional' gender roles. Social reproduction is thereby not understood as a merit in itself, but as an obstacle to women's participation in paid labour. Policy implications will enable certain empowerment effects for some women, but at the same time promote the increasing privatization and commodification of reproductive work across the globe. Rising inequalities between the Global North and South and between women along the categories of class and race will be one major result. To theoretically explain such contradictory effects of the recognition of social reproduction, I use the concept of 'enclosures' based on Marx' 'primitive accumulation'. Feminist scholars use the concept to explain how unpaid care and housework is commodified or de-commodified to integrate women into the paid labour force or to reduce the costs of social reproduction according to the needs of the economy. The sudden interest in unpaid care and domestic work e.g. in the Sustainable Development Goals can therefore be seen as process of double enclosure, which integrates women into the paid labour force, but also sets the grounds for the further commodification of domestic and care work. This paper aims to critically discuss the sudden interest in unpaid domestic and care work and its contradictory effects from a Marxist feminist perspective and reflects on feminist strategies and movements in global governance. After introducing Marxist perspectives on social reproduction, the question if and how feminist ideas and concepts have been appropriated, the effects and implications of global policies on social reproduction and global inequalities, as well as possible counter-strategies will be discussed. Acknowledgement: I want to thank Karin, my mother, who did all the reproductive work during her Christmas holidays while I was working on this article. I also want to thank my dear friends Deborah Sielert, Moritz Altenried, Bernardo Bianchi, Frank Engster and Martin Fries for their useful and encouraging comments, as well as Sarah Hönig and Dominik Arncken for their linguistic and other support. Special thanks go to Tove Soiland, who not only provided useful comments, but also inspired the entire article with her work and seminars on feminist perspectives on the concept of Landnahme (enclosure).

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The transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cited by 168 publications

References 7 publications

What Sustainability? Higher Education Institutions’ Pathways to Reach the Agenda 2030 Goals

What Sustainability? Higher Education Institutions’ Pathways to Reach the Agenda 2030 Goals

Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

Marxist Perspectives on the Global Enclosures of Social Reproduction

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