The sustainable development goals and leadership in public sector: a case study of social innovation in the disability sector of Iran

Author(s):  
Ali Asghar Sadabadi ◽  
Azam Mirzamani
Author(s):  
Wendy M. Purcell ◽  
Heather A. Henriksen ◽  
Jack D. Spengler

Universities can do more to deliver against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with faculty, staff and students as well as their wider stakeholder community and alumni body. They play a critical role in helping shape new ways for the world, educating global citizens and delivering knowledge and innovation into society – universities can be engines of societal transformation. Here, using a case study approach, different ways of strategizing sustainability in a university setting are explored with an example from the UK, Europe and USA. The first case is a public UK university that adopted enterprise and sustainability as its academic mission to secure differentiation in a disrupted and increasingly marketized global higher education sector which then became a source of inspiration for change in regional businesses and the local community. The second case study is a business sector-led sustainability-driven transformation working with a private university in Bulgaria to catalyze economic regeneration and social innovation. Finally, the case of Harvard’s Office for Sustainability engagement program is given to show how this approach connects faculty and students with institutional sustainability plans and external partners.  Each case is a living lab, positioning sustainability as an intentional strategy. Leadership at all levels, and by students, was key to success in acting with purpose. Partnerships within and with universities can help accelerate delivery of the SDGs, with higher education making a fuller contribution to sustaining the economic, cultural and intellectual well-being of our global communities. 


Author(s):  
Laura Ballerini ◽  
Sylvia I. Bergh

AbstractOfficial data are not sufficient for monitoring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): they do not reach remote locations or marginalized populations and can be manipulated by governments. Citizen science data (CSD), defined as data that citizens voluntarily gather by employing a wide range of technologies and methodologies, could help to tackle these problems and ultimately improve SDG monitoring. However, the link between CSD and the SDGs is still understudied. This article aims to develop an empirical understanding of the CSD-SDG link by focusing on the perspective of projects which employ CSD. Specifically, the article presents primary and secondary qualitative data collected on 30 of these projects and an explorative comparative case study analysis. It finds that projects which use CSD recognize that the SDGs can provide a valuable framework and legitimacy, as well as attract funding, visibility, and partnerships. But, at the same time, the article reveals that these projects also encounter several barriers with respect to the SDGs: a widespread lack of knowledge of the goals, combined with frustration and political resistance towards the UN, may deter these projects from contributing their data to the SDG monitoring apparatus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Paula Azadian ◽  
Victoria Hourcade ◽  
María Reyes

This paper explores the financing framework for sustainable development in Uruguay, an emerging economy, and examines whether available financing instruments contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in which significant progress is still required in this country. Reports, policy documents and academic literature were reviewed to determine the types of sustainable development financing instruments available, and to analyse the challenges facing emerging economies in this regard. In addition, the financing programmes available from the public sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the financial sector and multilateral credit agencies were examined. The results obtained show that the main financing sources for sustainable development are located within the public sector due to the absence of a developed financial market, and that the existing financial instruments do not address the SDGs where most attention is required. The latter circumstances make it challenging to achieve these SDGs in Uruguay. The study findings highlight the need for greater coordination among all parties to make efficient use of the scarce resources available to an emerging economy and thus enable it to meet its SDGs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Zamora-Polo ◽  
Jesús Sánchez-Martín

Sustainability, as a key concept in the education field, has submitted a relevant change during the last years. Thus, there is a growing debate about its meaning. It has undergone a crucial merging of significances from many fields: Ecology, environmental awareness, but also from politics, ethics or even spiritual approaches. All these fields have been co-involved in the building of such subject concept. In this sense, this article addresses the different ways of understanding sustainability as a polyhedral concept and how sustainability can be understood under the umbrella of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, it is proposed a conceptual framework to teach this UN Program at Higher Education, contributing to the training of undergraduate and postgraduate students from both a professional and a personal point of view. This framework is applied in a case study—in particular, in a course of Primary Teacher Degree called Didactics of Matter and Energy. This article finishes with practical consideration to build a change-maker University.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 0326-0332
Author(s):  
Yohani Dominik dos Figueiredo ◽  
Márcia Aparecida Prim ◽  
Gertrudes Aparecida Dandolini

Social innovation and sustainable development are topics of research interest for political leaders and civil society players, as well as for scholars from different disciplinary fields. They are presented as an effective, efficient, and sustainable solution to social problems generated by the present. In this sense, this research aims to identify characteristics of social innovation that are associated with sustainable development, from a narrative review of the literature. As a result, it was possible to identify characteristics such as improving quality of life and well-being, social change, innovative nature, among others, which are directly linked to the constructs of sustainable development. Special attention should be paid to the Sustainable Development Goals, which go hand in hand with social innovation actions as a way to reverse the situation of environmental degradation and social indigence.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Idowu A Akinloye

The limited scope of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the failure of the programme to achieve its developmental objectives at its expiry in 2015 led to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme commencing 2016. The SDGs progamme has been widely accepted as laudable for its wider approach to global development and sustainability. However, if the SDGs programme is not to end as the Millennium Development Goals did, it is necessary that its implementing actors collaborate with stakeholders of institutions that will make more members of the populace aware of, accepting of, and involved in the implementation of the goals. This is crucial because the goals require the populace’ corresponding participation. This paper focuses on one such institutional stakeholder: religious leaders. This paper, through literature review and analysis of surveys and reports, examines the influence religious leaders have on their followers in Africa with Nigeria as a case study. It argues that religious leaders have a strong influence on their followers, as Nigerians and most Africans place more trust in, and respect the opinions of their religious leaders than their political counterparts. The paper, therefore, contends that if the global agenda of the SDGs is to be realised by getting a wider Nigerians to accept and involve in the implementation of the sustainable goals, then, the potential influence of religious leaders should be harnessed.


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