SDG-pathfinding

The challenge ahead: There is substantive evidence that the prevailing silo approach in public policy is threatening the materialization of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, approaches to research SDG interactions are still in its infancy, and available ones fail to adequately incorporate the social and governance dimensions, which are instrumental in the implementation of sustainable development models. Also, managing real world SDG problems requires strong stakeholder engagement approaches. The hypotheses: Supporting regions to get on the sustainability path requires a systems approach to map and untangling the interlinkages that emerge across sectors, policies, actors, and scales, through the integration of different sources of knowledge, tools and values. The proposed approach: A combination of analytical tools with strong stakeholder engagement approaches to: 1) support social learning to drive the change in mindsets required to match our ambitions for sustainability; and 2) to design transformations pathways that match countries capacities and socioeconomic-physical-governance contexts. The main research questions and objectives: SDG-pathfinding aims to develop novel tools and capacities support a sustainable development pathway for African countries that is adapted to local capacities. We will pursue this goal by adopting a strongly inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches that will: 1) Analyze multilevel governance structures and path dependencies; 2) Develop and test an innovative, online and participatory SDG scenario policy tool to support the development of inclusive and bottom up narratives and transformation pathways; and 3) Foster exchange and collective learning experiences to promote social learning and innovation on SDGs. We will implement our approach in two African case studies where multiple SDG gaps intersect due to a number of drivers. Project originality and innovation: The SDG pathfinding approach is an experiential and fully participatory process, engaging participants in defining their desirable futures, assessing trade -offs, and finding solutions within the chosen sustainability pathways. Main innovations: 1) the integration with a governance framework to unpack impediments and enablers for SDG implementation, including vertical and horizontal cooperation; 2) a flexible integration of the participatory tools developed by the consortium partners; 3) an approach suitable to support the localization of the SDG agenda, and 4) that can be implemented online in situations where face-to-face meetings are not possible. Primary researchers involved: The consortium is lead by IIASA (Austria), and involves the participation of INRAE (France), GAIA (Senegal), and Rhodes University (South Africa). Team members (interdisciplinary scientists and practitioners) have a broad range of complementary skills needed to identify and represent essential interactions between SDGs and translate them down to the field level to support action.