What is 'progress'?
There's good reason that I put the notion of progress in quotation marks - that is we don't seem to agree on what 'progress' is.
In 2015, I participated in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the Coursera platform 'The Age of Sustainable Development' [1]. The course was led by Jeffrey Sachs, the American economist, university professor, and UN special advisor on the sustainable development goals. The course discussed the concept of progress and the seemingly unending debate between GDP growth and other development indicators. Clear goals are required to drive progress, which is why the UN backed sustainable development goals came into being.
In the Donut Economics concept, the boundary of the inner ring of the donut is the social foundation (minimum standards), which are derived from the sustainable development goals. The boundary of the outer ring of the donut consists of 9 environmental boundaries. Beyond these boundaries lie unacceptable environmental consequences and potential tipping points of the earths' systems. The area in-between lies the 'safe and just space for humanity' [2].
Despite their launch 5 years ago, I still feel the sustainable development goals are little discussed. One of the key techniques explained in the course was the technique of backcasting - defining a desirable future state, then working backwards to design measures and actions that will drive progress towards the desired future state. The global goals provide a clear vision for the future. All that's needed is for us to use backcasting to define how the global goals will be met.
But with 17 goals, it's difficult for organisations to take action to tackle them all. This is why prioritisation is needed. Indeed this approach is outlined in standards for social responsibility [3]. Prioritisation first requires an understanding of each goal. Once the goals are understood, plans can be discussed and agreed to achieve them.
This is why it's important we start discussing and understanding the goals. For without understanding we can't prioritise effectively or prepare action plans.
What are the most important goals for you? And why are they important?
Let's start discussing this so we can be one step further to a more sustainable future.
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- Raworth, K., 2017. Donut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Centuary Economist. ISBN: 9781847941398. Available to buy from: amazon.co.uk/Doughnut-Economics-Seven-21st-Century-Economist-ebook/dp/B01BUOGF58
- Coursera, 2020. The age of Sustainable Development. Available at: coursera.org/learn/sustainable-development
- ISO, 2010. ISO 26000 - Guidance on Social Responsiblity, Section 7.3.2 - Determining relevance and significance of core subjects and issues to an organisation.
"Glazed Paradise" by Shawn Medero is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0