Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include social and ecological goals for humanity. Navigating towards reaching the goals requires the systematic inclusion of perspectives from a diversity of voices. Yet, the development of global sustainability pathways often lacks perspective...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Communications |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acce25 |
| _version_ | 1797789000976564224 |
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| author | David Collste Ana Paula D Aguiar Zuzana V Harmáčková Diego Galafassi Laura M Pereira Odirilwe Selomane Sander van Der Leeuw |
| author_facet | David Collste Ana Paula D Aguiar Zuzana V Harmáčková Diego Galafassi Laura M Pereira Odirilwe Selomane Sander van Der Leeuw |
| author_sort | David Collste |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include social and ecological goals for humanity. Navigating towards reaching the goals requires the systematic inclusion of perspectives from a diversity of voices. Yet, the development of global sustainability pathways often lacks perspectives from the Global South. To help fill this gap, this paper introduces a participatory approach for visioning and exploring sustainable futures - the Three Horizons for the Sustainable Development Goals (3H4SDG). 3H4SDG facilitates explorations of (a) systemic pathways to reach the SDGs in an integrated way, and (b) highlights convergences and divergences between the pathways. We illustrate the application of 3H4SDG in a facilitated dialogue bringing together participants from four sub-regions of Africa: West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. The dialogue focused on food and agricultural systems transformations. The case study results incorporate a set of convergences and divergences in relation to the future of urbanization, population growth, consumption, and the role of agriculture in the African economy. These were subsequently compared with the perspectives in global sustainability pathways, including the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). The study illustrates that participatory approaches that are systemic and highlight divergent perspectives represent a promising way to link local aspirations with global goals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:44:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-481a5bfdbcc047528d1b70d9d92b33ad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2515-7620 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:44:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-481a5bfdbcc047528d1b70d9d92b33ad2023-07-03T09:44:50ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202023-01-015505501410.1088/2515-7620/acce25Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approachDavid Collste0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4303-9744Ana Paula D Aguiar1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0683-1142Zuzana V Harmáčková2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7711-4135Diego Galafassi3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3572-9275Laura M Pereira4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4996-7234Odirilwe Selomane5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6892-4221Sander van Der Leeuw6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6997-4629Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University , SwedenStockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University , Sweden; National Institute for Space Research (INPE), BrazilStockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University , Sweden; Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech RepublicLUCSUS, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies , Lund, SwedenStockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University , Sweden; Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of Pretoria , South Africa; Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University , Stellenbosch, South AfricaSchool of Sustainability, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, United States of AmericaThe United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include social and ecological goals for humanity. Navigating towards reaching the goals requires the systematic inclusion of perspectives from a diversity of voices. Yet, the development of global sustainability pathways often lacks perspectives from the Global South. To help fill this gap, this paper introduces a participatory approach for visioning and exploring sustainable futures - the Three Horizons for the Sustainable Development Goals (3H4SDG). 3H4SDG facilitates explorations of (a) systemic pathways to reach the SDGs in an integrated way, and (b) highlights convergences and divergences between the pathways. We illustrate the application of 3H4SDG in a facilitated dialogue bringing together participants from four sub-regions of Africa: West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. The dialogue focused on food and agricultural systems transformations. The case study results incorporate a set of convergences and divergences in relation to the future of urbanization, population growth, consumption, and the role of agriculture in the African economy. These were subsequently compared with the perspectives in global sustainability pathways, including the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). The study illustrates that participatory approaches that are systemic and highlight divergent perspectives represent a promising way to link local aspirations with global goals.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acce25SDGstransformationsCo-productionGlobal southpathwaysfood system |
| spellingShingle | David Collste Ana Paula D Aguiar Zuzana V Harmáčková Diego Galafassi Laura M Pereira Odirilwe Selomane Sander van Der Leeuw Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach Environmental Research Communications SDGs transformations Co-production Global south pathways food system |
| title | Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach |
| title_full | Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach |
| title_fullStr | Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach |
| title_short | Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals: inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach |
| title_sort | participatory pathways to the sustainable development goals inviting divergent perspectives through a cross scale systems approach |
| topic | SDGs transformations Co-production Global south pathways food system |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acce25 |
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