Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract Non-Technical Summary This article takes stock of the 2030 Agenda and focuses on five governance areas. In a nutshell, we see a quite patchy and often primarily symbolic uptake of the global goals. Although some studies highlight individual success stories of actors and institutions to impl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Global Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479824000048/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797306769991532544 |
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| author | Thomas Hickmann Frank Biermann Carole-Anne Sénit Yixian Sun Magdalena Bexell Mitzi Bolton Basil Bornemann Jecel Censoro Aurelie Charles Dominique Coy Frederik Dahlmann Mark Elder Felicitas Fritzsche Thiago Gehre Galvão Jarrod Grainger-Brown Cristina Inoue Kristina Jönsson Montserrat Koloffon Rosas Kerstin Krellenberg Enayat Moallemi Ivonne Lobos Alva Shirin Malekpour Dianty Ningrum Aneliya Paneva Lena Partzsch Rodrigo Ramiro Rob Raven Eszter Szedlacsek John Thompson Melanie van Driel Jéssica Viani Damasceno Robert Webb Sabine Weiland |
| author_facet | Thomas Hickmann Frank Biermann Carole-Anne Sénit Yixian Sun Magdalena Bexell Mitzi Bolton Basil Bornemann Jecel Censoro Aurelie Charles Dominique Coy Frederik Dahlmann Mark Elder Felicitas Fritzsche Thiago Gehre Galvão Jarrod Grainger-Brown Cristina Inoue Kristina Jönsson Montserrat Koloffon Rosas Kerstin Krellenberg Enayat Moallemi Ivonne Lobos Alva Shirin Malekpour Dianty Ningrum Aneliya Paneva Lena Partzsch Rodrigo Ramiro Rob Raven Eszter Szedlacsek John Thompson Melanie van Driel Jéssica Viani Damasceno Robert Webb Sabine Weiland |
| author_sort | Thomas Hickmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract
Non-Technical Summary
This article takes stock of the 2030 Agenda and focuses on five governance areas. In a nutshell, we see a quite patchy and often primarily symbolic uptake of the global goals. Although some studies highlight individual success stories of actors and institutions to implement the goals, it remains unclear how such cases can be upscaled and develop a broader political impact to accelerate the global endeavor to achieve sustainable development. We hence raise concerns about the overall effectiveness of governance by goal-setting and raise the question of how we can make this mode of governance more effective.
Technical Summary
A recent meta-analysis on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has shown that these global goals are moving political processes forward only incrementally, with much variation across countries, sectors, and governance levels. Consequently, the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains uncertain. Against this backdrop, this article explores where and how incremental political changes are taking place due to the SDGs, and under what conditions these developments can bolster sustainability transformations up to 2030 and beyond. Our scoping review builds upon an online expert survey directed at the scholarly community of the ‘Earth System Governance Project’ and structured dialogues within the ‘Taskforce on the SDGs’ under this project. We identified five governance areas where some effects of the SDGs have been observable: (1) global governance, (2) national policy integration, (3) subnational initiatives, (4) private governance, and (5) education and learning for sustainable development. This article delves deeper into these governance areas and draws lessons to guide empirical research on the promises and pitfalls of accelerating SDG implementation.
Social Media Summary
As SDG implementation lags behind, this article explores 5 governance areas asking how to strengthen the global goals.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:46:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fe6e34dbc3444e0c8d8b3892ff12cee4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-4798 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:46:39Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe6e34dbc3444e0c8d8b3892ff12cee42024-02-15T08:43:02ZengCambridge University PressGlobal Sustainability2059-47982024-01-01710.1017/sus.2024.4Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development GoalsThomas Hickmann0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5072-7855Frank Biermann1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0292-0703Carole-Anne Sénit2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2723-6091Yixian Sun3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2415-2327Magdalena Bexell4Mitzi Bolton5Basil Bornemann6Jecel Censoro7Aurelie Charles8Dominique Coy9Frederik Dahlmann10Mark Elder11Felicitas Fritzsche12Thiago Gehre Galvão13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9951-288XJarrod Grainger-Brown14Cristina Inoue15Kristina Jönsson16Montserrat Koloffon Rosas17Kerstin Krellenberg18https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4645-5775Enayat Moallemi19https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-4043Ivonne Lobos Alva20Shirin Malekpour21Dianty Ningrum22Aneliya Paneva23Lena Partzsch24Rodrigo Ramiro25https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2274-8207Rob Raven26https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6330-0831Eszter Szedlacsek27John Thompson28Melanie van Driel29https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8170-5998Jéssica Viani Damasceno30Robert Webb31Sabine Weiland32Department of Political Science, Lund University, Lund, SwedenCopernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsCopernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UKDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, Lund, SwedenMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaDepartment of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandSchool of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UKDepartment of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UKMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaWarwick Business School, Coventry, UKInstitute for Global Environmental Strategies, Miura-gun, JapanDepartment of Political Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenUniversity of Brasília, Brasília, BrazilMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaRadboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Environmental Policy Analysis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsUniversity of Vienna, Wien, AustriaDeakin University, Burwood, AustraliaSEI Latin America, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, SwedenMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaUniversity of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyDepartment of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyUniversity of Brasília, Brasília, BrazilMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaDepartment of Environmental Policy Analysis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsInstitute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UKDepartment of Environmental Policy Analysis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsFederal University of Uberlândia, BrazilThe Australian National University, Canberra, AustraliaUniversité Catholique de Lille, Lille, FranceAbstract Non-Technical Summary This article takes stock of the 2030 Agenda and focuses on five governance areas. In a nutshell, we see a quite patchy and often primarily symbolic uptake of the global goals. Although some studies highlight individual success stories of actors and institutions to implement the goals, it remains unclear how such cases can be upscaled and develop a broader political impact to accelerate the global endeavor to achieve sustainable development. We hence raise concerns about the overall effectiveness of governance by goal-setting and raise the question of how we can make this mode of governance more effective. Technical Summary A recent meta-analysis on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has shown that these global goals are moving political processes forward only incrementally, with much variation across countries, sectors, and governance levels. Consequently, the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains uncertain. Against this backdrop, this article explores where and how incremental political changes are taking place due to the SDGs, and under what conditions these developments can bolster sustainability transformations up to 2030 and beyond. Our scoping review builds upon an online expert survey directed at the scholarly community of the ‘Earth System Governance Project’ and structured dialogues within the ‘Taskforce on the SDGs’ under this project. We identified five governance areas where some effects of the SDGs have been observable: (1) global governance, (2) national policy integration, (3) subnational initiatives, (4) private governance, and (5) education and learning for sustainable development. This article delves deeper into these governance areas and draws lessons to guide empirical research on the promises and pitfalls of accelerating SDG implementation. Social Media Summary As SDG implementation lags behind, this article explores 5 governance areas asking how to strengthen the global goals. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479824000048/type/journal_article2030 Agendagoal-settinggovernanceimplementationpoliciesSustainable Development Goals (SDGs)United Nations |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Hickmann Frank Biermann Carole-Anne Sénit Yixian Sun Magdalena Bexell Mitzi Bolton Basil Bornemann Jecel Censoro Aurelie Charles Dominique Coy Frederik Dahlmann Mark Elder Felicitas Fritzsche Thiago Gehre Galvão Jarrod Grainger-Brown Cristina Inoue Kristina Jönsson Montserrat Koloffon Rosas Kerstin Krellenberg Enayat Moallemi Ivonne Lobos Alva Shirin Malekpour Dianty Ningrum Aneliya Paneva Lena Partzsch Rodrigo Ramiro Rob Raven Eszter Szedlacsek John Thompson Melanie van Driel Jéssica Viani Damasceno Robert Webb Sabine Weiland Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals Global Sustainability 2030 Agenda goal-setting governance implementation policies Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) United Nations |
| title | Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals |
| title_full | Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals |
| title_fullStr | Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals |
| title_short | Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals |
| title_sort | scoping article research frontiers on the governance of the sustainable development goals |
| topic | 2030 Agenda goal-setting governance implementation policies Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) United Nations |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479824000048/type/journal_article |
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