Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Requires Transdisciplinary Innovation at the Local Scale

Abstract

The diversity of local conditions across regions has led to numerous challenges and opportunities for the implementation of global sustainability frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals. A grassroots transformative change led by local communities, cities, and businesses can offer a promising approach for achieving sustainability, tailored to the unique conditions of each context. Drawing on a systematic review of scientific and policy experiences, we explore some of the major challenges in local sustainability such as disagreements on local priorities, competing interests among various cohorts of stakeholders, and the risks posed by future uncertainties. We propose a transdisciplinary agenda based on the effective integration of computational approaches with genuine stakeholder engagement to mitigate these challenges. The proposed agenda is crucial for mobilizing collaborative efforts that enhance co-learning between scientists and stakeholders in the pursuit of sustainability across scales. The diversity of local conditions across regions has led to numerous challenges and opportunities for the implementation of global sustainability frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals. A grassroots transformative change led by local communities, cities, and businesses can offer a promising approach for achieving sustainability, tailored to the unique conditions of each context. Drawing on a systematic review of scientific and policy experiences, we explore some of the major challenges in local sustainability such as disagreements on local priorities, competing interests among various cohorts of stakeholders, and the risks posed by future uncertainties. We propose a transdisciplinary agenda based on the effective integration of computational approaches with genuine stakeholder engagement to mitigate these challenges. The proposed agenda is crucial for mobilizing collaborative efforts that enhance co-learning between scientists and stakeholders in the pursuit of sustainability across scales. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the UN 2030 Agenda represent a shared vision for global development toward a sustainable economy, society, and environment.1UNTransforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations (UN), 2015https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=EGoogle Scholar Governments have started to coordinate national efforts and evaluate performance against the SDGs.2DFATReport on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals 2018. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia, 2018https://dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/development-issues/2030-agenda/Pages/sustainable-development-goals.aspxGoogle Scholar Recent studies, however, have recognized how challenging it is to meet the SDGs at the national level,3Bryan B.A. Hadjikakou M. Moallemi E.A. Rapid SDG progress possible.Nat. Sustain. 2019; 2: 999-1000Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar,4Gao L. Bryan B.A. Finding pathways to national-scale land-sector sustainability.Nature. 2017; 544: 217Crossref PubMed Scopus (132) Google Scholar especially without active engagement with subnational stakeholders.5Jiménez-Aceituno A. Peterson G.D. Norström A.V. Wong G.Y. Downing A.S. Local lens for SDG implementation: lessons from bottom-up approaches in Africa.Sustain. Sci. 2020; 15: 729-743Crossref Scopus (16) Google Scholar Public participation and collective action by local stakeholders (e.g., city councils, community groups, individuals, private businesses, local authorities, civil society organizations) have long been recognized as key determining factors in achieving inclusive sustainable development across almost all major global agendas.1UNTransforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations (UN), 2015https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=EGoogle Scholar,6UNDRRThe Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework). United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015https://www.undrr.org/publication/sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030Google Scholar, 7UNFCCCThe Paris Agreement. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdfDate: 2015Google Scholar, 8UNThe New Urban Agenda. The United Nations, 2017http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/Google Scholar Despite this, we argue that the level of adoption and effectiveness of local, bottom-up initiatives must be urgently and rapidly increased if we are to meet the ambitious 2030 targets defined by the SDGs. Connecting the broad and abstract global SDGs with locally specific actions requires tailored sustainability programs that better account for the local environment, socio-economic circumstances, and a mosaic of diverse aspirations and interests of social groups, organizations, and individuals.9Reed M.G. Bruyneel S. Rescaling environmental governance, rethinking the state: a three-dimensional review.Prog. Hum. Geogr. 2010; 34: 646-653Crossref Scopus (146) Google Scholar A bottom-up, grassroots engagement with the SDGs, whether it is through local communities, cities, or businesses, can be an opportunity to enable synergies and mutual benefits between global and national aspirations, with place-based needs and priorities. We previously termed this as Local Agenda 2030.10Moallemi E.A. Malekpour S. Hadjikakou M. Raven R. Szetey K. Moghadam M.M. Bandari R. Lester R. Bryan B.A. Local Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.Lancet Planet. Health. 2019; 3: 240-241Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar Given the criticality of such local agendas, a nuanced and systematic investigation of the role of grassroots initiatives in achieving the SDGs from the bottom-up is still underexplored.5Jiménez-Aceituno A. Peterson G.D. Norström A.V. Wong G.Y. Downing A.S. Local lens for SDG implementation: lessons from bottom-up approaches in Africa.Sustain. Sci. 2020; 15: 729-743Crossref Scopus (16) Google Scholar,11Fenton P. Gustafsson S. Moving from high-level words to local action—governance for urban sustainability in municipalities.Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 2017; 26-27: 129-133Crossref Scopus (30) Google Scholar We present a systematic analysis of influential attempts to promote local sustainability, framed by the SDGs. From a critical analysis of recent trends in the literature, we then identify and synthesize a transdisciplinary research agenda for accomplishing the global SDGs from the bottom-up. This agenda aims to promote co-learning across scientific disciplines to better incorporate (potentially divergent) stakeholder views and values and to better cope with the future uncertainties in localizing sustainability. We support the proposed agenda by several examples from successful case studies. Local initiatives have tackled the issue of sustainability in a variety of diverse and innovative ways.5Jiménez-Aceituno A. Peterson G.D. Norström A.V. Wong G.Y. Downing A.S. Local lens for SDG implementation: lessons from bottom-up approaches in Africa.Sustain. Sci. 2020; 15: 729-743Crossref Scopus (16) Google Scholar Understanding the way forward for local sustainability action requires learning from these past experiences and their challenges and opportunities.12Caruana C. Pace P. Local agenda 21 processes and their implications for the SDGs.in: Leal Filho W. Mifsud M. Pace P. Handbook of Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development. Springer International Publishing, 2018: 293-305Crossref Scopus (2) Google Scholar We synthesized the extensive literature of this area in the following overviews of key scientific research and policy initiatives for localizing sustainability. To better understand the diversity of local sustainability in the research arena, we undertook a systematic search of scholarly publications from the initiation of the UN Agenda 2030 in 2015 up to and including the year 2019 in the Scopus database. The search resulted in a total of more than 7900 articles, books, and book chapters (Experimental Procedures). We used a text-mining algorithm called Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)13Eker S. Rovenskaya E. Obersteiner M. Langan S. Practice and perspectives in the validation of resource management models.Nat. Commun. 2018; 9: 5359Crossref PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar to create a meta-synthesis of qualitative insights across the abstracts of the documents into multiple areas. Each area contains correlated keywords that can be linked to the SDG goals and indicators (Experimental Procedures). The areas and their keywords (Figure 1) reveal the extent that local sustainability has been discussed in the context of different SDGs. While text mining is useful for obtaining an overview of many publications, it does not provide detailed insights about their aim, research methods, and results. The latter requires an in-depth but unavoidably selective literature review approach.14Paré G. Trudel M.-C. Jaana M. Kitsiou S. Synthesizing information systems knowledge: a typology of literature reviews.Inf. Management. 2015; 52: 183-199Crossref Scopus (508) Google Scholar Nine areas emerged from our analysis that can be described based on their keywords in relation to the 17 SDGs. Each area has a certain share of publications (percentages in Figure 1), with different frequencies of descriptive keywords (represented by word size in Figure 1). The emerging areas can lead to two insights about the state of local sustainability in research. First, keywords related to sustainable cities (SDG 11) are widely present across three popular areas with a 20%, 15%, and 13% share of publications. This shows that local sustainability has been discussed much more in cities and urban areas, focusing on the role of inclusive and sustainable cities and reducing the environmental impacts of cities (e.g., through expanding public transport networks15Fenton P. Sustainable mobility in the low carbon city: digging up the highway in Odense, Denmark.Sustain. Cities Soc. 2017; 29: 203-210Crossref Scopus (19) Google Scholar). The SDGs can inform public participation in cities and urban communities by providing a common framework through which locally meaningful and legitimate actions can be connected and contribute to national and global agendas. An example is the way in which clean energy for vulnerable suburban communities can improve air quality in cities, while contributing to a reduced risk of non-communicable diseases, such as lung and heart disease (SDG 3) and its associated economic burdens at the national scale (SDG 1).16Nugent R. Bertram M.Y. Jan S. Niessen L.W. Sassi F. Jamison D.T. Pier E.G. Beaglehole R. Investing in non-communicable disease prevention and management to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.Lancet. 2018; 391: 2029-2035Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (139) Google Scholar Second, supporting institutions, policies, and strategic partnerships with stakeholders (SDGs 16 and 17) are other crucial keywords that are present in multiple popular areas, with 20%, 15%, and 14% share of publications. SDGs 16 and 17 can play a key role in promoting sustainable development through local initiatives.17Meza Rios M.M. Herremans I.M. Wallace J.E. Althouse N. Lansdale D. Preusser M. Strengthening sustainability leadership competencies through university internships.Int. J. Sustain. High. Educ. 2018; 19: 739-755Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar Effective and just policies and multi-stakeholder partnerships can underpin a sound governance structure for a balanced realization of other goals. The literature in this part has extensively discussed the expansion of participatory, inclusive, and representative approaches for engaging citizens in decision making and developing more effective and just institutions in sustainable development.18Sangha K.K. Russell-Smith J. Costanza R. Mainstreaming indigenous and local communities’ connections with nature for policy decision-making.Glob. Ecol. Conserv. 2019; 19https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00668Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar,19Benites-Lazaro L.L. Mello-Théry N.A. Empowering communities? Local stakeholders’ participation in the clean development mechanism in Latin America.World Dev. 2019; 114: 254-266Crossref Scopus (17) Google Scholar In addition to the scientific literature, an active role for local stakeholders in achieving sustainability has been advocated in policy initiatives since the late 1980s.9Reed M.G. Bruyneel S. Rescaling environmental governance, rethinking the state: a three-dimensional review.Prog. Hum. Geogr. 2010; 34: 646-653Crossref Scopus (146) Google Scholar One of the earliest and most widely known is Local Agenda 21,20UN-ICLEIThe Local Agenda 21 Initiative: ICLEI Guidelines for Local Agenda 21. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), 1993Google Scholar which was a key component of the UN global action plan for sustainable development. The extensive adoption of Local Agenda 21 in more than 6400 local authorities spanning 113 countries21CSDSecond Local Agenda 21 Survey. Background Paper No. 15, Submitted by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, DESA/DSD/PC/BP15. Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), 2002Google Scholar demonstrated how local multi-stakeholder groups can facilitate the implementation of global goals through intermediary institutions, and how cities, businesses, and communities—as a level of governance close to the people—can contribute significantly in raising awareness and promoting sustainable development. The initial experience with Local Agenda 21 was followed by many globally initiated attempts for local sustainable development. We showcased a selection of key initiatives, identified through a snowball search procedure (S5) in the public domain. We divided the identified initiatives on the basis of their focal point at the local scale that could be communities and local governments, cities, and businesses (Table 1). For each initiative, we summarized the purpose, approach, intended local impact, time frame, original geography, and an example of their outreach to better understand the evolution process of policy initiatives in different dimensions.Table 1Policy Initiatives at the Level of Local Communities and Local Governments, Cities, and BusinessesInitiativeInitiatorPurposeApproachLocal ImpactTime FrameGeographyOutreachLocal Communities and Local GovernmentsLocal Agenda 21UN-ICLEI20UN-ICLEIThe Local Agenda 21 Initiative: ICLEI Guidelines for Local Agenda 21. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), 1993Google ScholarTo engage local authorities with residents and local organizations to create bottom-up initiatives, awareness, and partnership toward global sustainabilityA non-binding framework based on community consultation and partnership creationProviding services to the community while protecting local, regional, and global ecosystems1992–1996 (with implementations until mid-2000s)Worldwide, although the majority of the initiatives were in EuropeLokale Agenda Wien (Vienna)22UNInstitutional aspects of sustainable development in Austria.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdfDate: 2005Google ScholarToolkit for Localizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)UNDP23UNDPToolkit for localising the Millenial Development Goals: a UNDP capacity development resource.https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/capacity-building/toolkit-for-localising-the-millennium-development-goals-mdgs.htmlDate: 2005Google ScholarTo provide a toolkit for local government to build capacity for integrating the MDGs into their development strategiesCoordination of regional entities, supported by international institutions and effective partnership with communitiesHelping local government and communities to contribute actively toward the MDGs2005–2015Low- to middle-income countriesLocalizing the MDGs in Uganda24Kiyimba A. Abaliwano Localising the Millennium Development Goals in Uganda: opportunities for local leaders.https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/localising-the-millennium-development-goals-in-ugandaDate: 2011Google ScholarLocal 2030UN25UN Local 2030 a global multi-stakeholder initiative to support the local-level implementation of the SDGs.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnerships/local2030Google ScholarTo support the local implementation of the SDGs although facilitating participation of local actors, improving finance to local stakeholders, coordinating actions, and supporting local reporting data into formal processesPartnership and collaboration between all levels of the government as well as other local stakeholders, such as community, private businessesDeveloping and implementing solutions for advancing the SDGs collaboratively across all levels of society2016–2030WorldwideHawai'i Green Growth Aloha + Challenge26Government H. Aloha+ Challenge: A Culture of Sustainability—He Nohona ‘Ae’oia.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=8026Date: 2014Google Scholar (the incorporation of the SDGs from 2016)CitiesSDG: Local and Urban Governance DashboardUNDP27UNDP SDG Local and Urban Governance Dashboard.https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/meetTheSDGs/SDG%20Offer%20-%20Gov%20Dashboard.pdfGoogle ScholarTo provide local stakeholders with evidence-based information on current socio-economic development conditions, resources, and capabilities to prioritize needs, vulnerabilities, and resourcesData integration through cloud computingFacilitating the integration of relevant SDGs into local development plansNot mentioned−2030Asia-Pacific countriesCities across Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines27UNDP SDG Local and Urban Governance Dashboard.https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/meetTheSDGs/SDG%20Offer%20-%20Gov%20Dashboard.pdfGoogle ScholarA Pathway to Sustainable American CitiesSDSN28SDSNA pathway to sustainable american cities: a guide to implementing the SDGs. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.https://www.localizingthesdgs.org/library/616/A-Pathway-to-Sustainable-American-Cities-A-Guide-to-Implementing-the-SDGs.pdfDate: 2019Google ScholarTo customize SDGs for the planning strategies of cities through identifying the gaps, specifying priorities in the budget processes, setting targets, and tracking outcomesCommunity engagement and consultation for inclusive planning; building network and peer-to-peer learning from other citiesEquipping cities with a holistic approach to develop a long-term vision for a thriving futureNot mentioned–2030Cities in the United StatesOne NYC (New York City)28SDSNA pathway to sustainable american cities: a guide to implementing the SDGs. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.https://www.localizingthesdgs.org/library/616/A-Pathway-to-Sustainable-American-Cities-A-Guide-to-Implementing-the-SDGs.pdfDate: 2019Google ScholarOperationalizing the Urban NEXUSGIZ and ICLEI29GIZICLEIOperationalizing the Urban NEXUS: towards resource-efficient and integrated cities and metropolitan regions. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany).https://www.sustainable-urbanisation.org/sites/sgup/files/publications/operationalising_the_urban_nexus.pdfDate: 2014Google ScholarTo design sustainable urban development solutions by creating synergies between sectors, jurisdictions, and technical domainsCo-designing coordinated measures, such as policies, and business models, with stakeholdersFacilitating service access in cities and increasing service quality within planetary boundaries2014—not mentionedCities all over the worldKinondoni District, Dar es Salaam29GIZICLEIOperationalizing the Urban NEXUS: towards resource-efficient and integrated cities and metropolitan regions. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany).https://www.sustainable-urbanisation.org/sites/sgup/files/publications/operationalising_the_urban_nexus.pdfDate: 2014Google ScholarPlanning for Climate ChangeUN-Habitat30UN-Habitat Planning for Climate Change: A Strategic, Values-Based Approach for Urban Planners. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2014https://www.localizingthesdgs.org/library/83/Planning-for-climate-change--Guide-%E2%80%93-A-strategic,-values-based-approach-for-urban-planners.pdfGoogle ScholarTo integrate climate change planning into current urban development initiatives for decision making within the available resources and aligned with local objectivesA mix of decision-making tools within an inclusive, participatory, community-based methodologyBetter understanding, assessing, and planning for climate change impact at the local level2014–not mentionedCities all over the world, with emphasis on low and middle-income countriesSorsogon City (the Philippines)31UN-HabitatIIEDDeveloping local climate change plans: a guide for cities in developing countries.https://mirror.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/11424_1_594548.pdfDate: 2012Google ScholarThe New Urban AgendaUN8UNThe New Urban Agenda. The United Nations, 2017http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/Google ScholarTo propose frameworks for planning, construction, development, management, and improvement of sustainable cities through policies, regulations, urban design, finance, and local implementationA participatory process based on civic engagement creating a sense of ownershipAchieving equal rights and access for all people to opportunities2016–2030Cities all over the worldGerman cities and municipalities32BBSRNew urban agenda in action—case studies from a German perspective: Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development.https://www.bbsr.bund.de/BBSR/EN/Publications/SpecialPublication/2016/new-urban-agenda-node.htmlDate: 2016Google ScholarBusinessesBusiness Reporting on the SDGsUN33UNBusiness reporting on the SDGs: an analysis of the goals and targets. GRI, UN Global Compact.https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI_UNGC_Business-Reporting-on-SDGs_Analysis-of-Goals-and-Targets.pdfDate: 2017Google ScholarBuilding a harmonized set of indicators to disclose businesses' contributions to SDGs through better reporting and communicationCollaboration among all parties in society, including businessesImproving the performance and accelerating the progress toward the SDGsNot mentioned–2030Businesses large or small all over the worldPwC's SDGs report34PwCFrom promise to reality: does business really care about the SDGs?.https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/SDG/sdg-reporting-2018.pdfDate: 2018Google ScholarSDG CompassUN35UNSDG Compass: the guide for business action on the SDGs. GRI, UN Global Compact, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).https://sdgcompass.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/019104_SDG_Compass_Guide_2015.pdfDate: 2015Google ScholarOffering tools and guidelines for companies to maximize their contribution to the SDGs by aligning their actions and strategies with sustainability agendasSynergistic partnerships across the business' value chain and also other sectors, government, and civil societyConnecting business strategies with global priorities to seize future opportunities while contributing to sustainability2015–2030Companies and business actors all over the worldMultiple private companies in Japan36Ueno A. Dowaki T. Izumi S. Onoda S. Yoshida T. Kato M. Yano S. Mori H. SDGs and business for the future: actions by private companies in Japan.https://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/sdgs-and-business-future-actions-private/enDate: 2018Google ScholarUN Global CompactUN37UNMaking Global Golas Local Busniess. United Nations Global Compact, 2017https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/about_the_gc/MakingGlobalGoalsLocalsBusiness2017.pdfGoogle ScholarProviding guidelines and tools for businesses to incorporate the SDG principles into their strategies through innovation and collaborationPartnership, collaboration, and engagement between businesses and other sectorsEncouraging private sector to responsibly pursue opportunities to address socio-economic-environmental challenges2016–2030Companies and business actors all over the worldCovestro's Sunrise Initiative for Inclusive Business (Germany)37UNMaking Global Golas Local Busniess. United Nations Global Compact, 2017https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/about_the_gc/MakingGlobalGoalsLocalsBusiness2017.pdfGoogle ScholarPurpose shows the ultimate aim of the initiative; Approach is the way that the initiative is meant to be operationalized; Local impact indicates how the initiative is intended to contribute to sustainability at a local scale; Timeframe represents the initiation and the target year to give a sense of chronology; Geography shows the original context for which the initiative was proposed; Outreach shows an example from the adoption of the initiative in real-world practice. Within each table's section, the initiatives are organized chronologically wherever information on the initiation year was available. Open table in a new tab Purpose shows the ultimate aim of the initiative; Approach is the way that the initiative is meant to be operationalized; Local impact indicates how the initiative is intended to contribute to sustainability at a local scale; Timeframe represents the initiation and the target year to give a sense of chronology; Geography shows the original context for which the initiative was proposed; Outreach shows an example from the adoption of the initiative in real-world practice. Within each table's section, the initiatives are organized chronologically wherever information on the initiation year was available. From Table 1, we can conclude that past policy initiatives have evolved over time in multiple dimensions. The first evolving dimension has been around the level of resources for implementation. Early initiatives mostly remained at a high level, highlighting the urgency (e.g., Local Agenda 2120UN-ICLEIThe Local Agenda 21 Initiative: ICLEI Guidelines for Local Agenda 21. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), 1993Google Scholar) and navigating the overarching process (e.g., Planning for Climate Change30UN-Habitat Planning for Climate Change: A Strategic, Values-Based Approach for Urban Planners. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2014https://www.localizingthesdgs.org/library/83/Planning-for-climate-change--Guide-%E2%80%93-A-strategic,-values-based-approach-for-urban-planners.pdfGoogle Scholar) to localize sustainability endeavors. This was followed by initiatives that attempted to respond to this urgency through supporting elements, such as implementation toolkits (e.g., Toolkit for Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] Localization,23UNDPToolkit for localising the Millenial Development Goals: a UNDP capacity development resource.https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/capacity-building/toolkit-for-localising-the-millennium-development-goals-mdgs.htmlDate: 2005Google Scholar SDG Local and Urban Governance Dashboard27UNDP SDG Local and Urban Governance Dashboard.https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/meetTheSDGs/SDG%20Offer%20-%20Gov%20Dashboard.pdfGoogle Scholar) for local-level data access, local financing, and knowledge sharing. The second dimension has been the evolution of their agendas, that is the priorities of initiatives and the way to achieve them. Early initiatives (e.g., Local Agenda 2120UN-ICLEIThe Local Agenda 21 Initiative: ICLEI Guidelines for Local Agenda 21. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), 1993Google Scholar) often proposed non-binding, collaborative frameworks for integrating global agendas into existing local government development plans, serving mostly socio-economic-political priorities. This gradually changed to bottom-up initiatives that were initiated from grassroots businesses and communities, with a balanced representation of not only socio-economic-political priorities, but also environment goals (e.g., UN Global Compact,37UNMaking Global Golas Local Busniess. United Nations Global Compact, 2017https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/about_the_gc/MakingGlobalGoalsLocalsBusiness2017.pdfGoogle Scholar SDG Compass35UNSDG Compass: the guide for business action on the SDGs. GRI, UN Global Compact, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).https://sdgcompass.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/019104_SDG_Compass_Guide_2015.pdfDate: 2015Google Scholar). The third dimension has been around the expansion of the sectoral scope from capacity building in local authorities and government agencies (e.g., Local Agenda 2120UN-ICLEIThe Local Agenda 21 Initiative: ICLEI Guidelines for Local Agenda 21. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), 1993Google Scholar) to facilitating multi-sectoral collaborations across scales with communities (e.g., Local, 203025UN Local 2030 a global multi-stakeholder initiative to support the local-level implementation of the SDGs.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnerships/local2030Google Scholar), cities (e.g., The New Urban Agenda8UNThe New Urban Agenda. The United Nations,