Abstract
The United Nations' Development Goals (SDGs) have been criticized but are nonetheless seen by many as an important, if imperfect, international effort to address climate and environmental change, resource depletion and the unsustainability of contemporary life. Many of the Goals need to be implemented at the local level, yet sub-national governments have not been granted any enhanced status at the UN to facilitate this process. As a result, the role and effectiveness of local governments in localizing the SDGs is dependent on multi-level arrangements within respective national contexts. In this paper we present findings on the challenges facing local authorities in England, namely co-dependent ambivalence, partial holism and narrow practices of knowledge governance. We draw on work carried out collaboratively with local authorities and other stakeholders in Greater Manchester and Sheffield, and a UK-wide national workshop. These challenges explain the relatively low uptake and engagement with the SDGs in the context of wider political and economic concerns compared with international comparator cities. Against this background our research found that making the Goals real, relevant, relatable and relational offered a tactical route to localization for English local government.
Highlights
During 18 months in 2015–16, United Nations (UN) member states adopted several complementary landmark agreements and agendas, known collectively as the global sustainable development agenda
We focus primarily on England, UK, examining the specific challenges faced by local authorities in these multilevel arrangements, which explain their lagging position behind counterparts in other European countries and those further afield, some of which have emerged as highly proactive leaders nationally and internationally
We identified 89 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets that were locally relevant to Sheffield, around 53% of the total
Summary
During 18 months in 2015–16, United Nations (UN) member states adopted several complementary landmark agreements and agendas, known collectively as the global sustainable development agenda. National governments remain the sole formal conduits through their respective national reporting agencies This raises several challenges and puts a—perhaps unrealistic—premium on effective multi-level collaborative governance between national regional and local government institutions in each country if the progressive and transformative potential of the SDGs is to be achieved (Leck and Simon, 2013, 2018; Hajer et al, 2015; Castán Broto, 2017; Allen et al, 2018; Koch and Ahmad, 2018; Robin and Acuto, 2018; Bulkeley, 2019). We identify four value propositions for overcoming these challenges, in the absence of wider systemic governance and policy reform: making the goals real, relevant, relatable and relational
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