‘New Wine in Old Wineskins?’—Understanding the Framing of SDGs in the Local Government Context in Ghana

Abstract

This study examines local government officials’ perspectives on framing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Ghanaian context. The emerging themes suggest a dualistic framing of the SDGs by local actors, with the SDGs framed, on the one hand, as part of ongoing development programming and, on the other hand, as a framework that facilitates local development and provides a standard for local development. Framing the SDGs as ‘new wine’ in the ‘old wineskins’ of existing local development programming risks watering down the SDGs’ ambition through localization. However, framing the SDGs as local development facilitators enables innovations embedded in the SDGs’ ‘new wine’, to enhance the ‘old wineskins’ of existing development.