Localising SDGs: A Stiff Test for Cities

Our world has undergone profound changes in the last decade, more intensely in the previous 20 months. The Pandemic and changing geopolitical discourse on social, environmental and climate issues have impelled cities to rethink how to build urban environments and facilities to fix existing problems and lay a foundation for sustainable and livable urban settlements. It will require a transition in existing urban functionalities to the tune of Sustainable Development Goals. It will require serious and sincere efforts from LRGs.

Ja Jane Jacobs, A celebrated author and urbanist from the United States of America, writes in her book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” It is no denying that the Sustainable Development Goals are for everyone, specifically for those from the most vulnerable sections of society. Hence, the success of cities in playing their due role hinges on favourable collaborations between all relevant stakeholders. Cities can enhance their role by ensuring knowledge and resource sharing, developing the skill and capacity of leadership and workforce, and forging mutually beneficial partnerships on an unparalleled scale to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level.
At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015, world leaders came together and decided to adopt the 2030 Agenda to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. When the SDGs were conceptualised, localisation efforts were mainly centred towards implementation at the local level. However, over the years, it was observed that achieving the targets under the SDGs is not possible without the proactive participation of local governments. Moreover, almost every SDG requires the role of sub-national and local governments. Hence, local and regional governments must enhance their technical capacities and functional abilities to promote integrated, inclusive, participatory and sustainable development.
Cities are increasingly focusing on making urban planning and scheme implementations participatory and inclusive so that they can chart out the requirements of their citizens and find the best available resources to augment the pace of efforts. To make it easier for local governments globally, the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments presented a roadmap for localising the SDGs.
The main focal points were: Awareness-Raising for making local leadership aware of the significance of achieving the goals; Advocacy for pushing local demands in national policies; Implementation at the local level; Monitoring using defined indicators; and Where Do We Go From Here for laying the future roadmap. This also brings into focus the role of local governments in the 2030 Agenda. Several local government associations have highlighted that local governments cannot be viewed just as the implementers of the global agenda set by the national and international leaders and agencies. Local governments have to play a fundamental role in drafting local policies and linking the benefits of the global agenda with local communities. As mentioned in the Roadmap, Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) can play a constructive role in spreading awareness among the local community and relevant stakeholders. Since city leaders are elected, they are accountable to their constituents for their activities at the local level.

Global initiatives on localisation

Local governments worldwide, especially in the developed world, have begun forming alliances and associations to speed up the localisation of SDGs by raising awareness, experience sharing and integrating local policies with Agenda 2030. In India, urban local bodies will have to improvise their strategies for achieving the SDGs by 2030. The major challenge in India is that several municipalities are still unaware of the goals and targets because the knowledge and information have either not reached them or they cannot sync their ongoing programmes with SDG objectives. Hence the monitoring of the efforts by national agencies becomes unviable.
In the Netherlands, the Global Goals Municipal Campaign spurred the interest of about half of the municipalities. This campaign is designed to raise awareness and demystify the SDGs concept, encourage all relevant stakeholders’ participation, review local policies and integrate them with specific goals of Agenda 2030, share best practices with other municipalities within and outside the country. An internal association agency for municipalities in the Netherlands has developed a ‘Menu of Inspiration’ to provide ideas to cities and LGs on different SDGs. In addition, the innovative and interactive Time Capsule concept is gaining traction among all stakeholders. The Time Capsule travelling across the country allows people to express their wishes for 2030 and then engage them with a dialogue to get constructive ideas. Later, these ideas are put up to the national governments for planning action plans for implementation.
In the United Kingdom, the National Assembly for Wales came out with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act in 2015 which it aims to use this for achieving the SDGs. Under this Act, Wales has charted seven well-being goals based on the principles of sustainable development. Another good practice example comes from The Government of Valencia, Spain. The local government has forged alliances with civil society groups and academic institutions to raise awareness among different society sections, including students.
In Africa, local government association with the Ministry of Human Settlements is taking the leadership role in engaging local governments by conducting consultations to inform them about the new policy and accompanying laws. In many countries such as Germany, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, several LGAs have called for creating a multilevel coordination committee for providing a voice to the local priorities and demands for attaining the targets set under the Agenda 2030. For example, Mexico has come out with a concept of City Prosperity Index through which LGs can analyse, plan and monitor urban policies for this objective.
All local governments are making efforts to play their role in achieving the SDGs. However, cities surely need to work on international cooperation and engagements for gaining knowledge and tools in the areas where they need assistance. And, internal coordination with different development agencies is as crucial to be able to use the acquired knowledge. The road to SDGs is not smooth for local governments in developing countries because of numerous constraints and fundamental weaknesses. It will test the functional capacity of cities if they can reach the destination without
a snag.