Evolution of the concept of sustainable development (Dan Banik)
Readings:
- Biermann, F., N. Kanie & R. Kim (2017) “Global Governance by goal-setting: the novel approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals”, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 26(27): 26-31.
- Boas, I., F. Biermann & N. Kanie (2016) “Cross-sectoral strategies in global sustainability governance: towards a nexus approach”, International Environmental Agreements 16: 449-464.
- Fukuda-Parr, S. (2018) “Sustainable Development Goals” (1-17), in T. Weiss & S. Daws (eds.), Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press (2018). Requires institutional log-in.
- Holden, E., K. Linnerud & D. Banister (2017) “The Imperatives of Sustainable Development”, Sustainable Development 25: 213–226. Requires institutional log-in.
Reflection:
- How and to what extent do you consider the concept of sustainable development relevant today?
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"Our Common Future" and its relevance today (Dan Banik)
Readings:
- World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our common future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reflection:
- The report discusses the population issue. Identify the main arguments for and against population control.
Continue the conversation on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Please use the hashtag #UiOSDG if you wish to respond to or reflect on any of the issues raised in the lectures.
The SDGs and global agenda-setting (Nikolai Hegertun)
Readings:
- Biermann, F., N. Kanie & R. Kim (2017) “Global Governance by goal-setting: the novel approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals”, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 26(27): 26-31.
- Bowen, K. J. et al. (2017) “Implementing the ‘Sustainable Development Goals: Towards Addressing Three Key Governance Challenges – Collective Action, Trade-offs and Accountability”, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 26-27: 90-96. Requires institutional log-in.
- Cairney, P. (2012) Understanding Public Policy. MacMillan International.
- Easterly, W. (2015) “The SDGs Should stand for Senseless, Dreamy, Garbled”, Foreign Policy.
- Kamphof, R. & Melissen, J. (2018) “SDGs, Foreign Ministries and the Art of Partnering with the Private Sector”, Global Policy 9(3): 327-335. Requires institutional log-in.
- Kunkel, M. (2011) “Writing the History of Development: A Review of the Recent Literature”, Contemporary European History 20(2): 215–232. Requires institutional log-in.
- Swiss, Liam (2018): The Globalization of Foreign Aid. Taylor & Francis Ltd.
- United Nations General Assembly (2015) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/70/1): 1-14.
- Zittoun, Philippe (2016): “The domestication of a “wild” problem: taming policy agenda setting”, in: Handbook of Public Policy Agenda. Edward Elgar Publishing. Requires institutional log-in.
Reflection:
- Do the SDGs represent a convergence of development agendas or do they represent an ‘à la carte menu’ of goals and priorities from which countries can pick and choose?
- If we were to look at individual countries: what has actually changed with the SDGs? Is the 2030 Agenda a ‘belief’ – a good idea – or has it evolved and materialized itself as a force setting the agenda and shaping policies? Is the 2030 Agenda really changing policies, practices and institutions, or is it merely a new way of framing development cooperation?
- Are the SDGs a set of concrete policy goals, or is it an inspirational process meant to include as many countries as possible in the new global discourse on development?
- The awareness of the SDGs is still low outside circles of development cooperation, and more importantly: the adoption of the 2030 Agenda coincided with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump – and an ensuing wave of protectionism and hostility towards international integration and multilateral agendas. How can advocates of the SDGs best handle this external environment and promote the 2030 Agenda?
Continue the conversation on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Please use the hashtag #UiOSDG if you wish to respond to or reflect on any of the issues raised in the lectures.