Contact person: Aase Kristine Lundber, Nordland Research Institute (Nordlandsforskning)

Type of event: Digital event ONLY

This workshop is about Localization and practical use of SDGs in local and regional planning.

Since the first government white paper on sustainable development in 1989, the Norwegian government has talked about the importance of integrating the goal of a sustainable development in all major policy-making and public planning processes at all levels of governance. In recent years, the government has renewed this request, and talked a lot about the importance of integrating SDGs into social and spatial planning.

This national emphasis is a great step in the right direction! However, the reality is that while some municipalities are well underway to comprehensively integrating SDGs into their planning processes, many more are struggling to turn the national talk into local action - the buzzwords into outcomes. 

This session will begin with an historical review that will bring you up to date with how we got to where we are now, and what important lessons we must remember going forward. We will then feature researchers working on the ground with SDG implementation who will reflect on their experiences of working with stakeholders at a local level, providing insight into some challenges, markers of sucess, and unexpected outcomes. The talks will be followed by an open discussion.

Join us to learn how and why we are using a holistic and inclusive target tracing method instead of focusing on one SDG and a time.  What the benefits and challenges are of working with SDG target clusters on a local scale, and even more importantly - what an SDG target cluster is and why should you make one for yourself!

Chair: E. Zoe Walker, Msc.

Part 1

Carlo Aall, Western Norway Research Institute (15 min): Looking back and learning from history: From Local Agenda 21 to local SDGs - nothing new under the sun?

Aase Kristine Lundberg, Nordland Research Institute (15 min): Putting the SDGs to work: Experiences and challenges from on-going work to localize the SDGs in Norwegian municipalities and counties.

Part 2

Dorothy Dankel, University of Bergen & Karin Berentsen, ARCT as (30 min): Case study from Businesses (Andøya Space Center, Andfjord Salmon and The Whale) from Andøy Kommune, and a demo of how mapping SDG target activities across stakeholders can be included in annual municipal reporting. We will discuss our recent experiences about the benefits of an all-digital approach.

Discussant: Nils Tore Skogland, Skogland AS

Plenary Discussion [15 min]