Blog Post #4: Scales of partnership
(credit: Bernhard Barth)
On Wednesday 4 May, we had the pleasure of chatting virtually with Dr Alexei Trundle, Assistant Director (International) – Melbourne Centre for Cities & Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow at the University Melbourne. Dr Trundle’s research focuses on the way that cities are contributing to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as urban climate resilience and adaptation planning in Pacific Small Island Developing States. Alexei has worked in the region since 2013, and is a scientific advisor to UN-Habitat’s Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific, as well as a member of the UN-chaired Pacific Partnership for the New Urban Agenda.
Despite being at home convalescing with Covid, Dr Trundle had a vast array of useful insights to share. It was an illuminating and energising discussion which has given us much to reflect on, particularly in terms of what the value add of this project is and what this project could – usefully and meaningfully – bring clarity to.
The majority of our conversation focused around SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals, and what it really means in practice. SDG 17 calls for all actors to “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.”
Looking at the targets and indicators of SDG 17, we can see that “partnerships” entails a range of quite diverse matters. The targets reference financial partnerships, including trade reform and delivery on financial commitments (through measures including Official Development Assistance, debt relief and providing for macroeconomic stability) but it also calls for access to and transfer of knowledge (including on technology, innovation and information).
These two infographics, the first by the World’s Largest Lesson and the second by the UN Statistics Division, provide a snapshot of what to focus on in order to achieve SDG 17.
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(Source 1: https://www.yumpu.com/xx/document/read/55730350/1-page-goals-comics-full-set-pdf)
(Source 2: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/)
SDG 17 – like all the SDGs – is important and integral to achieving a better world for all. What SDG 17 asks us to consider – which we see as setting the tone for working across all SDGs – is a deep understanding of context. It is incumbent upon all stakeholders to understand what constitutes sustainable development, and consequently what must be transformed, from the perspective of those they are seeking to affect and impact. One way that understanding can be brought to light is through activating a real partnership: one that starts with a relationship and sees both parties sharing experiences and ideas and working closely together to ensure current, and future, successes.
Through his work, and based on his experience, Dr Trundle sees the benefit of focusing on building a strong partnership with his Pacific counterparts. In his mind, there are two aspects that should be focused on:
- ensuring that the definitions and expectations of sustainable development accurately reflects the Pacific context; and
- having an honest and open exchange of knowledge, where the best case studies from across the region are considered to build a comprehensive understanding of how to implement and achieve the SDGs.
While this blog is not the place to delve deeply into these issues (although we would love to), it is absolutely a place where we raise the ideas from our conversations, taking time to identify what they might mean in the context of preparing the 2023 GSDR. What we heard from Dr Trundle really resonated with us:
- approach the adoption and implementation of the SDGs with an open mind;
- share best practices from across the region as to what sustainable development can look like; and
- work on fostering real cooperation and collaboration.
We will keep note of this great piece of advice as we continue our conversations across the region.
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Watch out for the next upcoming blog post where we will look at SDG 11 and resilience, an issue that has come up several times now in conversations across the Pacific.
Until next time.
Domi and Julie
E: Julie.Boulton@monash.edu or Dominique.mccollumcoy@monash.edu
W: https://www.monash.edu/msdi/initiatives/projects/global-sustainable-development-report-2023