Coevolving Innovations

… in Business Organizations and Information Technologies

The Sustainable Development Goals: Origins, Context, and Perspectives | ST-ON | 2023-05-08

Within the Systems Thinking Ontario community, we were fortunate to have Nenad Rava step up to explain how the Sustainable Development Goals came to be, and relate them to systems change.

This May session of Systems Thinking Ontario was a quick follow-on for the March edition on Ecological Limits to Development: Living with the SDGs.  March was a launch for a scholarly book.  In May, the self-introductions at the beginning of our session confirmed that attendees were open to hearing more about the history of the SDGs, and what they mean to us, today.

To allow more time for the three discussion periods in the progressivbe presntation, asked participants for a quick check-in via text chat.  The introducton to the book started after 3m12s in.

This recording of the session is available on Youtube, as well as on the Internet Archive .

Video H.264 MP4
May 8
(1h39m)
[20230508_ST-ON Rava_SDGs 1920×1080.mp4]
(FHD 1920×900 206kbps 238MB)
[on the Internet Archive]

A standalone audio was also created during the meeting.

Audio
May 8
(1h39m)
[20230313_ST-ON EcologicalLimitsToDevelopment.m4a]
(90 MB)
[on the Internet Archive]

Here is the original abstract sent in advance.


Within the Systems Thinking Ontario community, we have an authority on the Sustainable Development Goals with Ned (Nenad Rava), Head of Programmes, Joint SDG Fund. The interest in the March 2023 ST-ON session peaked some interest into unpacking the history and trajectory of the SDGs.

As an opportunity for novices and the immersed to participation in a conversation around the SDGs, we will center on three questions:

(1) How did the SDGs come to be, and Why? (10min)

  • Discussion: In what ways SDGs relate to sustainability? Do we even need (global) goals? What are the implications for businesses, academia, grass-roots? (10min)

(2) What do SDGs have to do with systems change? (15min)

  • Discussion: Reality check: a genuine approach to systems change or just “buzzwords”? How do the SDGs relate to other systems approaches to sustainability (from flourishing to systems dynamics)? (15min)

(3) Where do we stand in early 2023? What happens next? (10min)

  • Discussion: What does this mean for Canada? What is the impact of the post-COVID crises (including the triple crisis of food, energy, financing)? What can we do as individuals/ Canadians?

Bio:

  • Dr Nenad Rava has an eclectic background including comparative politics, public sector modernization and institutional reform, cross-sectoral public policy, strategic foresight, and business innovation. Besides a BSc in management and PhD in politics, he also holds a Master of Design degree in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU.
  • Dr Rava has contributed to complex systems change through more than 120 senior-level engagements in over 45 countries. Amongst other, he has produced 35+ research reports, articles and other publications (including a chapter on “Systems Design Approach to Public Policy” in the Handbook on Systems Sciences) [open access via SharedIt, or via Medium] and 80+ educational and training programs.
  • Dr Rava supported the finalization of co-design and launch of the Joint SDG Fund at the UN HQ in 2018, led the first portfolio of 35 programs benefiting 147 million most vulnerable persons in 2020-2022, and currently incubates new SDG transformation priorities.

The session will be moderated by David Ing.

Suggested pre-reading

Basics

Joint SDG Fund

Canada

Universities

Systems Thinking Ontario, May 8, 2023


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • RSS qoto.org/@daviding (Mastodon)

    • Nov 26, 2024, 03:25 November 26, 2024
      Web recording of the 125th meeting of #SystemsThinking Ontario: A retrospective, introspective, and prospective discussion about systems convening, in coordination with #RSDSymposium .https://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/systems-thinking-ontario-as-systems-convening-st-on-2024-10-21/
    • Nov 16, 2024, 17:53 November 16, 2024
      In which directions should #SystemsThinking advance? In 1985, Bela H. Banathy promoted engaging into systems inquiry in (i) systems theory, (ii) systems philosophy, and (iii) systems methodology, towards application and competence. https://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/systems-theory-systems-philosophy-systems-methodology-banathy-1985/
    • Oct 29, 2024, 21:05 October 29, 2024
      From late September into October, researchers met for 5 intensive days for #CreativeSystemicResearchPlatformInstitute Banathy Conversation event in Lugano. https://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/csrp-institute-2024-banathy-conversation-lugano/ #SystemsThinking
    • Sep 19, 2024, 03:50 September 19, 2024
      Web video of launch of book "Seeing: A Field Guide to the Patterns and Processes of Nature, Culture, and Consciousness" by #LynnRasmussen. Joined by #LauraCivitello of #MauiInstitute, making Systems Process Theory of #LenTroncale accessible. https://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/book-launch-seeing-a-field-guide_rasmussen-civitello/
    • Sep 14, 2024, 02:44 September 14, 2024
      Web video presentation complementing preprint of "Reifying Socio-Technical and Socio-Ecological Perspectives for Systems Changes: From rearranging objects to repacing rhythms" for International Conference on Socio-Technical Perspectives in IS (STPIS’24) https://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/reifying-socio-technical-and-socio-ecological-perspectives-for-systems-changes-stpis/
  • RSS on IngBrief

    • Notion of Change in the Yijing | JeeLoo Lin 2017
      The appreciation of change is different in Western philosophy than in classical Chinese philosophy. JeeLoo Lin published a concise contrast on differences. Let me parse the Introduction to the journal article, that is so clearly written. The Chinese theory of time is built into a language that is tenseless. The Yijing (Book of Changes) there […]
    • World Hypotheses (Stephen C. Pepper) as a pluralist philosophy [Rescher, 1994]
      In trying to place the World Hypotheses work of Stephen C. Pepper (with multiple root metaphors), Nicholas Rescher provides a helpful positioning. — begin paste — Philosophical perspectivism maintains that substantive philosophical positions can be maintained only from a “perspective” of some sort. But what sort? Clearly different sorts of perspectives can be conceived of, […]
    • The Nature and Application of the Daodejing | Ames and Hall (2003)
      Ames and Hall (2003) provide some tips for those studyng the DaoDeJing.
    • Diachronic, diachrony
      Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2”, edited by F. E. Emery (1981)
      The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings”, edited by F. E. Emery (1969)
      In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • RSS on daviding.com

    • 2024/11 Moments November 2024
      Road trip to Rochester NY and Ithaca, with visits to art galleries as the days get shorter.
    • 2024/10 Moments October 2024
      Journey from Lugano Switzerland, return via Milan Italy, to fall in Toronto
    • 2024/09 Moments September 2024
      September neighbourhood music performances, day out with father, son's birthday party, travel via Milan to Genoa, systems conversation in Lugano
    • 2024/08 Moments August 2024
      Summer finishing with family events, and lots of outdoor music performances, captured with a new mirrorless camera for video from mid-month
    • 2024/07 Moments July 2024
      Summer festivals and music incubator shows in Toronto, all within biking distance.
    • 2024/06 Moments June 2024
      Summer jazz at the Distillery District, in Washington DC while at the annual systems conference, and then Toronto Jazz Festival
  • RSS on Media Queue

    • What to Do When It’s Too Late | David L. Hawk | 2024
      David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
    • 2021/06/17 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 2
      Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
    • 2021/06/16 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1
      The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
    • 2021/02/02 To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems | Zeynep Tufekci with Ezra Klein | New York Times
      In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
    • 2019/04/09 Art as a discipline of inquiry | Tim Ingold (web video)
      In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
    • 2019/10/16 | “Bubbles, Golden Ages, and Tech Revolutions” | Carlota Perez
      How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
  • Meta

  • Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
    Theme modified from DevDmBootstrap4 by Danny Machal