Sustainable Development Goals: Implications for Social-Ecological Investigations

Sustainable Development Goals: implications for social-ecological investigations

Notes from a talk presented (16 August 2017) at the School of Environmental Science, Charles Sturt University, Albury

CM Finlayson

Director ILWS, Charles Sturt University

In this talk I am raising issues, ideas and thoughts around using UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a research agenda, even a blueprint for research (see The talk I presented contains my ideas and thoughts about this. And thoughts are all they are at the moment. In simple terms it’s about examining the SDGs, both the 17 goals and the proposed 169 indicators as well as the programs to support the activities to operationalise the purpose of the goals. That includes a dialogue on seeking partnership, developing investment and impact pathways through research activity, and looking for a lift and sustainable opportunities. And doing this in line with the CSU Strategy and Research Narrative (see

In doing this keep in mind that if we want to sustain the support we obtain from CSU we need to be more than the sum of our individual parts. Or need to move beyond being the sum of our parts if we are to meet the institutional ambitions for research.

The idea for this talk started as an idea for a discussion about the applicability of the SDGs to our research opportunities in terms of contributing to national and international research agendas and having impact through our research. A/Prof Catherine Allan and Prof Manohar Pawar were instrumental in taking me through this idea, and extending the comments that I had previously made at an invited plenary entitled “State of Global Wetlands and Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals” at the International River Symposium in Brisbane in 2015 (see

In the talk I acknowledge without going into details that we already do a lot of research that intersects with the SDG agenda both nationally and internationally. Some of this is overt and designed to address specific issues associated with the SDGs in one way or other. But I am also sure we have a lot more that is contributing in an unknowing but still valuable manner. Meaning, that the knowledge that is generated is important for the SDGs even though those involved may not know it. That comment reflects both the scoping intended by those involved, but also the wide or universal scope of the SDGs themselves.

An example of an active contribution is that provided by Prof Manohar Pawar who is President of the International Consortium for Social Development (see His involvement has included press conferences with Ministers on moving beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which preceded the SDGs, and conferences in India in 2015 and 2016 in Sri Lanka again with Ministerial involvement.
Some of our adjuncts also have high levels of influence (or impact) on the SDGs or processes that support them. We have Adjunct Prof John Williams who is a long-term supporter of CSU and ILWS, Dr Danny Hunter who works for the CGIAR centre Bioversity; and Adjunct Prof Nick Davidson who was until recently the Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. There are undoubtedly more – this is just my immediate knowledge based on personal contact. I’m not about to try and define what is meant by ‘impact’ but without scratching too far we can quickly find tangible cases of the influence that ILWS members have had on research policy and practice around what we are now referring to as the SDGs.

With that short background my intention in this talk is to look further at the SDGs and do this though several ways, including:

Informing our DVC Research, Development & Industry about the research opportunities, the engagement and the impact that could accrue, as well as that which has already been done. We should acknowledge the past but we also need to form the future.

Encouraging and supporting those already engaged with SDG-related research to help them keep this going, and to develop new lines of endeavour. This includes Adjunct Dr Carolyn Kabore from World Vision who is interested in the SDG indicators related to water and/or NRM in the context of developing farming systems, including Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. Plus we have Jo Millar, Michael Mitchell, Catherine Allan, Richard Culas, and Lee Baumgartner who have or are worked on ACIAR projects that already, whether specifically labelled as such or not, contribute to SDG efforts.

Introduce others to the SDGs and then explore further interests locally, nationally and internationally. In doing this I am very aware that many of our locally or nationally focussed research projects could already be contributing to the SDGs although not labelled as such.

I also hope to show examples of how my own research efforts have already been used to influence some aspects of the SDG indicators related to water and wetlands. This is through a number of avenues but one we want to make more use of is my concurrent position as the Ramsar Chair for the Wise Use of Wetlands at IHE Delft in the Netherlands. The research I’ll refer to is published, but rather than list the journal articles (as seems to be a popular thing nowadays) I’ll focus on the content and link to the targets. It is though opportune to mention that in this way we can pick up contributions to the publication metrics that we pursue in academia as well as identify actual impact – not that it is all a straightforward exercise to identify impact on policy and practice, but that is another discussion.

The slides for the talk are available at
These don’t cover the actual dialogue or the nuance or even the wandering away on tangents (that I do, and enjoy), but they are available to help generate further discussion. So, don’t take them too literally – it’s the discussion that I’d like to explore, and a discussion that could take us forward to propose a large research focus based on our existing research placed within a globally relevant frame. I am convinced that we have sufficient expertise – it’s the frame and the common purpose as expressed by the SDGs that I am keen to explore.

A list of the SDGsis given below with those that I think are already being covered by ILWS members (in blue type). This is a quick and indicative appraisal for the explicit purpose of showing the scope of the SDGs against the scope of our interests. We don’t need to manufacture an interest – we already have it, as can be deduced by then referring to the diagram showing the themes/sub-themes covered by ILWS members during the reaccreditation processes undertaken in 2016. Granted, it will need some ‘forming’ to contribute to the SDGs and to influence our governments and fellow citizens in order to have an impact, but we have a good starting position.

Sustainable Development Goals

End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

ILWS research themes and sub-themes, from 2016, and expected to evolve as we address the ILWS Research Strategy for 2017-21.