The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Underpinning and Contributing to Sustainability Research

Recognizing that serious and existential global, regional and local sustainability challenges still exist, world leaders unanimously adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and intended to drive the sustainable development agenda to 2030. Although the SDGs recognize economic, environmental and social sustainability issues, they are not in themselves solutions to the many such global, regional and local problems. In other words, to end poverty in all its forms for example, it requires innovative measures and sound applied research to achieve. Moreover, ending poverty (SDG 1) is tightly coupled to other goals such as ‘education (SDG 4)’, ‘sanitation (SDG 6)’, ‘environmental protection and conservation (SDGs 13, 14, 15)’ and more; which in themselves are plagued by multiple sustainability challenges.

Sustainability research embraces a systems approach, shuns to a great extent a reductionist, mono-disciplinary focus and is embedded in a coupled social-ecological perspective. In this regard, systems and sub-systems are analyzed from a holistic standpoint. Therefore, social, environmental and economic sustainability challenges experienced at multiple spatial and temporal scales can be confronted by sustainability research. With the intent of a holistic approach to achieving the SDGs, sustainability research can be aligned to and underpinned by the SDGs.

This special issue therefore seeks to address a broad spectrum of themes that demonstrate the role(s) of the SDGs in underpinning and contributing to sustainability research. We are interested however, in papers that highlight trans and inter-disciplinary research.

Examples of key themes and SDG(s) include:

Sustainability Research Themes	Examples of SDGs
Sustainable agricultural and food systems	SDG 1: End poverty; SDG 2: End hunger; SDG 3: Good health and well-being; SDG 4: Quality education
Sustainable urban systems	SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities;
Sustainable enterprises and employment	SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth; SDG 4: Quality education
Sustainable natural resource management systems	SDG 14: Life below water; SDG 15: Life on land; SDG 13: Climate change
Sustainable governance systems	SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Guest Editor John N Telesford School of Continuing Education, T.A. Marryshow Community College