When the world set out in 2015 to address the greatest societal challenges through the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 193 member states including Canada, made the commitment to this ambitious and optimistic vision of the future.Â
However, a comprehensive benchmarking report published in 2017 found Canada on track to meet none of the SDGs in their entirety. Contrary to the common belief that Canada has made steady progress towards sustainable development, the report revealed that the country has been falling behind on a range of indicators. Hence, it has become apparent that successfully addressing the numerous systemic issues, holding Canadians back from broadly-shared prosperity, can only be achieved through a society-wide transformation, designed and led at the grassroots level.Â
Recently, grassroots momentum has been building throughout Canadian society to take action on the SDGs, a movement that Waterloo Global Science Initiative (WGSI) is looking to bolster through its Generation SDG project. In particular, WGSI has developed the blueprint that envisions a community- driven approach to the SDGs - a process that can be broken into four sections: community ecosystems and planning, partnerships, accountability, as well as financing and stimulating innovation for the SDGs.Â
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For more information, please see the attached report.Â
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