In 2015, world leaders from 193 countries agreed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs consist of seventeen monumental goals to reduce extreme hunger and poverty, improve equality, address major environmental issues like climate change, access to clean water and sanitation, and create a sustainable economic and social development roadmap for all by 2030.
The Sustainable Development Goals are the sequel to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that took actions towards development issues between 2000-2015. Because of the MDGs, global extreme poverty was reduced by over 1 billion. The SDGs expanded from the eight MDG goals to seventeen goals. Those SGD goals are listed below.
Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 1: No Poverty
- Goal 2: Zero Hunger
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
- Goal 4: Quality Education
- Goal 5: Gender Equality
- Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- Goal 10: Reduce Inequalities
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
- Goal 15: Life on Land
- Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goal
Project Description
You will identify a problem associated with achieving one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The foundation for your project will be your understanding of global issues and their impact on global communities, and the Sustainable Development Goals. You should research and develop a proposal on the following:
Sustainable Development Goal
- Describe the current problems occurring around the world related to your chosen SDG and how this goal will help address the problems.
- Explain how your chosen SDG connects to other SDGs.
International Response to SDG
- Provide specific examples of how governments or non-profit organizations (NGOs) around the world are working to address your chosen SDG.
Original Proposal to Address SDG
- After researching what has been done or currently being done to address your chosen SDG, design an original proposal of how you would like to tackle the problem. Your original proposal should focus on a specific geographic location in the world and is specific on how it can help address the problem the SDG is trying to address.
Targeted Audience for SDG Proposal
- Research which governmental agency or NGO you could present your proposal to and why you chose them.
You will produce a written proposal discussing, in depth, the chosen problem in a specific region of the world and an original proposal for solving the problem. Proposals should identify a problem, persuade the reader that the problem needs to be addressed, and then lay out a specific plan that readers could implement. A suggested outline for the proposal is as follows:
- Specify the problem you want to solve and offer background info (context) on the impacts of the problem.
- Contextualize other solutions that have been tried or proposed to fix this problem and why they did or didn’t work.
- Propose a specific solution or change that you think will work and defend why.
- Detail how this plan should be carried out by addressing limitations, costs/benefits, materials, and personnel needed, and other aspects of implementing the plan.
- Conclude by reiterating the impact of the problem and the need to solve it.
Requirements
For this assignment, you may use the videos and websites provided, the textbook form this course or other courses you have taken, and other credible resources to explain the purpose of the Sustainable Development Goals. Your project must include the following:
- 1500-2000 word proposal discussing the problem and proposed solution.
- 5-6 sources (cited in APA or MLA format) from credible sources. To help build your information literacy skills, consider the following:
- Information Literacy in the Real World
- Five Components of Information Literacy
- Information Literacy Skills
- An excellent free software you may want to use for citation and formatting is called Zotero.
- Images and/or videos for each section that help visually communicate your narrative. In order to not violate copyright laws, consider using the search engine created by Creative Commons.
- Reflections on the project.
- Submit your research and proposal within your ePortfolio or another digital format.
Reflection
Finally, you will need to write their own 300-500-word reflection on the project. The reflection should examine the goal you chose and the real world applications of your proposal. In your ePortfolio, reflect on the following:
- What did you take away from the project (point to specific examples and experiences with working on the project)?
- What are the strengths of the original proposal you created and designed (be specific)?
- What are the weaknesses to your original proposal (be specific)?
- What did the project teach you about proposing solutions for global issues and about yourself?