Blog Post

Online Tool Shows Impact on the SDGs

  • By Maren Bernlöhr
  • •
  • 22 Feb, 2021
  • •

SDSN Northern Europe and the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development present the SDG Impact Assessment Tool

The SDG Impact Assessment Tool is a free, online resource for research and educational institutions, companies, entrepreneurs, civic organizations, and public agencies to make self-assessments of impacts on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The tool is open for anyone to use and can help you to identify relevant sustainability perspectives of your work in a simple and structured approach. This is done by assessing an object’s impact on each of the 17 SDGs as either direct positive, indirect positive, no impact, indirect negative, direct negative, or more knowledge needed. The tool encourages reflection and collaborative learning of the SDGs and the links between them.

The SDG Impact Assessment Tool already has more than 5000 users around the world (February 2021). By showcasing the tool on the SDSN resource page, the project manager Anders Ahlbäck hopes to reach even more people with the message that a holistic view of the Global Goals is important.

– Today, many businesses spend time mapping and selecting "their" goals in Agenda 2030. With the SDG Impact Assessment Tool, we try to reverse this perspective. The tool offers a structured way to describe a project’s or organization’s impact on the Global Goals, based on the users’ own knowledge. Do we have positive, negative or no impact on a goal? Do we know, or do we lack knowledge? By thinking about these issues, we hope that users at universities, companies, civic organizations, public agencies, and entrepreneurs can strengthen their contributions to Agenda 2030 and the Global Goals for sustainable development.

There are many ways to address the Global Goals and the tool is open and versatile enough to include different approaches. Depending on how the user defines the purpose of the assessment, the tool can fulfill different objectives.

  •  In education, it stimulates both teachers and students to get a better understanding of the SDGs; the complexity of sustainable development; and how different activities in society impacts the SDGs. It can e.g. be used in a workshop in a course or in a long-term project.
  • In research, it can be used in research proposals, to map how the suggested research could impact the SDGs; or to address how research outcomes from projects impact the SDGs.
  • In businesses, the tool could help to identify risks and opportunities related to the Global Goals; to set own goals adapted to Agenda 2030; to inform shareholders and other stakeholders about what SDG impacts one’s business have; or to engage all employees in promoting the goals and allocating responsibility across the organization to achieve progress.

All these variants differ in mindset – but differences can also be turned into coherence. – If, for example, several municipalities, county councils and regions use the tool in the same way, it will be easier to achieve consensus on common challenges, says Anders Ahlbäck.

 To access the web tool, follow the direct link to the SDG Impact Assessment Tool and create a user account. Feel free to also download the SDG Impact Assessment Tool Guide 1.0, containing recommendations and instructions for specific user scenarios in education, research, innovation and business, and strategic planning and decision making.

The SDG Impact Assessment Tool is developed by SDSN Northern Europe and the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development at Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg.

SDSN Newsletter - July 2021

By SDSN Secretariat • 03 Aug, 2021 •
This month, SDSN celebrated its growing network, talked about the incredible amount of media coverage on the 2021 SDR, and reflected on this year's High Level Political Forum

WRI Report Spotlight: “Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment”

By Fiona Laird • 02 Aug, 2021 •
World Resources Institute recently released Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment, a report outlining key challenges to increasing clean energy investment and deployment. This report digs into the financial and regulatory mechanisms available to support policy frameworks like that outlined in SDSN USA’s Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP), released in October 2020.

European Commission launches proposals to reach 55% emissions reduction by 2030

By Sam Van Hoof • 30 Jul, 2021 •
The ‘Fit for 55' package includes a ban on combustion engines from 2035, a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and a Social Climate Fund among other provisions.

SDSN Canada 2021 Members Meeting Recap

By Giovanni Bruna • 29 Jul, 2021 •

SDSN Canada reconvened the network membership on June 16th, 2021 for the annual Members Meeting.

This year's meeting featured conversations on the current state of the SDGs in Canada, emerging opportunities for post-secondary institutions, networking breakout sessions, and a featured joint presentation by the Brookings Institution and Rockefeller Foundation on mobilizing campuses and communities for the SDGs using the 17 Rooms initiative. A lightning round of member initiatives was also included to highlight a portion of the SDG work happening across the network.

Recap the discussion by reading the meeting notes   or listening to the audio recordings for each session.

Meeting Highlights:

  • The SDSN Global annual Sustainable Development Report 2021  was released June 2021, tracking progress on the SDGs by country (Canada ranked 21st in the world). The report outlines the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the SDGs and describes how the SDGs can frame the recovery.
  • The Government of Canada has released Canada’s National Strategy for the SDGs, Moving Forward Together. The strategy outlines a set of 30 actions towards the SDGs, including localizing the SDGs, supporting partnerships with Indigenous initiatives, and advancing research into the gaps in Canada's efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
  • The 17 Rooms initiative  is a tool for advancing SDG collaboration, community-centric conversations, and bottom-up action. There are three key principles of consideration:
    • Every SDG gets a seat at the table (a dedicated room).
    • Identify what the next step is, and not the perfect step. What are things you can do together over the next 12 to 18 months that you can implement action on the SDGs?
    • It is about conversations, not presentations. The goal is to learn from each other and create a community of practice.
    • Join the 17 Rooms-X Community of Practice to access the beta toolkit.
  • A ‘lightning round’ of presentations by members spotlighting SDG work from Colleges and Institutes Canada, the Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Operationalization of Sustainable Development (CIRODD), Vancouver Island University, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Waterloo.

The meeting was also a chance to invite the membership into initiatives designed to be more intentional about the network’s collective presence and impact. In this vein, the network thinks that the 17 Rooms process can be a critical resource for campus conversations on the SDGs. It also relaunched the Member Challenge , is starting the ‘SDG Teaching Community’ for faculty across the network, and is convening a small working group of interested members to talk about an enhanced governance structure for the network.

Public Consultation on SPA Report

By Lauren Barredo • 29 Jul, 2021 •
We encourage stakeholders to provide meaningful input to aid the development of a better and more complete report. We invite feedback from individuals and organizations, from all sectors.

Environmental and Agricultural Impacts of Dietary Shifts at Global and National Scales

By FABLE • 28 Jul, 2021 •
The FABLE Consortium is releasing two policy briefs over the coming months intended to advise national governments on sustainable land-use and diets. The first brief, entitled “Environmental and agricultural impacts of dietary shifts at global and national scales'' is now available.

Media Coverage of the Sustainable Development Report 2021

By SDG Index • 23 Jul, 2021 •
The Sustainable Development Report 2021 has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian, Washington Post, and more than 100 other media outlets.

The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

By Isabella Massa • 21 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN together with the United Nations Resident Coordinators in SIDS and the Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda hosted on 12 July 2021 a High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) side event to discuss the issue of measuring multidimensional vulnerability, and its relevance for international financing mechanisms.

SDGs Today Launches My School Today!

By SDGs Today • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDGs Today recently launched their My School Today! call to action, meant to support students and local communities to geo-reference their schools and education facilities as part of an effort to promote timely information on school locations in Africa

SDSN at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)

By SDSN Secretariat • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN and our networks are hosting a number of events alongside the UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). We are thrilled to invite you to join us at the following events, which SDSN is hosting or are organized by our partners.
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