What are these SDGs and why do they matter?
Peterborough is chock-full of globally minded citizens. Just this week, for example, I ran into Sharon Lajoie, who works for the Catholic school board in Indigenous education. She and her spouse, Ollie Flyng, have a daughter in Ghana and a son who works for the UN in Turkey.
So it seems completely apt that our federal MP, Maryam Monsef, has a new appointment as minister for international co-operation. We in Peterborough can be her best advisers on this file.
Being global also means being entirely local, and believing that to be true, the visionary Julie Cosgrove of the Kawartha World Issues Centre, which is a bustling office located at Trent's Otonabee College, designed a two-day meeting to unpack the United Nations goals for 2030: The Sustainable Development Goals.
There are 17 of these goals, and they were announced in 2015, but we in Canada were busy with an election, and they may have passed us by. Yet no great announcements get circulated by themselves, no matter how much they are present on the internet. It takes personal time and effort from local leaders, those among us who keep themselves constantly aware of large movements and important information.
Though the SDGs have not taken Canada by storm, they are guiding the work and thinking of people in poorer countries, Prof. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, who travels widely for the UN, told us. He was in an Ugandan village recently, where the SDGs dominated discussion and informed policy decisions
I personally heard about the SDGs a year ago. Outside the United Nations buildings in New York on a huge plaza, there is a massive iron and bronze sculpture of our planet, deeply gashed and wounded. It makes one pause and meditate.
So I was excited to see that Peterborough was going to have an opportunity to study the SDGs and see how they are applicable to us. That was the hope obviously shared by 125 others who flocked to the Mount on Feb. 28 and March 1 to ponder the SDGs.
Coalitions get things done, and they overcome silo thinking. This meeting had 15 cosponsors, including: Fleming College, the Peterborough Regional Centre of Expertise (as in all things environmental), CanWACH, Ontario Council for International Co-operation, Green Up, Trent Oxfam, Camp Kawartha, Horizons of Cobourg, Trent University and that always empowering (with seed money) Community Foundation of Peterborough. There were funds from two trusts: that of Thomas Symons and that of Linda and Alan Slavin.
When one looked at the quality of presenters, it was easy to see that such an endeavour would cost some money. There was Charles Hopkins from York University who works with UNESCO, Steve Lee from the UN in New York, Julie Wright from Waterloo's Global Science Initiative and Alison Sydney of Community Foundations Canada.
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Wisely, the organizers highlighted the views and centring presence of five Indigenous leaders: Larry McDermott of PLENTY Canada, Dan Longboat of Trent, Anne Taylor of Curve Lake, Lorenzo Whetung, a councillor in Curve Lake, and Kristin Muskratt, who works with native youth. They framed the day, at the beginning and at the end, giving the lively discussion a spiritual resonance. We moved from mere tokenism, often present at meetings today, to receiving the wisdom of Indigenous leaders.
There were reps from academia, health organizations, ngos, green groups, anti-poverty people, educators, politicians and youth.
The goals themselves may sound like motherhood; simple in words but far-reaching in result. Among them: No poverty, zero hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water, decent work, clean energy, reduced inequality, climate action, strong institutions, responsible consumption, sustainable cities and partnerships for the goals.
Advocates and activists in all these fields gathered round for two hours of discussion on what we have in our area and what we need.
The event launched all our thought-leaders into new directions. Colourful posters are available at the website of the UN. We will soon be as informed and engaged as the Ugandan village.