such as the “Limits to Growth” of the Club of
Rome and the Brundtland Report from 1987
triggered a sincere discussion among experts and
politicians worldwide about the way social and
political systems must change in order to ensure
the protection of the global ecosystems (Donella
et al. 1972; Brundtland and Khalid 1987). By
adopting the Rio Declaration and the Agenda 21,
the UN member states officially declared the
principles of SD to be the foundation of the
further socio-economic development of humanity
(United Nations 1992). In addition, the UN
member states worked out an output-orientated
development plan mainly for developing countries in their Millennium Declaration in 2000
(United Nations 2000). The eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) focused on main
challenges, such as hunger, poverty and the
provision of basic health services. By the end of
their term in 2015, the MDGs were widely confirmed as a means for successfully managing
development cooperation (Martens 2013).
In New York in 2015, the heads of state of all
UN member states agreed on the Agenda 2030 as
the replacement for the MDGs and as a common
vision and plan for a global transformation that
represents both a synthesis and a new step in the
scientific discourse and political process. The
plan, entitled “Transforming Our World: The
Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development”,
includes four important aspects. The Agenda
2030
1. Contains a differentiated target system for
achieving the common vision. It includes 17
goals, 169 targets and at least one indicator
for each target. It calls for a “data revolution”
to make the indicators measurable worldwide;
2. Covers an extremely wide range of topics,
summed up in five key areas: people, planet,
prosperity, peace and partnership;
3. Represents a consolidation of the sustainability agenda (“Rio process”) and development agenda (MDGs);
4. Has a universal character, declaring all
countries as partners in achieving the goals
and targets (shared responsibility of nationstates and all sub-levels).
Looking at the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), it becomes clear that in particular,
two basic prerequisites are necessary for successful implementation and target achievement.
On one hand, the thematic range of the target
system requires the participation of different
actors (United Nations 2015), mainly because
public funds alone will not be sufficient for
achieving this common vision of a sustainable
world nor will government action alone be
enough to give the needed impetus. The ownership of different stakeholders is needed. Subsequently, an integrated and participatory multistakeholder approach is of crucial importance for
the implementation of the Agenda 2030. Therefore, the Agenda 2030 addresses multistakeholder cooperation in different forms. The
Agenda 2030 includes common appeals (“All
countries and all stakeholders… will implement
this plan”), conceptually focuses on the aspect of
the partnership (“with the participation of all
countries, all stakeholders and all people”) and—
most importantly—provide targets for the effective cooperation between government structures,
businesses and civil society. With regard to
cities, these targets focus on sustainable urban
development (SDG 11, Target 11.3: “By 2030,
enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization
and capacity for participatory, integrated and
sustainable human settlement planning and
management”), as well as on the importance of a
multi-stakeholder approach for effective North–
South cooperation (SDG 17, Targets 17.16 and
17.17).
On the other hand, many targets of the
Agenda 2030 have a degree of concretization,
which depends on action and implementation at
the local level—in towns, settlements, and
smaller and larger cities. The topics concerned
range from education (SDG 4, Target 4.a “Build
and upgrade education facilities…”) and traffic
safety (SDG 3, Target 3.6 “… halve the number
of global deaths and injuries from road traffic
accidents.”) to access to open and green areas
(SDG 11, Target 11.7 “…provide universal
access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green
and public spaces…”). The New Urban Agenda
240
S. Eichhorn et al.
Rome and the Brundtland Report from 1987
triggered a sincere discussion among experts and
politicians worldwide about the way social and
political systems must change in order to ensure
the protection of the global ecosystems (Donella
et al. 1972; Brundtland and Khalid 1987). By
adopting the Rio Declaration and the Agenda 21,
the UN member states officially declared the
principles of SD to be the foundation of the
further socio-economic development of humanity
(United Nations 1992). In addition, the UN
member states worked out an output-orientated
development plan mainly for developing countries in their Millennium Declaration in 2000
(United Nations 2000). The eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) focused on main
challenges, such as hunger, poverty and the
provision of basic health services. By the end of
their term in 2015, the MDGs were widely confirmed as a means for successfully managing
development cooperation (Martens 2013).
In New York in 2015, the heads of state of all
UN member states agreed on the Agenda 2030 as
the replacement for the MDGs and as a common
vision and plan for a global transformation that
represents both a synthesis and a new step in the
scientific discourse and political process. The
plan, entitled “Transforming Our World: The
Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development”,
includes four important aspects. The Agenda
2030
1. Contains a differentiated target system for
achieving the common vision. It includes 17
goals, 169 targets and at least one indicator
for each target. It calls for a “data revolution”
to make the indicators measurable worldwide;
2. Covers an extremely wide range of topics,
summed up in five key areas: people, planet,
prosperity, peace and partnership;
3. Represents a consolidation of the sustainability agenda (“Rio process”) and development agenda (MDGs);
4. Has a universal character, declaring all
countries as partners in achieving the goals
and targets (shared responsibility of nationstates and all sub-levels).
Looking at the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), it becomes clear that in particular,
two basic prerequisites are necessary for successful implementation and target achievement.
On one hand, the thematic range of the target
system requires the participation of different
actors (United Nations 2015), mainly because
public funds alone will not be sufficient for
achieving this common vision of a sustainable
world nor will government action alone be
enough to give the needed impetus. The ownership of different stakeholders is needed. Subsequently, an integrated and participatory multistakeholder approach is of crucial importance for
the implementation of the Agenda 2030. Therefore, the Agenda 2030 addresses multistakeholder cooperation in different forms. The
Agenda 2030 includes common appeals (“All
countries and all stakeholders… will implement
this plan”), conceptually focuses on the aspect of
the partnership (“with the participation of all
countries, all stakeholders and all people”) and—
most importantly—provide targets for the effective cooperation between government structures,
businesses and civil society. With regard to
cities, these targets focus on sustainable urban
development (SDG 11, Target 11.3: “By 2030,
enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization
and capacity for participatory, integrated and
sustainable human settlement planning and
management”), as well as on the importance of a
multi-stakeholder approach for effective North–
South cooperation (SDG 17, Targets 17.16 and
17.17).
On the other hand, many targets of the
Agenda 2030 have a degree of concretization,
which depends on action and implementation at
the local level—in towns, settlements, and
smaller and larger cities. The topics concerned
range from education (SDG 4, Target 4.a “Build
and upgrade education facilities…”) and traffic
safety (SDG 3, Target 3.6 “… halve the number
of global deaths and injuries from road traffic
accidents.”) to access to open and green areas
(SDG 11, Target 11.7 “…provide universal
access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green
and public spaces…”). The New Urban Agenda
240
S. Eichhorn et al.