18
SDGs. More comprehensive and more targetbased connections to the global goals, however,
seem unlikely today.
2.7.1 Generalizations
From the Baltimore experience, three key issues
arose that could both hinder and help other North
American cities from focusing on the SDGs.
1. Lack of resources and leadership at all levels
of government to support adoption of the
SDGs. The vacuum of local leadership precisely during the moment of localization in
Baltimore is of course a rather obvious impediment in the localization effort. What was less
overt but equally important was the lack of
Federal and State leadership among US and
Maryland agencies engaged in urban policy.
The US State Department and particularly the
Office of the Chief Statistician under the
Obama administration certainly helped keep
the data collection and voluntary reporting at
the forefront through the Data Revolution for
Sustainable Development Initiative. However,
many of the key agencies that cities interact
with more routinely, such as HUD, EPA, or
DOJ, were not disseminating similar messages or guidance about how to align the
SDGs to local priorities either from a regulatory perspective or via resource allocation and
funding.
2. Lack of support for or awareness of the SDGs
from urban entities with similar missions.
With the UN adoption of the SDGs in 2015,
what may have been a seminal moment globally had hardly made an impression on local
organizations or professionals involved in
US-based sustainability movements. The fact
that Baltimore’s own Office of Sustainability
(BOS) was leery of adopting a “non-local”
approach to sustainable development was certainly an unforeseen barrier to localization.
Staff from BOS were well-connected to networks such as the STAR Community Ratings
and the Urban Sustainability Directors
Network (USDN), but at the time, guidance
on the SDGs had not yet permeated within
these spheres.
3. Local indicator projects are in the best position to help translate the relevance of the
SDGs to urban communities. BNIA was not
the first partner chosen by SDSN to help
spearhead the SCI-Baltimore initiative; however, having the local community indicators
project be a part of the SDG localization process became critical to ensuring Baltimore
saw the effort to fruition. Given its longstanding mission to improve quality of life in
distressed communities, BNIA already had
deep connections with local governmental
agencies as well as neighborhoods impacted
by the unrest which helped ensure inclusive
working group participation and an effective
listening-to-the-listening approach. BNIA
was also able to quickly align existing, locally
relevant indicators to the SDG targets and
identify gaps in data that allowed stakeholders
to focus on ways to measure equity and
justice.
2.7.2 Recommendations
Having gone through an intensive process to
localize the SDGs in Baltimore, any attempts in
other cities would benefit from these internal and
external supports to help convey the potential
benefits for aligning with the global goals:
1. Message needs to come from the top. The
ambitious and comprehensive nature of the
global goals will need to be addressed by all
levels of government, with most of the responsibility resting with the executive offices and
agencies (Kingsley 2017). Clear and reinforced
language within existing regulations and funding resources could help agencies better understand that tracking the SDGs fits within
ongoing workloads and reporting practices.
This would require incorporating language
within agency-promulgated rules and regulations and in rare cases within legislation. This
important task requires leadership from within
S. D. Iyer
SDGs. More comprehensive and more targetbased connections to the global goals, however,
seem unlikely today.
2.7.1 Generalizations
From the Baltimore experience, three key issues
arose that could both hinder and help other North
American cities from focusing on the SDGs.
1. Lack of resources and leadership at all levels
of government to support adoption of the
SDGs. The vacuum of local leadership precisely during the moment of localization in
Baltimore is of course a rather obvious impediment in the localization effort. What was less
overt but equally important was the lack of
Federal and State leadership among US and
Maryland agencies engaged in urban policy.
The US State Department and particularly the
Office of the Chief Statistician under the
Obama administration certainly helped keep
the data collection and voluntary reporting at
the forefront through the Data Revolution for
Sustainable Development Initiative. However,
many of the key agencies that cities interact
with more routinely, such as HUD, EPA, or
DOJ, were not disseminating similar messages or guidance about how to align the
SDGs to local priorities either from a regulatory perspective or via resource allocation and
funding.
2. Lack of support for or awareness of the SDGs
from urban entities with similar missions.
With the UN adoption of the SDGs in 2015,
what may have been a seminal moment globally had hardly made an impression on local
organizations or professionals involved in
US-based sustainability movements. The fact
that Baltimore’s own Office of Sustainability
(BOS) was leery of adopting a “non-local”
approach to sustainable development was certainly an unforeseen barrier to localization.
Staff from BOS were well-connected to networks such as the STAR Community Ratings
and the Urban Sustainability Directors
Network (USDN), but at the time, guidance
on the SDGs had not yet permeated within
these spheres.
3. Local indicator projects are in the best position to help translate the relevance of the
SDGs to urban communities. BNIA was not
the first partner chosen by SDSN to help
spearhead the SCI-Baltimore initiative; however, having the local community indicators
project be a part of the SDG localization process became critical to ensuring Baltimore
saw the effort to fruition. Given its longstanding mission to improve quality of life in
distressed communities, BNIA already had
deep connections with local governmental
agencies as well as neighborhoods impacted
by the unrest which helped ensure inclusive
working group participation and an effective
listening-to-the-listening approach. BNIA
was also able to quickly align existing, locally
relevant indicators to the SDG targets and
identify gaps in data that allowed stakeholders
to focus on ways to measure equity and
justice.
2.7.2 Recommendations
Having gone through an intensive process to
localize the SDGs in Baltimore, any attempts in
other cities would benefit from these internal and
external supports to help convey the potential
benefits for aligning with the global goals:
1. Message needs to come from the top. The
ambitious and comprehensive nature of the
global goals will need to be addressed by all
levels of government, with most of the responsibility resting with the executive offices and
agencies (Kingsley 2017). Clear and reinforced
language within existing regulations and funding resources could help agencies better understand that tracking the SDGs fits within
ongoing workloads and reporting practices.
This would require incorporating language
within agency-promulgated rules and regulations and in rare cases within legislation. This
important task requires leadership from within
S. D. Iyer