51
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. B. Abraham, S. D. Iyer (eds.), Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals in North American
Cities, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59173-1_5
Making the SDGs Relevant
for Cities: Using the Community
Capital Tool in British Columbia
Maria Spiliotopoulou and Mark Roseland
5.1
Introduction
The scientific evidence on the Earth’s deteriorating condition – and the urgency to respond with
effective action – has been mounting for decades.
The increased frequency of extreme phenomena;
the persistent poverty, increasing social and economic inequality, and inaccessibility to basic provisions; the decline of ecosystem services; and
the unprecedented species extinction are some of
the signs that the Earth may soon not be able to
sustain the growth of human population and economic activity while maintaining systemic planetary well-being (Daly 2005; Steffen et al. 2011).
From the 1987 UN World Commission on
Environment and Development report “Our
Common Future” (Brundtland) to the 1992 UN
Conference on Environment and Development in
Rio, then the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development, followed by the
2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, then the 2015
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2015
Paris Climate Accord, and most recently the 2017
New Urban Agenda, the message has been loud
and clear: the world needs to be on a more sustainable pathway, quickly, if we are to have any hope
of a sustainable future. Yet effective action, as well
as political will, has been elusive. One reason for
this is because these global challenges must be
addressed at national and local levels.
In this chapter, we present our case studies
with two municipalities in British Columbia,
Canada, where we applied modified versions of
the Community Capital Tool (or CCT, detailed
below) and conducted a complex matching and
mapping exercise to show the relationship
between the SDGs, the CCT, and local goals in
the municipalities. We also discuss the challenges
and opportunities we identified with regard to
achieving local sustainability goals and contributing to Canada’s commitments toward the UN
Global Goals.
5.1.1 Sustainable Development
Globally
The 1987 Brundtland Commission report noted
the interconnectedness between human activity
and environmental degradation: 26% of the
world’s population, living in developed countries,
consumed 80–86% of nonrenewable resources
and 34–53% of food products (WCED 1987).
The increased frequency of extreme phenomena
and the persistent social and ecological issues
such as poverty and decline of ecosystem services have led a growing number of scholars to
M. Spiliotopoulou (*)
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
e-mail: mariaspi@sfu.ca
M. Roseland (*)
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
e-mail: Mark.Roseland@asu.edu
5
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. B. Abraham, S. D. Iyer (eds.), Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals in North American
Cities, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59173-1_5
Making the SDGs Relevant
for Cities: Using the Community
Capital Tool in British Columbia
Maria Spiliotopoulou and Mark Roseland
5.1
Introduction
The scientific evidence on the Earth’s deteriorating condition – and the urgency to respond with
effective action – has been mounting for decades.
The increased frequency of extreme phenomena;
the persistent poverty, increasing social and economic inequality, and inaccessibility to basic provisions; the decline of ecosystem services; and
the unprecedented species extinction are some of
the signs that the Earth may soon not be able to
sustain the growth of human population and economic activity while maintaining systemic planetary well-being (Daly 2005; Steffen et al. 2011).
From the 1987 UN World Commission on
Environment and Development report “Our
Common Future” (Brundtland) to the 1992 UN
Conference on Environment and Development in
Rio, then the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development, followed by the
2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, then the 2015
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2015
Paris Climate Accord, and most recently the 2017
New Urban Agenda, the message has been loud
and clear: the world needs to be on a more sustainable pathway, quickly, if we are to have any hope
of a sustainable future. Yet effective action, as well
as political will, has been elusive. One reason for
this is because these global challenges must be
addressed at national and local levels.
In this chapter, we present our case studies
with two municipalities in British Columbia,
Canada, where we applied modified versions of
the Community Capital Tool (or CCT, detailed
below) and conducted a complex matching and
mapping exercise to show the relationship
between the SDGs, the CCT, and local goals in
the municipalities. We also discuss the challenges
and opportunities we identified with regard to
achieving local sustainability goals and contributing to Canada’s commitments toward the UN
Global Goals.
5.1.1 Sustainable Development
Globally
The 1987 Brundtland Commission report noted
the interconnectedness between human activity
and environmental degradation: 26% of the
world’s population, living in developed countries,
consumed 80–86% of nonrenewable resources
and 34–53% of food products (WCED 1987).
The increased frequency of extreme phenomena
and the persistent social and ecological issues
such as poverty and decline of ecosystem services have led a growing number of scholars to
M. Spiliotopoulou (*)
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
e-mail: mariaspi@sfu.ca
M. Roseland (*)
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
e-mail: Mark.Roseland@asu.edu
5