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SDG Talk Blog by Gemeente Amstelveen
Inspiration – Live on campus!
The theme of the SDG Talk on the evening of September 27th was ‘inspiration’. Filled with examples, discussion and closing with drinks. This SDG Talk was the most interactive one so far. Even some of the clients joined us from Ondernemershuis Deventer.
Testing our knowledge
Leading this talk was SDG professional Rob van Tulder. This was a good moment for him to check in and see if the trainees have been paying attention these past four weeks. He kicked the session off with a quiz. Questions included but were not limited to…
- What is the principle that connects all SDG’s?
- What percentage of food is wasted every year?
- Who is the UN Secretary-General?
- What does NIMBY stand for?
…Do you know the answers?
As an SDG trainee it can be good to know how many targets there are or what SDG5 stands for. What is even better is gaining insight that can be implemented into practical advice. The bridge between the quiz and the rest of the session was a useful piece of advice: ‘The worst thing you can do as a consultant is blindly do what the client asks. Stay critical’.
Give me the best practice
There hardly ever is a ‘best’ practice because the claim alone is very difficult. How is ‘best practice’ defined? Is the term ‘the best’ not always a subjective one? In the past the answer may have been profit. Now, it could be something else. Instead of ‘best’ practices it would be wiser to look at what the good or inspiring practices are. Reading tip concerning best practices is ‘in search of excellence’ by Robert H. Waterman Jr. and Tom Peters.
Good practices, success stories and lessons learned in SDG implementation.
In an interactive session, all trainees present shared their idea of good practices. We discussed in our teams what we found inspiring about each example and shared our thoughts with the group. Which good or inspirational practice do you think is missing?
| Inspiring companies | Inspiring cities | Inspiring NGOs |
| Patagonia for scaling to a global company but staying close to their vision | Sponge Cities | Detroit’s Urban Farming Initiative |
| The Female Lead | Haarlem for regulating ad’s concerning meat produce | The Border Kitchen, Cypris |
| Buzz Woman | Delft & Wageningen | Amnesty International and their campaign ‘let’s talk about Yes’ |
| Too Good To Go | Brussels for becoming less car-friendly | The Inidigenous Environmental Impact |
| Philips | Vienna for aiming to be a gender equal city | The Carbon Disclosure Project |
| IKEA | Basil for implementing the green roof initiative | Simavi for their targets concerning female empowerment in developing countries |
Go for 21st century skills
Before we went to close the evening off with drinks and further discussion, van Tulder closed the talk with the closing note that Gen Z is our future and hope. A generation that demands transparency and honesty from companies. A generation where 60% of it finds purpose more important than profit. Go for the 21st century skills and perhaps the Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved.
Go for 21st century skills
- Complex problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Creativity
- People mgmt.
- Coordinating with others
- Emotional intelligence
- Judgment and decision making
- Service orientation
- Negotiation
- Cognitive flexibility
Reading tips
- In search of excellence by Robert H. Waterman Jr. and Tom Peters
- The winners take all by Anand Giridharadas
- Het grote gevecht van Jeroen Smit
- Coming soon: Principles of Sustainable Business by Rob van Tulder