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26.06.2023 / Publications

Authors: Stefan Cibian Ph.D. and Andrei Verestiuc M.A.

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Key recommendations:

–  A growing number of SDG-related NGO networks focus on topics affecting local communities. Therefore, community foundations should engage with SDG networks nationally and at a European level to harvest support for local challenges and share their lessons learned driving social change locally;

– Community foundations should engage with the governmental units coordinating the SDGs at the national level to direct the attention of governments towards sustainability challenges encountered in local communities; 

–  Community foundations should engage with the United Nations (UN) to ensure local perspectives find a place in monitoring progress towards the SDGs and deciding on the post-2023 development goals.

Introduction

The Ukrainian community foundations see their communities ravaged by war. Community foundations globally see their communities affected by climate change. Local challenges that get community foundations’ attention are by now global in nature. Therefore, community foundations need new allies and partners to guide local communities in their struggle with global challenges. The Sustainable Development Goals1 (SDGs) and Agenda 20302 are critical for such a process as they can guide community foundations toward new resources for local communities and strengthen their understanding of local sustainability. 

Agenda 2030 is becoming increasingly central to all societal sectors. Governments advance strategies and policies to monitor and advance on the SDGs. Businesses develop plans to advance on the SDGs3 and track their contribution to protecting the environment and enhancing sustainability. At the same time, civil society is increasingly aligning activities with Agenda 2023 objectives. Financial flows are also following the SDGs. CSR budgets, local, and national budgets are slowly connected to the SDGs. Iceland, for example, initiated a Fiscal Strategy Plan in correlation with the 2030 Agenda.4 

Eight years after adopting Agenda 2030, local governance is important in achieving the SDGs5 and local communities have become an important part of the process.6 Civil society’s contribution to the SDGs is, however, less visible. On the one hand, the UN and national governments have yet to commend mechanisms such as community foundations for contributing to local sustainability. On the other hand, community foundations should also engage internationally, nationally, and locally to make their contribution to the SDGs known. 

In this policy brief, we will expand on the above to show how community foundations could connect nationally and globally to benefit their local communities. We explore potential connections to SDG-related networks and how community foundations can partner with national and municipal governments. 

Community Foundations and the SDGs

Since 2017, there has been an increased involvement of community foundations with the SDGs.7 Community foundations contribute to local areas’ prosperity by enhancing local actors’ capacity to work on local challenges, asserting local leadership, and aggregating local assets and human resources8 that contribute to achieving the SDGs. 

Recent statistics have shown that up to 60 percent of European community foundations know the SDGs and their significance.9 However, only half of the European community foundations promote the SDGs.10 Community foundations invest more in addressing the SDGs as they understand their relevance from a local perspective. 

Although the mission of community foundations and Agenda 2030 are perfectly aligned, community foundations are yet to connect and contribute meaningfully to the energy generated by the SDGs. While initially global, that energy is already present in local communities and amasses increasing resources. Community foundations can connect with the SDG community by engaging with SDG civil society networks, the UN, and national and municipal governments. 

Civil society networks, community foundations, and the SDGs

Many civil society organizations are aligning their mission and action with the SDGs. These include large global organizations to small informal initiative groups in local communities. Furthermore, these organizations increasingly work together, forming networks11 focusing on the SDGs. 

SDG Watch Europe is an example of a CSO network that aggregates the interests of NGOs.12 SDG Watch Europe members focus on achieving more development for local communities based on community needs. They address challenges such as the rural-urban divide, gender equality, education, health, and children, along many others. 

Models that address the SDGs in the local communities are also emerging at a national level. One example is the Italian NGO network called the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (AsviS).13 With over 200 members, it helps revitalize local areas, tackling health, education, employment, and gender equality. Outside of Europe, a relevant example is Alliance 2030, established under the leadership of Community Foundations of Canada.14   

SDG-focused networks are bringing together NGOs and sometimes businesses that focus on how to contribute to developing local communities. These networks represent a significant pool of resources for local communities, as they bring together expertise, motivated leaders, financial resources, and significant experiences for addressing local challenges. Community foundations can leverage partnerships with such networks to harness assets for their communities. Furthermore, when joining such networks, community foundations can share stories from their local communities, including examples of how to address sustainability challenges locally. 

Community Foundations Engaging Governments on SDGs

The UN member states ratified Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. Consequently, national governments in Europe and globally, have embarked on adapting the SDGs to their national context and developing appropriate indicators to measure progress. Specific units placed in different ministries such as the Ministry of environmental affairs, or even at the level of the office of the prime minister, coordinate SDG work at a national level. Essentially, an institutional infrastructure developed relying on the participation of multiple national institutions. 

Governmental efforts are also slowly translating into municipalities’ efforts to set SDG-related objectives and monitor progress. Throughout Europe, several municipalities embraced the SDGs and are monitoring efforts to advance towards set objectives. Examples include Manheim and Stuttgart in Germany, London in the United Kingdom, and Izmir in Turkey. 

National and local governmental focus on the SDGs is a significant window of opportunity for community foundations. It implies increased attention to specific development indicators in local communities, often aligned with the strategic priorities of community foundations. The SDGs can represent a novel basis for stronger partnerships between community foundations and governments that care about the well-being of local communities. Such partnerships can take multiple formats, including launching SDG-dedicated grantmaking funds, jointly enhancing community capacity to work on SDG-related challenges, jointly stimulating businesses to contribute towards the SDGs, jointly addressing the need for local data and tailoring indicators to local phenomena, and partnering in developing voluntary national reviews for monitoring local progress toward the SDGs.

Recommendations

Community foundations are in a fortunate position as they have been working on local sustainability since their establishment. The immense opportunity brought by the SDGs is that all other actors are moving into the same space, aiming to increase the sustainability and resilience of local communities.  

To make the most of this window of opportunity, community foundations should: 

• engage with SDG networks nationally and at a European level to harvest support for local challenges and share their lessons learned driving social change locally;

• become members of NGO networks, as they can proficiently assist the local communities;

• engage with the governmental units coordinating the SDGs at national and municipal levels to direct the attention of governments toward sustainability challenges encountered in local communities;

• partner with national and municipal governments, as well as with the private sector, in developing grantmaking funds for advancing towards the SDGs;

• rely on the SDGs as a communication medium for asserting community leadership and highlighting local challenges in need of more support;

• engage with the United Nations to ensure local perspectives find a place in monitoring progress towards the SDGs and deciding on the post-2023 development goals.

Endnotes

1. United Nation, The 17 Goals
2. United Nations, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
3. “Local Network SDG Action Plan,” United Nations Global Compact, accessed May 7, 2023.
4. Directorate for Public Governance, “Romania: Linking Policy Planning and Budgeting to Support the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2022, accessed May 7, 2023.
5. Christopher Ansell, Eva Sorensen, Jacob Torfing, “The Key Role of Local Governance in Achieving the SDGs,” in Co-Creation for Sustainability: The UN SDGs and the Power of Local Partnership (Bingley, UK: emerald publishing, 2022), pp. 10.
6. Ilona Lodewijckx, “Promoting sustainable development with community engagement,” citizenlab, April 14, 2022.
7. Kostandina Keruti, “The role of community foundations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Tirana, Albania, 2020 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program, pp. 4.
8. Kostandina Keruti, “The role of community foundations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Tirana, Albania, 2020 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program, pp. 4.
9. See Anja Böllhoff, Andrea Dicks, Dr. Annette Kleinbrod, Dr. James Magowan, Kaya Petryka, “Connecting Community Foundations with the SDGs.” European Community Foundations Initiative, 2020, pp. 11. Also see, Kostandina Keruti, “The role of community foundations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Tirana, Albania, 2020 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program, pp. 6.
10. Anja Böllhoff, Andrea Dicks, Dr. Annette Kleinbrod, Dr. James Magowan, Kaya Petryka, “Connecting Community Foundations with the SDGs.” European Community Foundations Initiative, 2020, pp. 22.
11. Hari Srinivas, “An NGO for NGOs: Networking and Support Centers for NGOs,” GDRC Research Output E-105. Kobe, Japan: Global Development Research Center, June 2016 (Updated March 2021), accessed May 7, 2023, 12. “SDG WATCH Europe,” SDG WATCH Europe (main website), accessed May 7, 2023,
12. Kostandina Keruti, “The role of community foundations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Tirana, Albania, 2020 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program, pp. 6-7.
13. “Alliance 2030,” Alliance 2030 (main website), accessed May 7, 2023.

This policy brief was developed as a part of the project Increasing the Contribution of European Community Foundations to the SDGs, supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. We are grateful to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and all interviewees and partners who made the development of the policy brief possible.

Departments: Policy Analysis and Outreach Department, Research Department, Center on Global Affairs and Post Development, Society, Crisis, and Resilience Program

Regions: Europe, Global

Themes: Philanthropy and Community Development, Civil Society, Democracy and Democratization, Sustainable Development Goals