WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE WITH THE 17 SDGS

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable development is a concept that appeared for the first time in the year 1987 with the publication of the Brundtland Report, a document established within the framework of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) which warned about the negative environmental consequences of globalisation and economic development and sought possible solutions to the problems arising from industrialisation and population growth. However, it wasn’t until the year 1997 during the ‘Earth Summit’(La Cumbre de la Tierra) in Rio de Janeiro that the concept of sustainable development was made official.

What are the SDGs?

In the light of guaranteeing the balance between economic growth, environmental preservation and social welfare, in the year 2015 United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda sets out the Sustainable Development Goals, a series of common objectives to protect the planet and ensure the balance between the latter outcomes becomes effective.

What measures can you take to support these goals?

• Find a charity which addresses any of the goals’ objectives and try to make a donation. No matter how small or big, everything counts!
• Donate books/clothes/toys/furniture you have already used and don’t need any longer to allow other people access resources.
• Offer yourself to be someone’s mentor/tutor and help them with those subjects they struggle with
• Support equal salaries between men and women
• Try to recognize and avoid gender stereotypes and make other people conscious about them
• Ensure you share domestic responsibilities with your partner/male figures at home
• Raise awareness about hygiene issues in your community through social media or other type of campaigns
• Participate in water-cleaning-up projects
• Turn off the lights whenever you aren’t using them
• Use renewable energies
• Buy consciously. Take into account that the consumption of very cheap items might be damageful for those producing them
• Buy from local producers rather than big multinationals
• Help people access the internet by promoting free hot-spot points
• Raise your voice against any type of discrimination
• Represent minorities and under privileged groups in the government
• Support migrants and refugees