Webinar: Delivering on the Promise – how do we scale up collaboration for the SDGs?

On 1 January 2016, the clock started ticking on the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs represent a fundamental shift in approach, naming all societal sectors as key development actors, and requiring a hitherto unprecedented level of cooperation and collaboration among civil society, business, government, NGOs, foundations and others.

This is a heavy demand to place. Collaboration across sectors is challenging. To scale up and mainstream will require a targeted, systematic effort and a range of new approaches.

On 30th June 2016, 2pm UK, along with World Vision, Business Fights Poverty, and Together 2030, TPI hosted a webinar convening a panel of four leaders in the field, with perspectives from the UN, business, and NGOs, to discuss the critical question: ‘How do we scale up collaboration for the SDGs?’ The panel included:

David Nabarro, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Agenda 2030
Jane Nelson, Director of the Harvard Kennedy School, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative
Trihadi Saptoadi, Global Lead, Impact and Engagement, World Vision International
Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative

The conversation was tremendously stimulating and exciting, and the panelists’ perspectives and insights were complemented by the pertinent questions, and wide-ranging perspectives of the participants. We discussed the need for a fundamental shift in how we think about and undertake development, the need for much more systemic approaches, and how we must reassess the role that we as development actors play. Traditional, siloed, project-based, ‘linear’ development will not achieve Agenda 2030. We will need a much more collective response that can integrate action across the interconnected SDGs.

We look forward to following up on many of the challenges raised during the webinar, and will be looking at ways to keep the momentum of this discussion and continue the conversation online. In the meantime, we would like to share the recording of the webinar, which many of you have asked for, as well as the transcript of comments, and a written summary of the discussion, including the links that were shared by panelists and participants.