Prioritising Sustainable Development Goals, characterising interactions, and identifying solutions for local sustainability
Summary: My PhD project aims to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge and methodologies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level. To achieve this, the project uses participatory approaches that involve collaboration with local expert stakeholders. The project focuses on three research gaps within sustainability science, which include localising and prioritising SDGs, system dynamics model development, and identifying and assessing local interventions under global driving forces. The first gap involves identifying critical sustainability dimensions and priority SDGs for the study area, characterising interactions between different SDGs, and considering the specific characteristics of the local context. The second gap focuses on using system dynamics modelling to understand the complex and interconnected dynamics among multiple sectors in achieving the SDGs, with a specific emphasis on designing a comprehensive and intricate model that is specific to the local scale. Finally, the third gap involves identifying and evaluating sustainability interventions, particularly in a local context, that can help achieve the SDGs in the face of future uncertainties, such as various Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). By addressing these research gaps, the project seeks to contribute to the development of more effective approaches to achieve the SDGs at the local level.