“The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realize that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent.” FRITJOF CARPA

The Sustainable Development Goals:

Solution / Seduction - A Wicked Look at Goals 8 and 12 by Bengt Skarstam and Ivor Hopkins

ABSTRACT

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) are a complicated solution to the environmental, social and economic problems we face on our planet, with heavy demands on its dwindling resources. Based on our current economic system - the market economy – there are confrontational tensions between the goals. This article focuses on SDG Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth and SDG Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production. The SDGs are very seductive because they offer a solution but the solution is also part of the problem: what they seek to solve is a Wicked Problem and is, as such, unsolveable. We can use technology and our creativity to improve their impact but this is also dangerously seductive. We need to go still deeper and change our own behaviour – by taking Personal Responsibility – and this change in thought and deed will help us to take on a revolutionary Planet Economy. With these two concepts driving the SDGs we have a real chance of achieving a life-affirming present and a positive future.

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