Let’s promote new sustainable development goals

• The process of creating a new set of development goals is expected to culminate in a proposal to the 68th General Assembly of the UN in September next year.
• Targets and recommendations are likely to be shaped around the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.
• Post-2015 strategies need to be explicit about how to bring together different fields of science in a way that serves evidence-based policy not only at the global level, but also locally.

Last week, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon announced the members of the panel that has been given the challenge of defining the global development agenda after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015.

The panel’s first meeting, scheduled for this September, will mark the start of a process that will run parallel to — but separately from — the process of defining goals, targets and indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are likely to succeed the MDGs.

The process of creating a new set of development goals is expected to culminate in a proposal to the 68th General Assembly of the UN in September next year.

How well the two processes will be co-ordinated remains to be seen. But in both cases, targets and recommendations are likely to be shaped around the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.

Translating this triad into meaningful indicators of progress must involve both a solid evidence base and a focus on the needs of poor communities.

It will also require scientists to work effectively across disciplines, and journalists to reflect this in their coverage. The principle behind each of these concepts is that no single discipline or branch of science holds all the answers when it comes to complex social and environmental problems.

Understanding the assumptions, methods and knowledge that different fields of science can contribute is essential to bringing them together effectively. So is clarity on how each can contribute towards joint goals.

Beyond this, it is important to ensure that scientific research involving several disciplines is linked to, or even rooted in, local problems.

Such a mechanism will have greater impact if not restricted to goals and indicators. Practical questions are not necessarily known before research or development agendas are set.

Journalists can play a role too, helping to raise the awareness of project managers and policymakers by highlighting how different fields of science can bear on development issues.

Post-2015 strategies need to be explicit about how to bring together different fields of science in a way that serves evidence-based policy not only at the global level, but also locally.

Makri is the Commissioning Editor, SciDev.Net