This presentation was part of the ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme 2017 'Building Transformational Leadership Towards the SDGs'

1. Mario T. Tabucanon
UNU-IAS
ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme
Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
29 June to 5 July 2017

2. Outline
I. Leadership for Sustainability - A
Primer
II. Leadership and Decision Making
III. Building Transformational
Leadership through Education
for Sustainable Development

3. Part I
Leadership for Sustainability

4. 4
“Empowerment and transformational change
for creating sustainable societies”
• Leadership is a process:
– Bringing the present state into a desired
future state.
– Change for sustainability does not just
happen; it must be led.
– Leadership is doing the right things. Each
one can be a leader in his/her own right.

5. Elements of change – Learning, Visioning,
Transforming
• We can analyze and understand the past and
the present (Learning).
• But we have to design a desired future
(Visioning).
• Leaders are transformative figures in this
process of change (Transforming)
5

6. • Attain the Goals of Sustainable Development
• Achievements of Development Agenda:
- From MDGs to 2030 Agenda and SDGs
- From UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development to Global Action Programme on
ESD – “Shaping the Future We Want”
- “The Future We Want”, Rio+20

7. 7
• UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, Sweden)1972
• Brundtland Report “Our Common Future”1987
• UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Summit)
• Agenda 21 (Chapter 36)
1992
• World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10, Johannesburg)
• UN General Assembly adopted Resolution on the DESD
2002
• UN Decade of ESD launched (2005–2014)2005
• Mid-Decade Year — World Conference on ESD (Bonn, Germany)2009
• UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)2012
• Final Year of the DESD — UNESCO World Conference on ESD (Aichi-Nagoya)2014
• MDGs Target Year  UNFCCC COP21
• Global Action Programme on ESD (follow-up to the DESD)
• 2030 Development Agenda & Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adoption
2015
International Processes on
Sustainable Development (SD) and Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD)

8. We are living on ever decreasing natural capital
As a planet, the human race now consumes 30% more biological
resources than the earth can produce in one year
Source: http://www.globalfootprintnetwork.org/
Earth’s
Sustainability
We are here
now!

9. We are consuming more and more, faster and faster…
what is the outcome?

10. As we Consume More… More Species Go Extinct
The Living Planet
Index of
biosphere health
fell by about
40% from 1970
to 2000, a period
of just 30 years.
What will happen in
the next 30 years?
Source: State of the World 2004: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a
Sustainable Society, Linda Starke et al, Norton, NY, 2004, 245 pp.

11. • In 50-70 years:
– Doubling world population and increasing level
of consumption would lead to
• multi-fold increase in food consumption,
increase in energy production, increase in
resource utilization, environmental
degradation, and inequalities

12. 12
Sustainable Development -
“Meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”
Brundtland Report “Our Common
Future”, World Commission
on Environment and Development,
1987
The Age of Sustainable Development

13. Vision:
“Transforming our world - the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development” containing the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sustainable development:
Economic development that is socially inclusive,
and environmentally sustainable
8/2/2017 13
Resolution adopted by the UN General
Assembly on 25 September 2015:

14. Framework for sustainability
A B C
‘Triple-bottom line’ model ‘Hierarchical ’ model
Source: Image adapted from Lowe, I. (1996), Towards Ecological Sustainability

15. What’s new with Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)?
1. Universal – for all countries (MDGs – Mainly for
developing countries)
2. 17 goals, 169 targets, 230 indicators, integrating 3
dimensions of SD (MDGs – 8 ‘siloed’ goals for
development)
3. Negotiated by Member States with stronger country
ownership (MDGs – From UN Secretariat)
4. Means of Implementation (MoI) inter-governmentally
negotiated, global architecture and monitoring
system shaped (MDGs – MoI monitoring & follow up
not defined in advance)

16. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Goal 1: End poverty
• Goal 2: End hunger
• Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives
• Goal 4: Ensure quality education
• Goal 5: Achieve gender equality
• Goal 6: Ensure water and sanitation
• Goal 7: Ensure energy for all
• Goal 8: Promote employment
• Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure

17. SDGs (continued)
• Goal 10: Reduce inequality
• Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and
production
• Goal 13: Combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 14: Conserve oceans, seas and marine
resources
• Goal 15: Protect ecosystems
• Goal 16: Promote justice for all
• Goal 17: Strengthen global partnership

18. 8/2/2017 18

19. Core Elements of SD –
People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace, Partnership
• People – To end poverty and fight inequalities- SDGs
1,2,10; To ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the
inclusion of women and children - SDGs 3,4,5
• Prosperity - To grow a strong, inclusive and
transformative economy -SDGs 6,7,8,9,11,12
• Planet - To protect our ecosystems for all societies
and our children - SDGs 13,14,15
• Peace - To promote safe and peaceful societies and
strong institutions - SDG 16
• Partnership - To catalyze global solidarity for
sustainable development - SDG 17
8/2/2017 19

20. DESA WORKING PAPER, LEBLANC,
MARCH 2015
UN DESA Working Paper No. 141, March 2015
8/2/2017 20

21. SD Governance
Global (Vision/Agenda)
• International Institutions’ SD Processes
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Multilateral Agreements
National (Policies/Strategies)
• National Government and its agencies
• National SD Strategic Plan and subsidiary plans
• National multi-stakeholder engagement
Local (Implementation)
• Local government and its agencies
• Local action plans
• Local multi-stakeholder engagement
8/2/2017 21

22. Governance and sustainability landscape
- Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Approach
Sustainable Development
Challenges
(social, environmental,
economic): urban, water,
energy...
LOCAL/National
Government
Civil Society
Private Sector
REGIONAL
Regional
alliances
Civil Society
Private Sector
GLOBAL
International
Organizations
Civil Society
Private Sector
Multiple Levels, Multiple
Stakeholders
Implementation
and accountability
Cross-sectoral
initiatives
Network
approach

23. Sustainable
Development
Health
Peace and
Security
Climate
Change
Water
Networked governance approach

24. Hierarchy of Leadership for SD
• Personal
• Group
• Organizational
• Societal

25. Personal/
Individual
Domain
Relational
Domain
Contextual
Domain

26. • Human capital (expertise, competencies in
decision making)
• Social capital (social networks and
relationships)
• Personal values – Leadership as an
obligation to serve for the common good.
26

27. Foundation of Leadership
Human
Dimension

28. Human Dimension
• Mind (Mental Dimension) – read, educate,
write, learn new skills.
• Body (Physical Dimension) – exercise, eat
healthy, sleep well, relax.
• Soul (Spiritual Dimension) – meditate, pray.
• Heart (Emotional Dimension) – build
relationship, give service, smile and laugh.

29. • Communicating
• Building and working with teams
• Inspiring and motivating
• Building relationships and alliances
• Building trust
29

30. • Organizational design and culture
• Environmental, Economic, Social, and political
landscapes
• Global perspective and cross-cultural
differences
• The leader must have sound understanding of
the functions of the organization and to view
it holistically as a system. (Systems Approach)
30

31. • Visioning
• Global Vision on SD
• Aligning Global-National-Local Vision
• Communicating
• Communicate vision/strategy/values/etc. so that
people understand how their work contributes to a
larger whole.
• ‘Get the message out’
• Challenging
• Challenge status quo, unsustainable practices,
barriers, constraints

32. • Inspiring
– Inspire stakeholders to work to achieve goals
• Developing capacities of people
– Education and training; competencies
development; ESD
• Motivating people to want to follow
– Relate personal, organizational and
community goals
• Having a Plan
– To do, check, act, assess, adjust
32

33. Part II –
Leadership and Decision Making

34. 34
Policy -
DECISION MAKING
Practice -
IMPLEMENTATION

35. • Leadership for sustainability
means having good decision
making skills (policy making)
and good management skills
(for implementation).
35

36. • Understand the overall problem.
• Establish criteria (sustainability criteria) and
identify decision options.
• Decompose overall problem into sub-
problems and analyze.
• Synthesize by recomposing the sub-problems
into the overall problem.
• Make the rational choice.
36

37. • Do not proceed unless the problem or issue is
well understood and clearly defined.
(A relevant proverb – “A problem well-understood
and stated is half solved”)
• There is no such thing as a single-criterion
development problem. There are multiple
criteria – Economic, Environmental, and Social
considerations.
• Examine the conflicting nature of the criteria, and
address the conflict
(e.g. decoupling of economic growth and
environmental degradation, etc.)
37

38. • Generate a sufficient number of
options or alternative solutions or
courses of actions
• Make sure that the potential ‘best
option’ is among the options
considered. Avoid a situation where
the ‘best option’ is outside of the
feasible set being considered.
• If the problem is complex, break it into
sub- (sub-sub) parts creating decision
hierarchy.

39. Sustainable Development
SocialDimension EconomicDimension
Environmental Dimension
Policy/Program/
Project 1
Hierarchy Model: Sustainable DevelopmentSPMconcent
Air Water Land Biodiversity
ArableLand
ForestArea
ThreatenedBirds
CO2Emissions
SO2Emissions
NOxEmissions
SafeSanitation
WaterAvailability
ForestCoverChange
Threatened
Mammals
Wetlandsof
International
Importance
Population
PovertyForecast
InfantMortalityRate
LifeExpectancyat
Birth
GDPGrowth
GrossNationalIncome
NationalIncomePer
Capita
EnergyConsumptionPer
Capita
Policy/Program/
Project 2
Policy/Program/
Project 3
SO2concent
NOxconcent
BODlevel
SafeWater
ThreatenedPlants
ProtectedArea
HumanDevelopment
Index
Income
GDPComparison

40. • Evaluate the options according to the
criteria/sub-criteria in hierarchical
fashion
• Intensities of connections are used to
synthesize relative importance
• The overall intensity will determine the
rational choice

41. Copyright M.T. Tabucanon, 2007
Policy Development-Implementation
Model
Agenda
setting
Policy
formulation Implementation
Results/Outcomes/Impacts
Policy evaluation
Indicators
Analyze
deviation
causes
Feedback
Take corrective
actions

42. Agenda Setting
• In agenda setting
- Could be contained in global agenda,
national development plans, and
translated into local policy and actions
• Issue definition influenced by our values,
world viewpoints, and what we consider to be
a government responsibility
42

43. Policy Formulation
• Policy formulation where formal plans are
developed and authorities decide about
adoption
– Occurs through multi-stakeholder consultations
– May occur in various levels of government
– May be reformative or incremental
– Proposals not always enacted
43

44. Forms of Multi-stakeholder
Engagements
• Policy dialogue
• Policy research
• Consultative technical opinion and advice on
policy options
• Policy documentation
• Policy formulation
• Etc.

45. Levels of Multi-stakeholder
Engagements
• International (through international
sustainability processes)
• Regional (multi-country)
• National
• Sub-national
• Local
• Organizational

46. Implementation
• Process by which policies are carried out is
Implementation
46

47. Policy Monitoring & Evaluation
• Policy evaluation - the analysis of a policy’s results
– Measurement of program outcomes
– Sustainability analysis on impacts
• Evaluation provides feedback on policies
47

48. Caveat: On Fragmentation and
Coordination
• Separation of powers can result in a
fragmented approach to solving policy
problems
– Different interest groups may try to influence
different parts of government
• Sometimes more than one agency responds
to a problem and there needs to be
coordination across the board
48

49. Part III
Building Transformational Leadership
through Education for Sustainable
Development

50. Sustainable Consumption and Production 50
Critical Issues
 Need for clear understanding of what
sustainable development is about, and
 To create a world where everyone has
the opportunity to benefit from
quality education and learn the values,
behavior, and lifestyles required for a
sustainable future and for positive
societal transformation (Vision on ESD,
Johannesburg 2002)

51. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development, DESD (2005-2014)
Some relevant key findings, 10 years on (Ref.
“Shaping the Future We Want”, UN DESD Final
Report, UNESCO):
• Education systems are addressing
sustainability issues
• Sustainable Development agenda and
Education agenda are converging
• ESD is being integrated into formal education

52. Challenges for the Future
• Need to upscale and accelerate the gains of
the UN DESD
• Major work remains to ensure full policy
coherence between the education sector and
the sustainable development sector
• ESD is not (yet) integrated coherently across
relevant sectorial or sub-sectorial policies

53. Education/
Disciplinary
Sciences
Sustainable
Development
Sustainability
Science

54. Key Messages
• ‘Sustainability science’ is understanding the
interactions among the economic, environmental
and social dimensions of SD.
• Bridge the gap between the education and
research agenda with development agenda
• Sustainable Development entails transformation
of scientific disciplines to focus on problem
solving
• Ensuring science-policy-implementation interface

55. Traditionally
• Focus on learning the scientific discipline
• Academic or scientific disciplines are
viewed in silos
• Then look for a problem to apply

56. In the Age of
Sustainable Development
• Focus on the problem towards creating
sustainable solutions
• Academic and scientific disciplines are viewed
in interdisciplinary and holistic fashion
• All relevant sciences are invoked

57. 57
Rio +20 Commitment to Sustainable Practices of Higher Education Institutions
Higher education institution signatories commit to:
1) Teach sustainable development concepts, ensuring that they form a
part of the core curriculum across all disciplines.
2) Encourage research on sustainable development issues, to improve
scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and
technological knowledge.
3) Green their campuses by: i) reducing the environmental footprint; ii)
adopting sustainable procurement practices; iii) providing sustainable
mobility options for students and faculty; iv) adopting effective
programmes for waste minimization, recycling and reuse, and v)
encouraging more sustainable lifestyles.
4) Support sustainability efforts in the communities in which they reside.
Higher Education Sustainability Initiative
(HESI)

58. 58
Transdisciplinarity
Natural
Science
Social
Science
Engineering Practice
stakeholders
Tress et al. 2005 Landscape
Ecology 20: 479-493
Challenges for Research and Education
Transdisciplinarity and Future Earth

59. 59
• Interdisciplinary and holistic
• Values-driven
• Focused on critical thinking and problem
solving
• Multi-methodological
• Participatory in decision-making
• Locally relevant
Key Characteristics of ESD

60. 60
Domains of ESD
ESD is about learning rather than teaching and
therefore requires:
• Reforming the structure and nature of basic
education
• Reorienting existing education and research
programmes
• Developing public awareness about what
sustainability means
• Building capacity within education systems and
across all other ESD partners

61. Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD -
(Post-2014 education framework)
To mobilize education and learning to accelerate progress towards
sustainable development.
a. Reorienting education and learning so that everyone has the
opportunity to acquire the values, skills and knowledge that empower
them to contribute to sustainable development.
b. Enhancing the role of education and learning in all relevant agendas,
programmes and activities that promote sustainable development.

62. GAP Priority action areas
Advancing policy
Transforming learning and training environments
Building capacity of educators and trainers
Empowering and mobilizing youth
Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level
1
2
3
4
5

63. Education for Sustainable Development
UNU-IAS, Japan
 UNU-IAS ESD Programme contribution to
transform Higher Education
 ProSPER.Net: Promotion of Sustainability in
Postgraduate Education and Research Network
 Network of Higher Education Institutions in
Asia and the Pacific Region committed to
integrate Sustainable Development (SD) into
postgraduate courses and curricula
 Established in 2008
 Currently 37 members

64. Member institutions of ProSPER.Net
• Queensland University of Technology,
Australia
• RMIT University, Australia
• Chinese Academy of Sciences – Institute of
Applied Ecology, China
• Tongji University, China
• TERI University, India
• Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
• Universitas Andalas, Indonesia
• Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
• Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
• Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia
• Chubu University, Japan
• Hokkaido University, Japan
• Hosei University, Japan
• Iwate University, Japan
• Keio University, Japan
• Miyagi University of Education, Japan
• Nagoya University, Japan
• Okayama University, Japan
• Rikkyo University, Japan
• Shinshu University, Japan
• Tohoku University, Japan
• University of Tokyo, Japan
• Yokohama National University, Japan
• Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
• Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
• Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
• University of the Philippines, Philippines
• Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
• Nanyang Technological University- Nanyang
Environment and Water Research Institute,
Singapore
• University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
• Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
• King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi,
Thailand
• Prince of Songkla University, Thailand
• Vietnam National University- Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
• Asian Institute of Technology (Regional)
• East-West Center (Regional)
• University of South Pacific (Regional)
In total: 37 members
(As of July 2016)

66. Leadership Programme
ProSPER.Net
Mission
Transform Higher Education
Integration of
sustainability in the
curricula
Capacity Development Policy
Young Researchers’
School
Young Scientist
Award
ProSPER.Net Members
Joint Projects:
Business,
Engineering & Built
Environment,
Biodiversity, Health,
SUSTAIN and others
Joint Projects:
E-learning Programme for
Policymakers, Faculty
Training on SD, Innovative
Pedagogies in Poverty
Reduction
Higher Education
Policies for ESD and SD;
Sustainability in HE
Forum

67. 67