Dissertation Defense by David Collste

David Collste will defend his dissertation “The Indivisible 2030 Agenda: Systems analysis for sustainability” at the Stockholm University and University of Clermont Auvergne. The presentation is open to the public.

Abstract:
In 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda with 17 global sustainable development goals (SDGs) to shift the world onto a sustain-able path. By referring to the SDGs as indivisible, the Agenda emphasis-es the interdependence of social and ecological concerns. But what does it mean that the goals are interdependent and how is indivisibility to be handled in research and implementation?

In this dissertation, I investigate how models and participatory methods grounded in systems thinking can be used to facilitate the understanding and realisation of the 2030 Agenda. The dissertation explores and exam-ines: (a) how system dynamics models can be used to represent integrated goals and their synergies at multiple levels, (b) how human well-being can be more inclusively integrated into systems models, and (c) how systems approaches can help to bridge local aspirations to global sus-tainability goals, incorporating multiple values and worldviews in the operationalisation of the Agenda.

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