Sustainable Development Goal 11
Developing the introduction
Overall Aim of Sustainable Development Goal 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 11 aims to renew and plan cities and other human settlements in a way that offers opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and green public spaces, while reducing resource use and environmental impact. The SDG 11 is to “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. The targets of SDG 11 include investment in public transport, creating green public spaces, and improving urban planning and management in participatory and inclusive ways.
SDG 11 has 10 targets:
Target 11.1: Safe and affordable housing
Target 11.2: Affordable and sustainable transport systems
Target 11.3: Inclusive and sustainable urbanization
Target 11.4: Protect the world’s cultural and natural heritage
Target 11.5: Reduce the adverse effects of natural disasters
Target 11.6: Reduce the environmental impacts of cities
Target 11.7: Provide access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces
Target 11.a: Strong national and regional development planning
Target 11.b: Implement policies for inclusion, resource efficiency and disaster risk reduction
Target 11.c: Support least developed countries in sustainable and resilient building
SDG 11 has 10 targets to be achieved, and this is being measured with 15 indicators. The seven “outcome targets” include safe and affordable housing, affordable and sustainable transport systems, inclusive and sustainable urbanization, protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage, reduction of the adverse effects of natural disasters, reduction of the environmental impacts of cities and to provide access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces. The three “means of achieving” targets include strong national and regional development planning, implementing policies for inclusion, resource efficiency, and disaster risk reduction in supporting the least developed countries in sustainable and resilient building.
Why is it important for educational community?
SDG 11 aims to promote inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. This goal is all about managing urban development. Well-managed cities can be hubs of innovation and prosperity. Identify and address basic physical, social and psychological human needs in relation to human settlements such as cities and towns.
SDG 11 is important for the educational community because it helps students apply basic principles of sustainable planning and building, and to identify opportunities to make their community more sustainable and inclusive.
Teaching SDG 11 can reflect on the role of local decision-makers and participatory governance and how to represent a sustainable voice in planning and policy for their community.
It can help students engage with community groups and local planning systems for sustainable future visions for their community. It can also help students plan, implement, and evaluate inclusive community-based sustainable projects.
Key dimensions of Sustainable Development 11 Sustainable cities and communities
Disaster risk reduction is an integral part of social and economic development and is essential if development is to be sustainable for the future. This has been recognized by several global documents on disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes and reaffirms the urgent need to reduce the risk of disasters. In addition to direct references to the outcomes of the Third UN Conference on disaster risk reduction (Sendai Framework), there are specific opportunities to achieve reducing disaster risk. For example, by reducing exposure and vulnerability of the poor to disasters or building resilient infrastructure. There are also several targets that can contribute to reducing disaster risk and building resilience, even where disaster risk reduction is not explicit. Targets related to promoting education for sustainable development under SDG# 4, such as building and upgrading education facilities and ensuring healthy lives, as well as targets under SDG #11 (cities) and under SDG #9 (building resilient infrastructure) reaffirm the interrelationship between disaster risk reduction and sustainable development, amongst others can be cited.
Disaster risk reduction is an integral part of social and economic development and is essential if development is to be sustainable for the future. This has been recognized by several global documents on disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes and reaffirms the urgent need to reduce the risk of disasters. In addition to direct references to the outcomes of the Third UN Conference on disaster risk reduction (Sendai Framework), there are specific opportunities to achieve reducing disaster risk. For example, by reducing exposure and vulnerability of the poor to disasters or building resilient infrastructure. There are also several targets that can contribute to reducing disaster risk and building resilience, even where disaster risk reduction is not explicit. Targets related to promoting education for sustainable development under SDG# 4, such as building and upgrading education facilities and ensuring healthy lives, as well as targets under SDG #11 (cities) and under SDG #9 (building resilient infrastructure) reaffirm the interrelationship between disaster risk reduction and sustainable development, amongst others can be cited.
The role of transport in sustainable development was first recognized at the 1992 United Nation’s Earth Summit and reinforced in its outcome document – Agenda 21. In undertaking the five-year review of the implementation of Agenda 21 during its nineteenth Special Session in 1997, the UN General Assembly further noted that, over the next twenty years, transportation would be expected to be the major driving force behind a growing world demand for energy. The global attention to transport has continued in recent years. Sustainable transportation can enhance economic growth and improve accessibility. Sustainable transport achieves better integration of the economy while respecting the environment, improving social equity, health, resilience of cities, urban-rural linkages and productivity of rural areas. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sustainable transport is mainstreamed across several SDGs and targets, especially those related to food security, health, energy, economic growth, infrastructure, and cities and human settlements. Human settlements-Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social, human and economic development. Urban planning, transport systems, water, sanitation, waste management, disaster risk reduction, access to information, education and capacity-building are all relevant issues to sustainable urban development. In 2008, for the first time in history, the global urban population outnumbered the rural population. This milestone marked the advent of a new ‘urban millennium’ and, by 2050, it is expected that two-thirds of the world population will be living in urban areas. With more than half of humankind living in cities and the number of urban residents growing by nearly 73 million every year it is estimated that urban areas account for 70 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product and has therefore generated economic growth and prosperity for many. Sustainable human settlements development was also discussed at the second and third sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development. “Promoting sustainable human settlements development” is the subject of Chapter 7 of Agenda 21, which calls for 1) providing adequate shelter for all; 2) improving human settlements management; 3) promoting sustainable land-use planning and management; 4) promoting the integrated provision of environmental infrastructure: water, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management; 5) promoting sustainable energy and transport systems in human settlements; 6) promoting human settlements planning and management in disaster-prone areas; 7) promoting sustainable construction industry activities; and 8) promoting human resource development and capacity-building for human settlements development.
The interplay between Sustainable Development Goal 11 Sustainable cities and communities and the acquisition of 21st century skills
Soft skills are essential for modern-day life and the workplace. Therefore, teaching 21st-century skills to students is as important as teaching content. We have to be adaptable, we have to be creative, we have to be tech-literate and we have to be problem-solvers. We need those skills because the world is always evolving, and it’s doing so at a rapid pace. There is an enormous amount of information out there at our disposal. Back in the days, we didn’t “Google” anything. If we needed a question answered we had to track down an encyclopedia or visit a library. It made a little more sense at the time to memorize information. It was useful occasionally.
Now we have access to information literally anytime, anywhere. What is relevant now is being able to navigate the plethora of information out there; it is being able to locate, organize, and make use of credible and accurate information. Problem-solving is an important skill in itself, but being able to apply problem-solving skills to real-world issues and scenarios is critical. Students need to be able to exit the classroom, get into their careers, have and raise children, navigate relationships, recognize when they’re being taken advantage of, resolve conflict in the workplace, etc. without you there holding their hands. They need to be able to take those problem-solving skills that they were taught within the confines of the context of your classroom and apply them to real problems that surface in their lives, and yes, there will be many. Twenty-first century skill-building opportunities help students build character. It is important as collaborative and social beings that children have empathy, compassion, are ethical, have integrity, work well with others, and so much more.