The Contribution of Local Agents and Citizens to Sustainable Development: The Portuguese Experience

Abstract

The achievement of the 2030 Agenda implies a shared responsibility in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Local government, in particular municipalities, is closer to citizens and, therefore, better placed to respond to the needs of each region. This study intends to explore initiatives promoted by civil society, businesses, and local organizations in the context of each municipality in Portugal to address the sustainable development goals established in the 2030 Agenda. It adopts mixed methods to quantify the impact of these initiatives in the territories and qualitatively explores the inherent characteristics associated with each project. The findings show that there are significant asymmetries in the number of projects in the Portuguese regions and that there is a moderately positive correlation between the number of projects and the municipality’s population density and GDP. It was also found that the projects focus mainly on areas such as SDG1, SDG1, SDG11, and SDG13. The projects are mainly characterized by offering platforms for collaborative work among the various stakeholders, seeking to meet the challenges of combating social exclusion, and supporting environmental education. Above all, this study offers implications for local agents to work in networks and establish synergies between projects that may lead to greater territorial coverage and contribute to reducing the socioeconomic asymmetries that exist in the country.

Local Public Administration in the Process of Implementing Sustainable Development Goals

“…Local actors can work through networks and establish synergies between projects that may broaden initiatives' coverage through civil society, businesses, and local organizations [38]. The present research found that prior studies have included university-government partnerships fostering a culture of entrepreneurial initiatives [51] and relationships between governments and non-governmental entities focusing on a coherent conceptual approach to sport and development [52].…”

“…Implementing the 2030 Agenda can only be carried out by multiple organizations' sharing the responsibility for reaching the SDGs. LPAs are closer to citizens, so they are better positioned to respond to each municipality or local community's needs [38]. Within the 2030 Agenda's framework, LPAs should implement initiatives in communities-after identifying their specific challenges and priorities-by adapting and localizing SDGs, also referred to as the operationalization of the SDGs [39].…”

How to business environment affect green innovation in small medium enterprises: Systematic literature review

“…This study involved conducting a survey among SMEs in Portugal and the UK. The survey was shared with SMEs registered with the Small Business Support Institute in both countries, and a total of 249 responses were received after removing incomplete responses [24] the understanding of the factors influencing green innovation and economic performance in small enterprises and provides insights for policymakers and organizations to support and promote green entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia [25] eco-innovation plays a crucial role in transitioning towards a more resource-efficient economy. The eco-innovation index is an important indicator of environmental innovation, research, and development, and is one of the thematic indicators in the European Union's Resource Efficiency Scoreboard [26].…”

Collective Intelligence to Co-Create the Cities of the Future: Proposal of an Evaluation Tool for Citizen Initiatives

“…Today's cities require a change in urban planning to address the complex relationships between citizens' interests and needs, urban transformations, environmental degradation, urban policies, and economic interests in a sustainable approach [1]. Social innovation is one of the pillars of sustainability that is becoming increasingly important as one of the dimensions that merit a multidisciplinary and transversal approach [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], where the active participation of citizens is required not only as recipients [10] but also as co-creators of their reality. In this sense, a series of mechanisms and strategies have emerged that seek to involve citizens in decision-making processes in the city, such as participatory budgets, urban centres, living labs [11,12], and innovation centres, in which synergies are created between civil society, public administration, academia, and companies [13] to seek solutions to social challenges; these strategies and platforms are usually guided by public administration.…”