News

Last week we hosted our webinar “AI and the SDGs: Promise, Challenge, and Community Impact.” We invited three fantastic speakers to share their insights on how artificial intelligence (AI) needs to be developed to keep social good and advancing community goals as a top priority. 

As education, health services, and employment are increasingly integrating AI systems, unequal digital access will translate into unequal access to basic life opportunities. The promise of AI is very real, but without intentional investments, the perils threaten our progress every step along the way.

From advancing health and education to strengthening climate resilience and food security, AI holds real promise for accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. But that promise comes with hard questions about equity, energy use, data governance, and who ultimately benefits. Join us for a webinar on September 23 for a conversation on the technical realities of how AI systems are built and how they can be put to work to advance community goals here in Canada and beyond.

In April, we launched a Community of Practice on Collective Impact and the Sustainable Development Goals which provides an opportunity for members to come together regularly to learn new skills for multisector collaboration and to strengthen networks with changemakers across the country.

When we talk about “collaboration”, it is often about sharing information, networking, and working together on specific projects or activities. Collective Impact offers an enhanced approach that focuses on building intentional, integrated coordination between partners by aligning work, building long-term relationships, and sharing resources towards long-term change.

This past spring, we travelled to our five partner communities across Canada — Halifax (NS), Kingston (ON), Kitchener (ON), the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (BC), and Yorkton (SK) to connect with community members and municipal leaders on their work with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In each community we wanted to understand if people were aware of the SDGs, how they were being used, and if they were generally considered useful.

What a week it was at the United Nations for our Local Futures team! We’re home from the 2026 High Level Political Forum, energized by the effort and momentum to advance the SDGs all around the world.

With less than four years to go in the SDGs mandate, there was a strong message throughout HLPF that we must focus on the implementation of the SDGs.

We are excited to be joining the Canadian delegation to the United Nations next week for the annual global SDGs check-in conference, the High Level Political Forum (HLPF). 

With time running short for the SDGs agenda (ending in 2030), it’s clear the world still has a long way to go. No country in the world is on track to achieve them and progress has been far too slow. Yet there is a lot to remain hopeful for.

In May, we joined delegates from across the country at the University of Calgary for Together|Ensemble, Canada's leading conference on the Sustainable Development Goals. This year's theme “Mobilizing Local Action for Global Impact” kept the conversation returning to one question: how do we localize SDG action so that what happens in our communities adds up to lasting global change?

Our understanding of sustainability performance can change dramatically when we look more widely at the thresholds of our local sustainability systems. This approach using thresholds in sustainability measurement is known as context-based sustainability. We are very pleased to be partnering with Randy Sa’d to use a CBS approach in the Local Futures project.

We are thrilled to join this May in Calgary for the Together|Ensemble conference, Canada’s leading conference for collaborating and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

We are excited to be launching a new Community of Practice on Collective Impact and the Sustainable Development Goals. This community will be a space for Canadian changemakers to come together to share experiences and build skills towards creating a more collaborative Canada.