This fall marks the start of a new chapter in our work to support Canadian communities and municipalities in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We’ve spent the summer planning with our partners and interviewing leading SDGs organizations and cities in Canada and around the world (learn more from our SDGs localization insights summary). We now look to the coming six to eight months to apply this work and begin taking stock of SDGs progress in our five participating communities.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Taking Stock and Planning Ahead (Fall 2025)
Starting in September, we’ll begin working with our five university teams to do a deep dive on progress already achieved towards the SDGs in our five participating municipalities. This includes exploring how current municipal policies and strategies align with the SDGs, where there are gaps and opportunities for impact, and how municipal leaders can be engaged in shaping the path forward. This work will be the foundation in developing the fuller municipal Voluntary Local Reviews in the latter part of 2026.
Hosting Community Conversations (Winter 2026)
In the early new year, we’ll be hosting in-person conversations with local community organizations and leaders to explore how the SDGs can contribute to tackling community challenges. These conversations will focus on visioning for the future, understanding the systems that support and undermine those futures, and focusing on resiliency planning to achieve those futures. We’re pleased to be supported by Brock Dickinson in these in-community engagements, a well-known thought leader and entrepreneur on how communities can best position themselves to navigate and prosper in a rapidly changing world.
Launching the Learning Community for Collective Impact (Spring 2026)
Following the in-community conversations, we’ll launch our Collective Impact Learning Community. A monthly online gathering, this learning community will be a space for collaboration for organizations from across our partner communities to come together to share ideas, form partnerships, and build initiatives rooted in the SDGs. The learning community will follow a curriculum on “collectively achieving community goals” and will explore the latest tools, resources, and research on collective action. The curriculum will be complemented by tailored community coaching sessions. We’re thrilled to be working with the Tamarack Institute as our lead partner in this work, one of the world’s leading social impact organizations and community convenors.
Strengthening Local Data (Fall 2025-Spring 2026)
Over the next eight months, we’ll also be focusing on data localization with a particular emphasis on context-based sustainability data. This means developing a deeper understanding of the sustainability thresholds in our five partner communities and the sustainability stories that current practice and performance tell. As part of this work, we’ll set up a data framework to track local SDGs progress, explore gaps in existing data and ways to fill them, and identify how City and community data can be brought together to give a clearer picture of local sustainability progress. We’re happy to be working with Randy Sa’d from REFOCUS and the Flourishing Enterprise Institute as our lead in developing these sustainability thresholds.
With a lot of great work to come, we’re excited about the months ahead and the opportunities they bring. By working together - across universities, municipalities, and communities - we can turn the big picture of the SDGs into local action and impact.
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