Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) are a reporting approach used by cities around the world to assess their progress, challenges and opportunities towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). VLRs are considered an important tool for localizing the SDGs as they support cities in developing more holistic strategies and envisioning a bold and more sustainable future.
In reviewing VLRs that have been created around the world, we have identified two typical orientations that they take:
- Present-Oriented – focused on mapping and aligning City policies, strategies, and initiatives to the SDGs to understand current performance.
- Future-Oriented –focused on using the SDGs as an opportunity to identify and plan new sustainable development approaches and measure progress over time.
In Canada, all of the VLRs conducted (cities of Kelowna, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay) have been present-oriented, providing a snapshot of each city’s progress on the SDGs. The Canadian VLRs identified which Goals and targets were relevant to each city, and if and how the cities were progressing towards the Goals. While some provided recommendations for future action, the VLRs were not tied to city planning, monitoring, or strategies.
Future-oriented VLRs, on the other hand, use the SDGs as a starting point for building more sustainable and equitable cities. It is an opportunity for cities to embrace the ambitious vision of the SDGs, incorporate the principles of holistic sustainable development and operationalize the Goals for city planning. A future-oriented VLR is one way that cities can move from reporting on their progress towards taking lasting action to achieve the SDGs.
Many cities from around the world already use a future-oriented approach in their work with the SDGs, including:
- The Town of Shimokawa (Japan) used a “backcasting approach” where a desired future outcome was set and then policies and programs were forecasted to connect the present state to the desired future. Using this approach, the SDGs shaped the vision for the future and are embedded in the strategies to achieve that goal.
- The City of Malmö (Sweden) incorporated the SDGs as the “long-term orientation” of the city, embedding them in the City’s steering and management documents, as well as the City Budget.
- The City of Buenos Aires (Argentina) identified during their VLR process that there was not adequate city data on gender equality (SDG 5), which led them to develop a Gender Indicator System to measure gender gaps and build evidence-based strategies to further gender equality.
- The City of Bonn (Germany) translated the SDGs into action areas of the City’s sustainability strategy. By integrating the SDGs into municipal strategy, the SDGs are linked to operational goals, allowing for effective implementation and measurement.
With the SDGs gaining attention from city leaders as a useful tool to connect City and community efforts around shared sustainability goals, there is a strong need in Canada to make sure we focus our efforts on future-oriented outcomes. When done well, the SDGs offer a tremendous opportunity to deliver more comprehensive and coordinated City planning for the betterment of all Canadians.