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. We left inspired and renewed by the breadth of SDGs work happening across the country — from biosphere regions bringing communities together to create change, to farmers developing nature-based solutions for conservation, to teenagers working to strengthen resilience and confidence among seniors.
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?
Here are a few highlights from our time at Together|Ensemble.
Turning ambition into structural change
The Honourable Bob Rae, Canada's 25th Ambassador to the United Nations gave a practical and provocative keynote: if we are serious about the SDGs, they cannot live only in strategy documents, they have to show up in budgets. When the SDGs are integrated into how governments and organizations allocate resources, the goals move from rhetoric to reality. It is easy to talk about ambition, but accountability shows up in where the money goes.
We were also inspired by a panel spotlighting local SDGs stories from across the country, most especially by the work of Engage Nova Scotia. Surveying all Nova Scotians to ask about their quality of life (one of the biggest surveys of its kind in Canada), Engage NS is able to generate a very clear picture of what Nova Scotians want prioritized to improve their lives. Using an interactive digital platform, Engage NS then works with municipal leaders across the province to share what residents value most and where the biggest impacts for change exist.
The Honorable Bob Rae delivering his keynote presentation on the Sustainable Development Goals.
A day on the land with Stoney Nakoda elders
We spent Day 2 of the conference in Kananaskis Country at the Barrier Lake Field Station, where Indigenous elders from the Stoney Nakoda hosted us for a land-based learning experience. Gathered in a teepee and out on the land, we spent the day listening to stories, learning about history, and reflecting on connection to place.
It was a powerful counterpoint to the rest of the conference. Where so much of the SDG conversation centers on systems and targets, this day grounded us in relationship, to the land, to history, and to one another. It was a reminder that meaningful progress on sustainability cannot be separated from Indigenous knowledge and the deep relationship with the land that it carries.
We left Calgary grateful for the people we met, the enormous energy towards advancing the SDGs in Canada, and a reinforced conviction that mobilizing local action for the SDGs is fundamental for their success.
Learn more and view the recordings on the Together|Ensemble conference website.
