Collaborating for Sustainability: SDSN Ireland's Role in Advancing the SDGs through Cross-Sector Partnerships

Authors:  John Barimo, David Donoghue, Michael Alcorn, Brian O’Gallachoir, Patrick Paul Walsh, Sara Lynch and Maria Kirrane

Organisations:  SDSN Ireland and University College Cork

SDSN Ireland fosters cross-sector partnerships to create practical solutions for social, economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability. Our vision is to accelerate progress toward the SDGs and a sustainable future through all-island collaboration. Our mission is to promote solutions-oriented approaches among knowledge institutions to advance the 2030 Agenda and The Paris Agreement through engaged research, education, and engagement at local, regional, and global levels.  SDSN Ireland in comprised of 16 member institutions co-hosted by University College Cork and Queen’s University Belfast.

Three key thematic groups focusing on actionable, solutions-driven initiatives:
1. Arts and Sustainability: This group highlights the role of the arts and humanities in communicating sustainability challenges, inspiring new language and creative, non-linear problem-solving. An example of this is the Reach '24 Sustainability in the Arts Festival, co-organized with Queen’s University Belfast.
2. Research and Policy Interface: Bridging the gap between research and policy, this group enhances collaboration to transfer scientific evidence into actionable policy, focusing on case studies and successes in SDG-related policies.
3. Education for Sustainable Development: Aiming to scale and innovate learning initiatives, this group enhances the effectiveness of education for sustainability.

SDSN Ireland is collaborating with the Irish Department of Environment, Climate and Communication on SDG localization projects and supports the development of all-island SDG indicators. SDSN Ireland is also part of a global network of 57 national and regional networks working under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General