Originally posted on 14/11/2017
With Sustainable development is meant a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Are you interested in this matter? Keep on reading this blog to know more!
"Sustainable Development" is a course that all the Water Management and Civil Engineering students will follow during the first year. This course will go into more depth on what sustainable development is, but most importantly why it is important.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
In order to reach a sustainable society, the 25th of September 2015, the United Nations set the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)": a list of 17 goals with 169 targets among them, for the 193 member states in a non-binding resolution with the due date of 2030.
The goals are the main topics and standards to be reached while the targets are the different components of a single goal: the list of items that have to be achieved to successfully get to the goal. In other words the goal is the final result, while the targets are the steps to get there.
The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 set by the UN in 2015
Amongst the 17 goals, two are water related:
- Goal number six: Clean Water and Sanitation – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
- Goal number fourteen: Life below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
As a future Water Manager or Civil Engineer it is very important to look at how the society is developing in the water field and what the requirements for a society are, that has to find a way to cope with climate change, decreasing drinking water availability and habitat loss.
Goal number 6: clean water and sanitation for all.
This goal has eight different targets that aim to bring an adequate access to water and sanitation, reduce pollution by minimizing the impacts on the water cycle. Without achieving this goal it is not possible for many communities or developing countries to reach the other SD goals. It is in fact impossible to achieve a “good health and well being” (goal number three) or to have “Sustainable Cities and Communities” (goal number eleven) if there is no clean water and sanitation guaranteed.
Even if this goal is really important it is actually quite unlikely that it is realised within the due date (2030), it seems to be too ambitious and not realistic. This being said, every step towards its satisfaction is an importan and relevant one.
Goal number 14: life below water.
This goal is also really important, mostly for Water Managers but also for Civil Engineers. It has ten targets that aim to the reduction of marine pollution, to an increasing resilience of marine environments and to the reduction of ocean acidification. Some other targets,relevant for the life below the water, are set in relation with fisheries (e.g. trying to regulate harvesting in order to restore fish stocks) and the legislations in this field.
If you want to know more about the other Sustainable Development goals, I highly recommend to check the United Nations' website. If you are more interested in what you can do to get involved and take action, look at this list of action that you could take!