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Grand Challenges

Grand challenges are usually defined as “technically complex societal problems that have stubbornly defied solutions” (Branscomb, 2009). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus on those grand challenges faced by individuals around the world. Many grand challenge scholars consider technology to be the answer to many of these complex problems. My project focuses on Goal 16: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions”, and while it may not initially seem to be a problem with a technological solution, my project will argue otherwise. When I first heard of the idea of “Grand Challenges” I immediately connected it to the idea of “wicked problems”. I thought when we first covered them in class and I still think now that noting similarities between grand challenges and wicked problems equip an individual better to solve either.

An overly simple definition of a wicked problem is some issue that resists a definitive solution because any policy applied to the problem does harm as well as good. Instead, wicked problems must be addressed through incremental policies that improve the status quo by doing more harm than good. Horst Rittel was one of the first scholars to formalize a general theory of wicked problems and his definition focuses on several characteristics of these social issues. First, wicked problems have no one cause. For example, the problem of poverty in an Iranian city is simultaneously similar and fundamentally different from poverty in the Chinese countryside. Second, wicked problems can be only comparatively good or bad, not objectively successful. There is no ideal end to reach, and so approaches to wicked problems should be clear ways to improve a situation rather than solve it. We can make the world more just, but we cannot solve injustice. Countries around the world have different perspectives on the death penalty and for some, its continued us is unjust. For others, its use is necessary for true justice.

Rittel lists inequality and political instability explicitly as examples of wicked problems. International and domestic policy makers can play a central role in mitigating the negative consequences of wicked problems and the SDGs have promise for positioning the broad trajectory of culture in new and more desirable directions. We all have to keep in mind however that no solution in any of these projects are easy, quick, or individually sufficient.

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The Digital Divide

The concept of a digital divide is the unequal access to information and communicative technologies (ICT’s) based on economic or social factors. Digital divides can manifest in many ways and for many reasons. For some their access to ICT’s is limited due to the lack of infrastructure that supports it. If the government cannot put in place the necessary infrastructure to support internet connection or even phone lines it is incredibly difficult for citizens to find ways to access these opportunities without traveling long distances. This issue is one that I have run across in my project about the arctic indigenous people. Many of the arctic groups live in extraordinarily remote areas in the cold north that their respective states have not spent any time developing. They have limited access to resources in general but almost no access to internet connections. This makes communication across long distances difficulty and isolates them even further. We live in a digital age where information on current events and political processes can mostly be accessed digitally. In order to stay connected to the modern world and current events indigenous groups need to be afforded the same access to ICT’s in order to develop at the same rate.

 

The Digital divide may also result from economic factors. While the government may not be able to afford the infrastructure to increase access to technology, the people themselves may be excluded from ICT’s based on economic inequalities. Even among developed states there are many people who cannot afford a home computer or to pay companies for internet access. They are forced to use public means to access technology in the same way as others whether through the public library, at school, or more.

 

One of the central issues with the Digital Divide is the general ideology surrounding technology. For many years technology has been treated as a luxury, something that one should only have if they have the disposable income. Technology connects us to our entertainment and other leisure activities. But technological innovation in recent decades has made technology essential to surviving in our society. People cannot continue to treat technology as something only for the privileged. ICT’s must be spread to people of all statuses if we are ever to be on equal footing. As long as the privileged continue to have greater access to resources that make them money, they will continue to get richer. Meanwhile the developing world will be left still struggling to access technology in a post-industrialized world and be unable to advance. These disparities need to be reduced as quickly as possible and through global partnerships. The Maitland Commission Report advocates for integrating technology into developing communities at affordable rates. More global partnerships are springing up to ensure equal access to ICT’s for all.

 

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ICT’s and Sustainable Development

Information and Communicative Technologies (ICT’s) play a crucial role in sustainable development. ICT’s allow the quick and efficient spread of information across wide distances. They let people participate and collaborate on projects that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Part of developing sustainably is finding new ideas and insights that no one has yet considered to be a solution. If not everyone can participate in the creation of solutions, there are thousands of human resources with knowledge, insights, and ideas that are being lost. From a very realist perspective, it is a loss of human capital that could theoretically be used to improve civilization. In additions, ICT’s ensure that information about governments and policies is available to all people and can be accessed easily. This bolsters transparency and breaks down walls that divide people from their governments. Part of sustainable development is political freedom. If the people are disconnected from the people and institutions that govern them, how will society develop at all? If one applies this to disability inclusive development, participation can be a major problem for those with disabilities. For example, a family friend of mine is a quadriplegic who has no motor control below the neck. One would think that accessing systems of governance would be nearly impossible for him. However due to his expertise in computers and privilege to access technologies he has been a member of my town council for over 10 years. ICT investment leads to online translators, screenreaders, training seminars, and much more.  ICT’s also keep the outside world updated on developments in sustainability for a particular country. ICT’s allow everyday citizens to judge the progress of a state and keep them motivated towards progress.

 

ICT’s work very well when applied to the Sustainable Development Goals. There is a strong connection between goal #4 quality education and information technology. Schools are starting to integrate online learning and technological innovations into education at all levels. While the integration of ICT’s is evident at a secondary level, given the nature of this class, I believe integration of ICT’s at a primary level deserves more attention. Primary education, particularly in the Western world, is very standardized in order to measure the progress of all children at an even level. However, this standardization excludes young students who aren’t able to fit this model and very brilliant students are left behind. In less developed states students may not have the access to the resources and knowledge to educate themselves as much as they’d like. ICT’s can aid in giving all students the same access to educational resources, no matter where they reside or if they have a disability. ICT’s also aid in Goal #9, developing industry, innovation, and infrastructure. ICT’s increase the flow of information across borders and distances. This allows industries to reach new areas and economic opportunities they may not have had access to previously.  Meanwhile, ICT’s challenge people to make new technologies and innovations that will benefit the world in the future. Lastly, ICT’s aid in reducing inequalities, Goal #10. Disparities in technological access prevent many developing communities from using the same resources to build socially and economically. The Maitland Commission Report and the World Summit on the Information Society both advocate for integrating technology into developing communities at affordable rates. Technology is expensive but it would be unjust to prevent whole groups of people from accessing these technologies simply because they do not have the wealth to do so. A global effort to create strategies and policies that place infrastructure for technological development is integral to sustainable development.

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The SDGs/HLPF

The SDGs/HLPF by Ines Renique

The sustainable development agenda was set with the UN Millennium Development Goals, and has now been updated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2030 agenda simply puts it as the importance of: People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnerships and Peace. Undoubtedly, these goals seem rather broad and high reaching. However, each goal has a subsection that better and more concretely details the broad terminology.

The High-Level Political Forum is called to session to discuss specific SDGs, and when the forum convenes next year the subject of the meeting will be “eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. In this case, the focus goals are: Goal 1 (end poverty), Goal 2 (zero hunger), Goal 3 (good health and well-being), Goal 5 (gender equality), Goal 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and Goal 14 (life below water).

Furthermore, the United Nations says that the HLPF is the “most inclusive and participatory forum at the United Nations”. I think that the HLPF will be a effective reminder to major stakeholders and key players, that the SDG’s need to be continuously worked on. Moreover, the broadness of the theme for the forum allows for greater dialogue on other sustainable development issues between the state representatives. The HLPF will meet annually for eight days under ECOSOC (The United Nations Economic and Social Council) and at a high level every four years under UNGA.

It is also important to note that the SDGs have been far more inclusive than the MDGs were. More groups are represented in the goals, and everyone can identify reflected in their own communities at least some aspect of the 17 goals discuss.

What also needs to be discussed, is the monitoring of how states are working towards the SDGs. While IGOs and NGOs are fundamental in the monitoring of successes and failures, it is also imperative that states themselves partake in this monitoring. There needs to be commitment from states and organizations but these entities also need to be held accountable.

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Inclusive Education

Inclusive Education by Ines Renique

As the “ Let Girls Learn” initiative led by the First Lady Michelle Obama and USAID has disseminated, there at currently 62 million girls across the world who are not in school. Without educating such a vast percentage of the population, how can any village, community, or nation ever develop further? Education is the key to success, and without knowing any better, or without knowing about what other women are doing and are capable of doing, how can young girls ever even think of doing something themselves? For many regions in the world, educating women is seen as a waste of time. If a woman is illiterate and told to keep quiet, how will she ever be able to have a positive influence on development? Malala Yousafzai is a perfect example of the need for sustainable education, as she continues to make positive change on her country, or at least to raise awareness as a role model. Development cannot progress without women coming up with solutions and ideas for future betterment right alongside men.

At the MEDD conference, I met Andrew Lange, (Fulbright- Clinton Fellow) who presented on  Inclusive Education and Employment Policies for Persons with Disabilities in Peru and APEC Member Economies.

He shared the unfortunately reality in Peru is a “segregated special education” model for children with disabilities. Forcing children to adapt to the classroom, rather than a classroom adapting to students.Some forms of integrated education, but the public school system classroom is far from inclusive.

But there are some organizations in the world of guaranteeing disability inclusive education. CEBE (Centros de Educacion Basica Especial) for example, which attends to youth with severe intellectual disabilities or those with multiple disabilities from 2-20 years old.

Moreover, Lange is making strides as he continues to develop a demand-driven employment model using the latest national household survey on disability to identify a town or community in Peru with a high prevalence of people with disabilities. With this data he can then target the community for his sustainable education projects.

CRPD’s Article 24 is entirely centered on education and the right to education that those with disabilities have. As outlined in Section 2. B: “Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live”.  And this basic right needs to be guaranteed. 

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Development Theory and Actors

  What is Development? Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches by Ines Renique 

It is fascinating to look at all of the interpretations of development and how each theory can be applied in the short and long run. Some of these theories have been around for years and are still used as a point of reference today. Such as Freire’s, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Freire highlights the importance of education. He says transformation comes from work, and that work comes from education. These are the true routes to development, more so than throwing money at whatever situation. Merely handing over cash aid to other governments, does not guarantee anything. I think that years after publishing, this is a theory that still holds.

Development is very closely associated to economics as well. And while I know that undoubtedly economic factors are fundamental when analyzing development, I tend to agree with Amartya Sen when he focuses on freedom being the primary factor in whether or not a nation continues to develop.

Sen argues that people are at the core of development. The members of society are not a passive audience member when it comes to the development of their nation. As said in Sen’s own words: “Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency. The removal of substantial unfreedoms, it is argued here, is constitutive of development.”

This is not to say that Sen disregards organizations and governments as key to development. But he does highlight the importance of inclusion and of representation more than anything. That stakeholder groups be represented on a greater platform, giving them the freedom to make whatever decisions and changes it is they want to be made.

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Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), known officially as “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” are a series of seventeen goals developed by the United Nations. The extreme disparity between developed nations and underdeveloped nations is growing as the world becomes more globalized. Naturally underdeveloped nations want the same opportunities to industrialize and develop as the richer countries had. But the prosperous countries industrialized and developed by doing significant damage to the environment and perpetuating systems of injustice. The SDG’s are designed to help developing nations do so in a manner where they do not compromise the environment or human rights and to ensure that already developed nations can continue to develop but in a more sustainable manner.

The goals outline a concrete plan for the participating countries and provide targets for them to aim for and meet by the year 2030. The goals arose out of the previous plan the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) which terminated in 2015. The MDG’s were largely unsuccessful and member states failed to meet these goals. The SDG’s provided a more in depth plan and provided specific targets for states to meet and indicators by which to measure their progress. The SDG’s take a  multidisciplinary approach to sustainable development. Instead of focusing solely on environmental and health issues as in previous years, the SDG’s broadened their reach. Sustainable development means focusing on economic, political, and social issues as well.

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is a forum conducted by the United Nations General Assembly every four years. The HLPF took this role in 2013, after they were created at Rio+20. The upcoming HLPF in 2017 will focus on the theme of “eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity.” It will incorporate the SDG’s and use them to strengthen their work as well as aid them in implementing new procedures. One of these procedures is national voluntary reviews (NVR) where member states release their progress on inclusive development as public knowledge. This is designed to increase transparency and help states learn from one another’s successes and failures.

Sustainable development is a process that requires multiple disciplines and actors to come together and create stronger and more effective policy. Without collaboration and cooperation nothing will get done. The SDG’s and HLPF are processes that link multiple actors on a global scale and ensure that these actors have the same resources to make change.

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Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda

Habitat III is the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. The conference took place in Quito in October and as the name suggests, it is the third meeting on this subject. The conference meets every twenty years to discuss how to improve sustainable urban development on a global level. The main outcome of Habitat III was the adoption of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The NUA was developed in an effort to refocus efforts on urban sustainability. The population of people living in cities is expected to double by the year 2050 and this will have dramatic impacts on the economy, political society, the climate, and much more. The NUA is designed to provide new ways for nations to design and manage cities to better address these impacts and reduce their negative effects. Urban development is essential to reducing poverty and addressing issues of health, education, food/water security. For a variety of reasons, urbanization impacts the world in major ways both positively and negatively. If neglected cities can become centers of crime, disease, and poverty. But if governments play an active role in engaging with their cities and creating institutions that redirect the resources of the city then they can be major sources of new ideas in science and technology, culture, and economic havens.

 

While studying abroad in Copenhagen this past semester I had the opportunity to learn about sustainable cities and visited a variety of European cities to learn more about their functioning and about the idea of a smart city. Smart cities are designed to meet people’s needs through technological innovation. They create self-sustaining systems that make urban life easier and more affordable for the average citizen. A primary example of this is transportation.  A well designed transportation system allows people to get to work/school/etc on time without clogging up the city and creating unnecessary waste. An appealing transportation system brings more people into the city, which means more money for the city as a whole. Designing transportation to be responsive to people’s needs can create an entirely new culture in a city.

 

We learned about housing designed to maximize comfort and enjoyment while still providing housing for as many people as possible at an affordable rate. Most cities develop in limited spaces and as result natural areas are destroyed to make room for further housing or industry. But green spaces can be highly beneficial for urban life and the community. Parks and other green spaces create areas for people to socialize and meet and can foster new ideas while benefiting the environment. But doing all of these wonderful things to improve quality of life in a city creates another major problem: gentrification can push people out. As quality of living rises, so does the cost of living. Lower income families are forced to leave these spaces and rather than fixing problems of income, education, and health the problems are just pushed somewhere else. Addressing these issues means fixing the underlying causes, not just the surface ones. Therefore, the NUA must address the economic and political issues that lead to poverty while simultaneously improving quality of life in cities.

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ICTs and Sustainable Development

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are of growing importance for countries and their sustainable development, largely for their efficient and extensive capabilities in spreading information. Moreover, development, as Amartya Sen describes it, encompasses the differences in what people can and can’t do and the freedoms they have and those they lack. Initially ICTs included mostly telecommunications, but as technologies progressed the term grew to include computers, e-mail, and internet. ICTs continue to widen as even newer technologies are created and shared among the masses. The overall goal of US telecommunications policy was to provide “universal service” so that all American have affordable access to telecommunications. The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, focused on information and communication technologies (ICTs). The Maitland Commission, chaired by Donald Maitland and sponsored by the ITU, was assigned the task of determining and overcoming obstacles impeding the expansion of global telecommunications. In 1985, the Maitland Commission’s Report illustrated a direct correlation between a country’s economic growth and its access to telecommunication infrastructure. The report revealed there were huge imbalances between developed and developing countries’ access to telephones and communication infrastructure. This gap in access to telecommunications became known as the “missing link.”

Access to ICTs naturally expands freedoms and possibilities for others and thus also the potential for development. Consequently, ICTs are a crucial aspect for the fulfillment of international development initiatives. One example of a framework extremely reliant on and devoted to the efficient use of ICTs, is the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). WSIS was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2001, as a two phase conference devoted to support further development of information society through the efficient use of ICTs. The first phase of WSIS took place in Geneva in 2003, and established the foundations for an “Information Society for all.” The second phase was held in Tunis in 2005, to implement Geneva’s Plan of Action and to determine solutions and arrangements in the fields of internet governance and financing mechanisms (WSIS Declaration). The ITU acted as the major leader  throughout the process. Then in 2014, WSIS+10 was hosted in Geneva as an extended version of the WSIS Forums. The purpose of this high-level meeting was to review the progress of WSIS mandates, address subsequent gaps and challenges, and plan for how to proceed beyond 2015 (when the MDGs expired). ICTs are also a key factor in achieving each of the SDGs as they are necessary in recording, monitoring, and sharing the progress and challenges of each indicator, target, and goal. For example, with rapidly advancing technologies and endless digital networks and resources, ICTs have great potential in producing quality education (SDG #4). Industrialization and innovation (SDG #9) are also highly dependent on ICTs as they enable enhanced collaboration, productivity, and infrastructure systems.

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Development Theories

 

After reading the work of my peers, it seems we all agree that “development” is a vague term mired in nuances. I face the complexity of this term each time I mention to someone that I study international development – to which the reply goes something like, “What does that mean?” This experience is one that I know many of my classmates encounter. Development is nothing short of complex. It is approached from a wide range of perspectives, and covers a myriad of topics in a plethora of countries. I will cease to emphasize its ambiguity here. Nevertheless, a topic of this breadth has naturally crossed the minds of many intellectuals who have all asked themselves that crucial question: what is development?

The most comprehendible theory to begin to answer this question is suggested in the book Why Nations Fail. Acemoglu and Robinson, the authors of this work, suggest that development is defined by economic prosperity, or lack thereof. Furthermore, they propose that economic prosperity depends on how inclusive a country’s institutions are (91), and that inclusive institutions are necessary for economic prosperity because they provide incentives and reward talents and creativity (76). These authors link economic growth and technological improvement to development. What is more, they claim that political inclusion and the enabling of the public to innovate is a crucial element of development.

This leads to the next key author in the development field – which many of my classmates have already addressed: Amartya Sen. In his book Development as Freedom, Sen articulates the unique perspective that freedom is defined as access to choices and expanded capabilities and that development is an expansion of freedom. Looking at the field of development through Sen’s capabilities approach dramatically affects related policies and outcomes. His definition of development and emphasis on increasing access to choices related to the point that Acemoglu and Robinson make about inclusive political institutions leading to more development. While these authors define development in a different way, they seem to agree with Sen regarding the means to develop through empowering more people to participate by giving them more options and more avenues for participation.

It is also interesting to mention a couple development theories that we didn’t discuss in class, such as dependency theory and modernization theory. While not widely referenced in modern literature, these two theories contextualize modern concepts of development by providing incite to how the topic was viewed in the late 1900s. First, dependency theory was developed by Raul Prebisch and asserts that economic growth occurs at a faster pace in industrialized, advanced countries than in poorer countries. According to Prebisch, this creates a disproportionate relationship that puts industrialized countries economically so far ahead of non-industrialized countries that they can rarely ever close the gap in development. The disproportionate relationship, Prebisch would argue, makes non-industrialized countries dependent on industrialized ones. Modernization theory is the next model to discuss. The main point of this theory is that the Western world has influenced ad to some extent guided the direction of development when we started searching for colonies.