In our education we are using teaching cases, assignments and videos to highlight the issues as well as the business challenges posed by the SDGs, and confront students with the complexities of working with the SDGs. Here we share these materials per SDG, showcasing material that is most directly relevant.
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals is all about strengthening the partnerships that will help to take us towards all 17 of the Global Goals. It looks forward to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Perhaps it has the most overarching relevance because the SDGs, by definition, address the world’s wicked problems that cannot be solved through just one approach or one sector. It brings together public and private sectors as well as international civil society.
Dealing with the complex and multifaceted SDGs goes beyond the abilities of single organisations or sectors.
Marieke de Wal - Managing director of the Partnership Resource Center at RSM, Erasmus University
Master student Charles Menard (MScBA Master in Management 2019) presents the importance of successful public-private partnerships for sustainable development. Is this how large corporations, national states, NGOs and civil society can work together to uphold higher standards that deliver the SDGs?
Marieke de Wal is managing director of RSM’s Partnerships Resource Centre for research into collaborations for sustainable and inclusive development. She presents the theoretical framework for successful public-private partnerships, highlighting the importance of knowledge-sharing and trust. They are complex relationships, but highly relevant for achieving the Goals.
Ricardo Bosshard is director of the World Wildlife Fund in Chile. Here, he describes his experience of the partnership between WWF and Rabobank that developed a way to sustainably farm salmon in Chile. It’s a great example of the requirements for successful partnerships between private sector organisations and an NGO.
Want to start applying your knowledge? Here are easy tips related to SDG 17:
- Partner with organizations from other countries that fight for similar goals.
- Encourage out-of-classroom teamwork, in local communities and businesses.
- Identify synergies between your organization and public sector goals.
Want to do more? Here are the Good Life Goals.
RSM has developed a case series addressing the Sustainable development goals, which contains at least one case that specifically touches upon one of the 17 SDGs.
Cases with a primary focus on SDG 17:
- Rabobank and WWF (A): A Pioneering Partnership for Sustainable Salmon Farming
- Rabobank and WWF (B): Partnering Dynamics behind the Scenes
You might also be interested in:
- Business and the Sustainable Development Goals – a framework for effective corporate involvement, a short book by Prof. Rob van Tulder.
- UN Ambassador Emma Watson makes an appeal: the SDGs need your creative superpowers (animation).
- An article by Prof. Muel Kaptein on developments in business ethics during the COVID lockdown.
Explore all SDGs
SDG cases
The SDG teaching cases of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, explore the complexity of sustainable development.
Positive Change
Learn more about RSM's mission to be a force for positive change in the world
