An interactive tool to explore the Sustainable Development Goals in Galápagos
40 targets from the UN Sustainable Development Goals were prioritised and adapted in participatory workshops in 2021, and the interactions between them were analysed. This network shows the results of those workshops and provides an interactive way to explore these priorities and their synergies.
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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. They are made up of 17 goals which promote peace and prosperity for all people, protection of the planet, and partnerships to achieve these aims. The goals consist of a total of 169 targets, all of which are designed to be achieved across the globe by 2030. Each target has 1-3 indicators to enable progress to be tracked.

SDGs in Galápagos

In 2018, Galápagos was formally selected by the Government of Ecuador as the first province to work towards achieving the SDGs. Shortly afterwards, a participatory project was run by Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, Grupo Faro and Fundación Un Cambio por la Vida (FUNCAVID), in collaboration with the Governing Council of the Galápagos Special Regime (CGREG). In this, multiple stakeholders analysed the 17 SDGs in the context of Galápagos and identified priority goals, with topics including education, clean water and conservation. Separately, in early 2021, the Galápagos 2030 Plan was approved, detailing a development plan for the islands, with a focus on sustainable development, environmental stewardship, and well-being.

Prioritisation of the 40 targets

In 2019, following the completion of the first stage of SDG prioritisation, CGREG, led at the time by Dr Norman Wray, requested the collaboration of the University of Cambridge in continuing the effort to steer Galápagos toward the 2030 Agenda. As one of the responses to this, King’s College University of Cambridge and FUNCAVID led a second prioritisation process in collaboration with CGREG in April 2021. The aim was to build upon both the previous work and the Galápagos 2030 Plan, and to identify key starting points for work towards both. First, they identified a list of 100 SDG targets which were either featured in the previously selected goals or aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Plan. They then ran a workshop with stakeholders, decision-makers and NGOs, to prioritise and contextualise 40 of these targets. This involved two stages of ranking the targets, with participants divided into groups, along with discussions to edit the text of the targets for the context of Galápagos (see the Team tab for the list of participants).

Analysis of interactions

One of the main barriers to the achievement of the goals and targets is that they are all interlinked and can affect each other in different ways. To enable efficient achievement of the SDG Agenda as a whole, it is important to consider the interactions between the targets and the factors that determine these. A second workshop was therefore run to consider the interactions between all 40 targets. Working in groups, and allocated one target at a time, participants were asked to imagine how work towards their focal target would impact progress towards the other targets. For each pair of focal and response targets, they estimated the potential strength of the interaction, giving reasons as to why it might occur. Following the workshop, the team then used these inputs to create a consistent matrix of interactions, ranking each one as absent, weak, medium or strong (see Using this tool for more information).

Network creation

The resulting matrix was used to build the above network. It shows the 40 priority targets and provides data regarding the status of each in Galápagos. It enables targets with the most positive influence on the rest of the network to be identified, i.e., those that, if achieved, will most aid the progress of the others. It also shows where and how targets are linked, to indicate where initiatives working towards different targets may benefit from considering each other’s work and/or collaboration. Overall, this tool is aimed to help decision-makers and project leaders coordinate resources and efforts to achieve the 2030 SDG Agenda in Galápagos. See the tab “Using this tool” tab for further details.

Co-Galápagos

To support work towards these 40 targets, the team behind this tool launched a new initiative, Co-Galápagos. It works to promote collaboration, cooperation and coordination to achieve the 2030 SDG Agenda in Galápagos, and to increase opportunities and support for involvement of the local community. More information can be found at www.funcavid.org.