In 2015, the UN outlined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for achieving a more sustainable world by 2030. This project, led by Jan Artem Henriksson and Åsa Jarskog of the Inner Development Goals (IDG) initiative, aims to develop and evaluate a global inner capacity-building program as a means to accelerate work towards the SDGs. With a pilot program that seeks to educate, inspire and empower 100 leaders in government, civil society and the private sector from several countries across different regions of the world, decision-makers will be encouraged to take a holistic approach to the SDGs, incorporating human flourishing concepts and character development into their leadership. Several countries have expressed interest in participating, including Costa Rica, Rwanda, Indonesia, Bhutan, Scotland, and Albania.

The project, to be delivered in partnership with The Inner Green Deal (IGD), emphasizes inner capacities such as self-awareness, complexity-awareness, co-creation skills, courage, creativity, humility, empathy, and long-term orientation. The program will promote the idea of integrating the inner dimensions of sustainability such as mindfulness, compassion, and values with outer aspects such as behavior change, collaboration and workplace initiatives.

The researchers hope to strengthen the research link between inner growth and sustainable development. They will scientifically evaluate the program’s effectiveness by measuring participants’ inner capacity development and their appetite for and tangible actions toward progress on the SDGs. Learnings will be integrated into an IDGs Field Kit, planned to be shared and widely used by IDGs current partner organizations and future partners. An online event disseminating learnings from the Pilot Project will be planned.