In an earlier insight piece, we explored the topic of ‘Education for Sustainable Development – ESD’. Within this article we introduced the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs. You can read this article by following the link here.
UN Sustainable Development Goals – a quick summary
The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are a global blueprint for achieving a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable world. They aim to end poverty and hunger, ensure good health, quality education, and gender equality, and provide clean water, sanitation, and affordable clean energy.
They promote decent work, responsible economic growth, and innovation while reducing inequality and creating sustainable cities and communities. The goals also encourage responsible consumption, urgent climate action, protection of oceans and land ecosystems, peace and justice, and strong partnerships to drive progress worldwide.
Source – https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Progress towards these goals
It’s recognised that progress towards these goals needs greater focus and acceleration. That’s where the Inner Development Goals come in. Created through a non‑profit initiative, they highlight the importance of our own motivations, perspectives, and energy in driving positive change.
By developing the inner skills and qualities that strengthen how we lead our lives and influence others, we can broaden our impact and contribute more effectively to addressing the challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the tagline for Inner Development Goals expresses, it’s about ‘Inner Growth for Outer Change’.
The Inner Development Goals – Guide
Source – https://innerdevelopmentgoals.org/guide/
Summary of the Inner Development Goals IDGs
The Inner Development Guide is based on a simple idea: before we can change the world, we need to grow on the inside. It gives us a shared way to talk about how personal growth connects to positive change in society.
When people, organisations, and communities build these inner skills, they help create healthier, more sustainable cultures and economies. The Guide acts like a mirror that helps us understand ourselves, and a map that shows how we can take meaningful action.
By developing its’ 25 skills across five areas, we strengthen the human qualities needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a better future for both people and the planet. In other words where environmental perspectives do not include people, they are incomplete, as the two are intertwined.
Want to understand the Inner Development Goals in more detail?
Here is a guided approach on how you can use the Inner Development Goals.
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Introduction (2 minutes)
For 2 minutes ask yourself the following:
‘What skills do people need to make a positive impact, whether in their community or wider society’?
The Inner Development Goals identify 25 important inner skills that help people create meaningful change.
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Explore the Guide (5 minutes)
Visit the link https://innerdevelopmentgoals.org/guide/
Scroll and choose one skill across each of the five IDG dimensions that stands out to you. For each dimension listed below, there are five skills to select from:
- Being – Cultivating own inner life
- Thinking – Understanding our complex world
- Relating – Caring for others and the world
- Collaborating – Building trust and working together
- Acting – Leading and enabling change
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Reflection Task (10 minutes)
Now answer three questions:
- Which skills did you choose and why?
- Where do you already use this skill in your life? (e.g. college, work, volunteering, friendships)
- How could developing this skill help you in college, work or your future pathway? (e.g. careers, wellbeing, leadership, teamwork)
- Which skills do you think are most important in today’s world and how could these skills help us tackle big global challenges?
These inner skills can help you succeed personally, but they also help build fairer, healthier, and more sustainable communities. Working on ourselves is part of working towards a better world.
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Linking Inner Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals (5 minutes)
You’re now going to connect your chosen inner skill to one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, (the global goals for improving life on Earth).
Visit the link: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Read the titles of the 17 goals and look at the big themes within these, such as, poverty, education, equality, climate action, wellbeing. You’ll need to identify the main themes so that you can connect these to your inner skills.
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Making the Connection (10 minutes)
Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) link to your chosen skills within the Inner Development Goals? Select up to 5 SDGs.
How does your inner skills help?
Here are some examples to help you link SDGs to IDGs:
Self-awareness → supports SDG 3 (Good Health & Wellbeing)
- Helping people manage stress and emotions.
Empathy → supports SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions)
- Helping people understand and respect others.
Creativity → supports SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure)
- Inspiring new ideas and solutions.
Collaboration → supports SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)
- Global progress requires teamwork.
Courage → supports SDG 13 (Climate Action)
- Motivating people to speak up, make changes, or challenge harmful practices. Broadening your sphere of influence.
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Deepening those connections
Some wider questions to reflect on include:
- Which inner skills seem the most important for solving global problems?
- Which Sustainable Development Goals feel most connected to personal behaviour?
Some Final thoughts
Global progress isn’t isolated to the actions of governments and advancement of technology. It also depends on the inner skills people use every day. The Inner Development Goals help us develop the personal qualities needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Why not share this with your colleagues, friends and family to challenge them to consider their Inner Development Goals.
How do the Inner Development Goals link to SocEnv Professional Registration
To be registered, individuals have to demonstrate a blend of technical, ethical, interpersonal, and sustainability‑focused competencies. These align closely with the Inner Development Goals, which define the inner qualities humans need to create sustainable change.
By becoming a registrant, you join a community of over 9000 individuals located across in over 90 countries. This brings opportunity to collaborate and form inter-disciplinary connections. As a collective we have an amplified voice that can influence and contribute to a sustainable future shaped through environmental professionalism.
We are working hard to create new routes to registration to broaden the registration community, recognising those across a broad range of sectors and career stages. On this website you can find out more about the way we are creating bridges between educational achievement and the registers, enabling individuals at all stages of their career to be part of, and contribute to, the impact and progress we can make.
Tom Cheek – SocEnv
