During the first Sustainable Development Leadership Academy in Brazil, participants discussed forward looking ideas to address the multiple connections between social, economic and environmental dimensions of development. They underlined that awareness, cross-cutting institutional engagement and long term commitment among diverse actors within government and society are needed to implement the 2030 Agenda in the country.

During the three-day course held in Brasília, 31 senior leaders from the federal judiciary system, as well as from various federal ministries and institutions, discussed integrated approaches to sustainable development, collaborative leadership and SDG16, among other topics.

Following an opening session with the President of ENAP Dr. Diogo Costa, Mr. Luiz Philippe Vieira de Mello Filho, Minister and Director of the National School of Formation and Improvement of Labour Magistrates (ENAMAT), the national school of the Judiciary, as well as the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Niky Fabiancic, participants met daily from 4 to 6 December at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP).

An underlying thread of the academy focused on the leadership traits, approaches to communication and behaviour changes that are required to address complexity and provide spaces for all actors to contribute and participate in shaping a sustainable future.

Participants received training on systems thinking to understand ways to identify different types of connections among issues in order to better judge possible consequences of policy decisions and identify more effective cross-cutting pathways to improve the lives of people.  

Participants also discussed the role of SDG16 in advancing socio-economic progress within planetary boundaries from a rights perspective.

Progress on the 2030 Agenda in Brazil was presented by Ms. Maria Tereza Uille Homes, counsellor at the National Council of Justice (CNJ), Ms. Enid Rocha, Deputy Director of Studies and Social Policies of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), as well as by Ms Ieda Nogueira, Director of Relations with International Organizations and Civil Society of the Presidency of the Republic.

Overall, participants explored ways to widen the debate about sustainable development from the perspective of the so-called 5Ps (people, planet, prosperity, partnership and peace) through the study of the connections across each area, in order to identify policy decisions that are likely to trigger benefits that reinforce one another. For example, participants discussed the circumstances under which the decision of a farmer to change the method of irrigation from using fossil fuels to renewable energy could potentially generate multiple co-benefits, ultimately affecting health outcomes, gender equality, land use, climate change, job creation and poverty reduction and thus be more appealing to potential investors.

Throughout the academy, participants underlined the importance of involving all actors in society who have the knowledge, capacities or resources to contribute to positive change and the need to increase spaces for dialogue across ministries and institutions in different sectors.

In the evaluation of the academy, participants underlined the high quality of facilitation and substantive knowledge of the training team. The programme received a 100 per cent recommendation rate by participants.

This training is part of UNSSC’s country-specific leadership academies for civil servants. It was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The Leadership Academy was also initiated through conversations within the Managing Global Governance (MGG) Programme of the German Development Institute (DIE), a leading think tank in Germany, which brings together Schools of Government from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, México and South Africa. The program builds on empowering senior leaders to think about a sustainable future and actions to be included in the government agenda, promoting innovative and transformative approaches needed in complex multidisciplinary environments.

 

 

Photo caption: Opening session with Dr. Diogo Costa, ENAP, Dr. Luiz Philippe Vieira de Mello Filho, ENAMAT, Dr. Lutz Morgenstern, German Embassy and BMU, Dr. Maria Tereza Uille Homes, CNJ and Ieda Nogueira, SEGOV.]