What the SDGs Don’t Tell Us: My talk at Land van Cuijk

Yesterday I was invited by Stichting Mondolokaal to talk about the SDGs within the municipality of Land van Cuijk. In my talk, I explored the following question:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐃𝐆𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

In my PhD research with agri-businesswomen in Kenya, I found that the SDGs don't automatically make us ask some important questions:

👉 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝?
An initiative can contribute to multiple SDGs while certain groups remain unheard, unseen, or unable to participate.

👉 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭?
In a global economy where wealth often flows to the already rich, it's worth asking whether we are challenging or reinforcing existing power structures.

👉 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬?
For example, if we introduce a product from Europe into an African market, what does that mean for African entrepreneurs, industries, and ownership? Could we instead strengthen existing businesses and ecosystems?

👉 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?
Development is not about claiming to do good. It's also about understanding the unequal systems that created many of these challenges in the first place and acknowledging your place in it.

After listening to seven inspiring stories from initiatives in Land van Cuijk that are contributing to the SDGs in their own unique ways, we opened up the conversation in a group discussion.

One of the most interesting discussions of the evening was whether shareholder-owned companies are structurally capable of contributing to the SDGs in a meaningful way, or whether alternative ownership models are better equipped to create long-term social and ecological value.

Would you like to book Lotte-Marie as a speaker for your next event? Check out the Speaking page.