Meeting the Challenges of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Holistic Systems Thinking and Applied Geospatial Ethics

• Published in: ISPRS international journal of geo-information 2024-04, Vol.13 (4), p.110
• Main Authors: Caudill, Christy M., Pulsifer, Peter L., Thumbadoo, Romola V., Taylor, D. R. Fraser
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bateson, Gregory; capacity exchange; cartography; Climate change; Climatic changes; cognitive justice; Community; Community involvement; Community participation; Conservation practices; Cybernetics; Decision making; Decolonization; Digital technology; Economic impact; Economics; equity and diversity narratives; Ethical aspects; Ethics; Geospatial data; humans; Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous Peoples' knowledge; International organizations; Knowledge; knowledge exchange; leadership; literacy; Mechanical properties; Native peoples; Participatory approaches; politics; Resilience; Science; social justice; Socioeconomic aspects; socioeconomics; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals; Sustainable practices; Verbal communication
• ISSN: 2220-9964; 2220-9964
• DOI: 10.3390/ijgi13040110

The halfway point for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was marked in 2023, as set forth in the 2030 Agenda. Geospatial technologies have proven indispensable in assessing and tracking fundamental components of each of the 17 SDGs, including climatological and ecological trends, and changes and humanitarian crises and socio-economic impacts. However, gaps remain in the capacity for geospatial and related digital technologies, like AI, to provide a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the complex and multi-factorial challenges delineated in the SDGs. Lack of progress toward these goals, and the immense implementation challenges that remain, call for inclusive and holistic approaches, coupled with transformative uses of digital technologies. This paper reviews transdisciplinary, holistic, and participatory approaches to address gaps in ethics and diversity in geospatial and related technologies and to meet the pressing need for bottom-up, community-driven initiatives. Small-scale, community-based initiatives are known to have a systemic and aggregate effect toward macro-economic and global environmental goals. Cybernetic systems thinking approaches are the conceptual framework investigated in this study, as these approaches suggest that a decentralized, polycentric system—for example, each community acting as one node in a larger, global system—has the resilience and capacity to create and sustain positive change, even if it is counter to top-down decisions and mechanisms. Thus, this paper will discuss how holistic systems thinking—societal, political, environmental, and economic choices considered in an interrelated context—may be central to building true resilience to climate change and creating sustainable development pathways. Traditional and Indigenous knowledge (IK) systems around the world hold holistic awareness of human-ecological interactions—practicable, reciprocal relationships developed over time as a cultural approach. This cultural holistic approach is also known as Systemic Literacy, which considers how systems function beyond “mechanical” aspects and include political, philosophical, psychological, emotional, relational, anthropological, and ecological dimensions. When Indigenous-led, these dimensions can be unified into participatory, community-centered conservation practices that support long-term human and environmental well-being. There is a growing recognition of the criticality of Indi