Moving from local to global: The examples of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Okanagan Charter

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth 17 broad goals that we should pursue globally to ensure the health of the planet and of humankind. Within each goal, several targets are identified. This article explores the overarching framework of the SDGs as a guide to ensuring human and planetary health. The one goal, Goal #3: Global Health and Wellbeing was described in more detail. Simultaneous to the development of the SDGs, a health promotion framework, the Okanagan Charter, was launched. The Okanagan Charter similarly identifies the calls to action and principles that are the foundation of the work. This article explores briefly the origins of the Okanagan Charter and describes the study that was conducted to explore the implementation of the Charter at the first 10 campuses to sign on to the Charter. The findings identify that systems approaches require leadership and engaged champions, effective communication structures, dedicated resources, work across silos, and development of targets and measures to gauge progress; these structures are crucial for effective systems approaches to complex initiatives such as holistic health promotion strategies. The article concludes with a discussion about future directions for the crucial health promotion agenda.