Progress Reimagined: A Generation Z Perspective on Belfast in Relation to the UNSDGs

Abstract

This research explores a contemporary outsider view of Belfast, through the eyes of Generation Z visiting college students, in relation to how three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are carried out (Good Health and Well-Being, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). To learn through firsthand accounts, the researchers utilized ethnographic and phenomenological methods, as interacting with locals to gather community inputs, surveying different groups in the city, recording quotes said by citizens and displayed at billboards, and applying personal sensory experiences. It was found that a political deadlock plays a major role in the lack of steadiness. The research shows that Northern Ireland has progressed in many ways but also that it is still being limited by inefficient governmental practices. The rather brief time spent in Belfast barely allowed the researchers to feel and sense its atmosphere but deterred them from making recommendations. Keywords: Gen Z, Belfast, UNSDG, phenomenological, ethnographic