What if you had a 'blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all?' Would you execute on it? And how would you leverage the power of collaboration to scale and accelerate your efforts?

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly provided humanity with this blueprint for a better and more sustainable future through a collection of 17 goals, known today as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They include ending poverty, promoting good health and well-being, reducing inequalities, supporting responsible consumption and production, and more.

The 17th SDG, 'partnerships for the goals,' urgently calls on the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and citizens to come together to strengthen the implementation of the SDGs.

Public and Private Sector Collaboration

At SAP, in alignment with our purpose to help the world run better and improve people's lives, with sustainability at the core, we value the opportunity to work alongside organizations driving meaningful impact.

Our commitment to a more sustainable future inspired the sustainability team and a team of designers and engineers at SAP to develop a gamified, educational experience tied to the SDGs: the Wheel of Purpose. This innovative showcase, which runs on SAP technology, brings to life SAP's commitment to the SDGs and encourages purpose-driven conversations among employees, customers, and partners.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) expressed interest in the Wheel of Purpose because of its ease of use and ability to engage users virtually. This led to a public-private partnership to further develop and amplify the reach of the Wheel of Purpose, using it to showcase UNCTAD's vision to bring about sustainable prosperity for all through trade.

In the upcoming UNCTAD Youth Forum (September 16-17), the UNCTAD 15 Conference in Barbados (October 3-7), and the World Investment Forum (October 18-22), organizers will embed the Wheel of Purpose into virtual programming.

'Sustainable development is a complex challenge, but it is a responsibility shared by everyone,' says Arlette Verploegh, UNCTAD chief of communications and external relations. 'We need tools that humanize and explain different pathways to sustainability. The Wheel of Purpose does that. Applied to UNCTAD's work, it showcases what we do in a simple, gamified way. The wheel is at once educational and inspirational to our audiences and reinforces our commitment to the 2030 Agenda.'

Technology as a Tool for Change

At SAP, we make sustainability core to business and we believe in the disruptive power of innovative technology and its critical role in creating tangible impact for the UN SDGs. Not only can SAP solutions enable the integration of sustainability insights into business processes, but they can also educate the public, raise awareness, and help us achieve joint sustainability goals alongside our global ecosystem of customers and partners.

'Our collaboration on the Wheel of Purpose with UNCTAD provides a powerful example of purpose-driven partnership between the public and private sector,' says Daniel Schmid, chief sustainability officer, SAP. 'We are excited to amplify the reach of this engaging digital showcase and inform others about how UNCTAD and SAP engage in meaningful efforts to accelerate the UN's global agenda.'

Explore the Wheel of Purpose here, and share it with your network so to spark the conversations that motivate tangible action for the SDGs. Only in partnership can we create the transformational change required to bring about 'peace and prosperity for people and the planet.'

For more information on the SDGs:

  • Read the SAP & UN Global Goals web book, which launched in 2016, to explore tangible examples of how SAP, our customers, and our partners leverage the enabling power of digitalization to contribute to the SDGs.
  • Sign up for a free openSAP course, Sustainability Through Digital Transformation, which covers sustainability frameworks, including the SDGs, and how companies can use digitization to contribute to achieving them.
Tags: SAP4Good, UN SDGs

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SAP SE published this content on 10 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 September 2021 12:21:02 UTC.