Linking the SDGs with our work
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to achieve a more inclusive, equitable, prosperous and sustainable future for people and planet. That same year, Scotland became one of the first countries in the world to adopt them.
Since then, many groups and organisations across all sectors have been working towards achieving the SDGs in Scotland. In 2018, the Scottish Government refreshed the National Performance Framework (NPF), which it aligned with the SDGs. A report called 'Scottish Review | Driving Actions Towards the SDGs' was published in 2020 illustrating Scotland’s progress towards realising the Goals.
At Foundation Scotland, we also recognise the power and value of the SDGs as an expression of the better world that we all strive for. Since 2021, we have been aligning all grants to 12 of the SDGs we recognised as being most descriptive and representative of the main outcomes we often support communities to achieve.
Goals 10 and 11 we describe as our overarching goals. These are because tackling inequalities and building sustainable communities are at the heart of all our work and integral to our commitment to contributing to building a wellbeing economy and which we recognise as being fundamental to helping achieve all the other goals.
Goals 1, 3, 4, 9 and 13 we describe as our primary goals. This is because they are the key issues that most of the funds we distribute are working to achieve.
Goals 5, 8, 12, 16 and 17 we describe as our supporting goals. This is because we recognise these goals as cross-cutting issues contributing to achieving the primary and overarching goals.
To date, the attribution process has not been negotiated with the applicant or decision maker. However, we will review this going forward now that we’re confident we have a reliable system in place to capture the alignment. We link projects to SDGs at the point when the award is being finalised, informed by the intentions and intended impact of the project and our own analysis of key components of each Goal. This analysis was informed by Scotland’s National Review to Drive Action (2020), which provides some evidence about Scotland’s progress to meeting the Goals.
Some ways we’ve categorised types of projects against the SDGs
SDG 10
- Any grant targeted in 20% of the most deprived data zones (SIMD)
- Provision of paid employment, especially for those in vulnerable groups
- Programmes that reduce unemployment in vulnerable groups
- Activity that targets vulnerable groups by investing in more intensive services and other forms of support for such groups,
- Early years provision
- Protecting children from discrimination (asylum seekers, refugees, young travellers, young people in care, young people with disabilities, young carers)
- Asylum and refugee support & integration
- Support for protected groups
- Promoting physical/wellbeing activity, especially in areas of deprivation (physical activity levels of the least active are over-represented among poorer communities)
SDG 9
- Social enterprise investment, support and development – food cooperatives, development trusts, community-owned energy companies, social housing orgs
- Energy efficiency (buildings, transport)
- Digital infrastructure
- Provision of financial advice, debt support
Since 1st April 2021, the grantmaking we've distributed and aligned with our core SDGs looks like this:
| Primary SDG | Value of Grants Awarded | Number of Grants Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 1 (No Poverty) | £693,815 | 139 |
| SDG 3 (Good Health & Wellbeing) | £8,878,557 | 1950 |
| SDG 4 (Quality Education) | £7,347,973 | 1073 |
| SDG 5 (Gender Equality) | £344,872 | 61 |
| SDG 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth) | £304,940 | 62 |
| SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) | £336, 548 | 44 |
| SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) | £619,940 | 123 |
| SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) | £7,216,091 | 1016 |
| SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production) | £80,200 | 6 |
| SDG 13 (Climate Action) | £423,142 | 53 |
| SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions) | £68,900 | 15 |
Support to Goal 3, Good Health & Wellbeing has been the highest, both in terms of volume of awards contributing and value of funding awarded. This is not surprising as promoting improved health and wellbeing is a recurring priority for both communities and many donors and common criteria for many of the place-based funds we distribute.
There is reasonable parity between Goal 11, Sustainable Cities & Communities and Goal 4, Quality Education and then also between Goal 10, Reducing Equalities and Goal 1, No Poverty, with the fewest awards and smallest value of funding attributed to Climate Action and Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure.
We can also align SDGs to grants retrospectively. This picture of grantmaking from the Drone Hill Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, for example, provides the donor with helpful data to share back with their own shareholders, which helps underpin their own ESG commitments that relate to the SDGs. Meanwhile and in the context of a place-based fund like this example, it can be helpful for the community to have sight of the distribution of their fund through the lens of the SDGs and which speak such an immediate and universal language.
We appreciate that identifying only one Goal that a project contributes is both fairly subjective and also limiting given the multiple dimensions many community projects have in addressing issues and improving people’s lives. Going forward, we will also attribute each funded project to one of what we’ve categorised as the five ‘supporting SDGs’ to help convey a fuller picture of SDGs being addressed. That will still be inadequate.
Stranraer’s Fed Up Cafe, for example, provides free hot food and drinks to those who need them (No Poverty) and a safe, welcoming place for people to be (Good Health and Wellbeing) whilst also providing training and employment opportunities (Quality Education) alongside implementing policies and practice that reduce the project’s carbon footprint (Climate Action) and ensure fair employment (Decent Work & Economic Growth). The Fed Up Café is not alone in being a community-driven project that, in improving people’s physical and mental health, is a microcosm of the SDGs in action. Read more about Fed Up Café in this case study.
Over the next year, through our SDGs in Action series, we'll be demonstrating an increased commitment to supporting the Goals in Scotland, recognising the valuable contribution being made to the SDGs by hundreds of charitable organisations delivering change within their communities.
Recommended further reading on community foundations and their contribution to the Goals:
Rachel Searle
Head of Communities & Impact