If you had to pick one SDG…
That’s the difficult question we asked ourselves. If we had to pick one SDG, which one would it be? The task wasn’t about choosing the most important one — as we all acknowledge that the whole agenda with all 17 goals is essential and equally relevant. We asked this question to get to know ourselves a bit better and it was interesting how hard it was for all of us to choose one.
Sasha Lipman, Co-Founder:
I think that the SDGs are a very good framework. It is broad and narrow enough at the same time. What do I mean here? There are so many impact measurement frameworks, which can get very detailed and confusing. But the UN put something together that is logical and not over complicated. It is a framework for everyone and is an important link to put everyone on the same page for the goals to be reached.
If I had to choose one goal it would be SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities), as I personally believe in equality. Not only in terms of gender but generally in equal access to opportunities and fairness. It shouldn’t be the case that nationality, religion or birthplace influences your rights and what you have access to. Each of us should have the same common ground and the same rights, no matter where we are coming from or what’s our background. And I think that’s also why for me personally all the conflicts based on nationality or religion never made any sense. I have friends from all over the world because I never judged anyone based on where they are coming from or which beliefs or family status they have. That’s why I’m fighting for this to make sure that everyone has equal access — equal access to food, education, water, electricity, rights to work, to everything. For me, SDG10 is the ground for everything else to be achieved.
Jelena Popović, Co-Founder:
I personally love that the SDGs exist, as people got more aware of the problems and they’re showing the right direction for everyone.
If I had to pick one of the goals, it would be to reduce inequalities. I also believe that education is the core of everything, but if we are not equal, then not everyone has the same rights for education either. Therefore, the key is to reduce inequalities in every single way. Gender equality, even though it is an own goal, also plays into reducing inequalities for me. For example, when I moved to Austria, a developed country, I expected that women and men are completely equal, with equal payment, career options, and rights. But then I realized that this is just not the case. Still, the “normal career path” of women is to work until it is expected of you to get a baby and then only work part-time. I didn’t expect that in a developed country, but I guess that showed me that reducing inequalities is an issue to work on everywhere.
Olga Bratsun, Marketing Lead:
The SDGs are a set of really big goals and if we achieve them even just by 70% it would make the world a much better place. And I think we are all coming to realize now that the way we live is not sustainable and if we continue living the way we do, it won’t actually last too long — maybe a few decades. Generally, these are the goals to achieve, if we want to have a sustainable future, if we want to make sure that our children and grandchildren live in a peaceful world, in a healthy environment with normal opportunities.
It’s definitely hard to choose one, but if I would need to, I’d choose SDG5 (Gender Equality). Because women comprise half of the population, even a bit more, so if we talk about access to opportunities, happiness and sustainable development of humanity, we actually have to make sure that half of this humanity, half of the population is also included. Firstly we have to reduce the worst of all scenarios — violence against women, including rape and FGM, in order to provide proper safety for women. It’s not only about actual safety but also about access to education and opportunities, and the ability to make life choices. If a girl wants to become a scientist, she can become a scientist. No one has to get married, no one has to have children, women can decide what they want. Let’s not forget the essential — a woman’s body — it belongs to a woman and nobody can decide what can be done with it.
I generally think that diverse teams work better, there are even statistics and studies about that. Here we talk about both diversity in background and cultures and gender balance in the team. Men and women complement each other quite well, so if we actually start diversifying teams we would work way better. I stand for gender equality, for the freedom for women, so they can choose what they want to do.
Julian Koßmann, Tech Lead:
I think the SDGs are important because they basically allow everyone to see how they can make a contribution and how every single action fits into the puzzle. And what’s so powerful about the SDGs is that almost all countries signed it, which is very unusual, even within the UN. That shows that all countries in the world are striving for a better world.
Saying this also brings me to my chosen SDG — namely SDG17 (Partnership for the Goals). I think it’s extremely important that we not only put money and effort into different solutions but also into strengthening our institutions and partnerships between them. It’s important that there are projects in place which ensure that we solve the SDGs together as humanity and that not everyone tries to tackle them with their own means, as we are stronger together.
Katharina Buiten, Content Lead (and Business Development):
For me personally the SDGs are a great, but complex, framework of very ambitious goals for the planet and people living on it. It has a lot of value as so many countries agreed on these goals and to be working on it together. The framework is not perfect, but it stands for this utopian future we imagine. A future where there is no hunger and poverty, where everyone is equal, where we live in harmony with nature. For me, it is less about the specific terms used in the UN paper, but rather the value of everyone connecting with it.
It’s very hard to choose one goal, as all of them are important. I truly believe that we have one basic problem to solve, which would bring us further in many other goals*. I think topics like biodiversity loss and climate change are issues you can only care about and do something about it when you have fulfilled your basic needs. So, if people are still lacking a proper house, enough food, and access to basic services or/and are suffering from some kind of violence and anxiety, then there is no space for topics like climate change. That’s why I think we first need to get rid of all inequalities — “inequality of outcomes” (disparities in wealth and living conditions), “inequality of opportunities” (disparities in access to education, work, technology or political participation) and “inequality of impact” (asymmetric impact of external shocks, such as natural disasters). I think when we manage to do that, way more people would care and could support the work to achieve all the other goals (especially the environmental ones).
Though, what is important to mention, is that we have a state of urgency at the moment. Climate change is not something that will wait until we’re finished, neither does biodiversity loss or any other issue. That’s why the work on the goals need to happen simultaneously and with equal importance.
*my opinion, no science.
