193 countries signed on to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. In 2016, 167 countries ratified the New Urban Agenda (NUA) – a roadmap for sustainable urban development. The aim of this Accelerating the SDGs project is to increase awareness of the SDGs and the NUA. In April 2019, we issued a call for Local Projects that engaged with the SDGs. We wanted to hear from people from all walks of life: in education, the professions and civil society.

We received projects from over 30 countries. Photos, drawings, videos and websites tell us project stories. All speak to improving people’s lives and the environment, sometimes through the design disciplines, the creative arts, sanitation upgrades, recycling or sustainable transport. All provide insights into the culture of the project place, and explain how communities were active participants. In some projects, youth and children demonstrate positive actions that support the SDGs.

This Gallery is Stage 1 in the Local Project Challenge. For those who elected to complete Stage 2, their Fully Developed Projects will be posted here by January 15, 2020. A People’s Choice award will be launched on January 15, with results announced at the UN World Urban Forum, Abu Dhabi February 2020.

This site was launched by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on November 13, 2019 at the Urban Thinkers Campus at Columbia University, New York.