"Skills 2030" to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an ambitious global action plan to tackle the most pressing environmental, economic and social challenges of our time, which Austria has also committed to implementing. In order to achieve these goals, the development of skills and competencies in the population is of crucial importance. The United Nations defines these competencies as "knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”. It is necessary, but not sufficient, to train specialists in environmental sustainability. Rather, the entire population needs to develop skills that enable them to live in and help shape a sustainable society, that allow everyone to actively participate and leave no one behind. The study therefore distinguishes between general basic skills, which are required by everyone for living in a sustainable society, and specialized professional skills, which are expected of professionals in different occupational fields and economic sectors. Both types of skills are necessary to achieve the ecological transformation. The study analyzed 30 Austrian skills initiatives from recent years and assessed their relevance to the SDGs. It was found that most of these initiatives address SDG 4 (Quality Education), which is not surprising given their educational component. Other frequently addressed SDGs were SDG 8 (jobs and economic growth) and SDG 9 (industry and innovation). Skills initiatives addressed ecologically relevant goals such as SDG 7 (clean energy), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production patterns) much less frequently.