Brooke Hansen
Director, SDG Action Alliance, Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida

Brittney Glennon
Cities and the SDGs Project Coordinator SDG Action Alliance, Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida

Luke Westlake
Sustainable Business Planning and Project Coordinator SDG Action Alliance, Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida

ABSTRACT

Under the recently formed SDG Action Alliance, a UN partnership, student interns at the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida have completed several projects to align the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with the City of Tampa. However, initial attempts resulted in many different documents that were not in a digestible format for policymakers, city officials, or the public. Interns decided to create a social media marketing Canva presentation that summarizes the 17 SDGs for the City of Tampa in a colorful and simple format noting where the city falls short of targets and indicators and where substantive progress is being made. There are also sections that highlight exemplary SDG projects the city has completed. The research was conducted using a comparative case study approach to identify best practices for aligning the SDGs with Los Angeles, USA, and Bristol, UK, as the exemplars. While Tampa currently does not have the capacity to conduct the Voluntary Local Review that is the foundation of most city alignments, the Sustainability and Resilience Officer is interested in beginning the process with the current sustainability plans and road maps the city has adopted. The need for SDG adoption was made apparent when a recent stormwater management green bond application vetted by Moody’s ESG Solutions required SDG alignment using their new SDG Alignment Screening Tool for investors. Other justifications for cities to align with the SDGs will be presented, as well as challenges encountered in data collection and recommendations for other municipalities.

Key Words: SDGs, sustainability assessment, sustainable cities, social media marketing