With How to Achieve Sustainable Development: Local Actions for Global Change, Associate Professor and Director of the Elliott School Global Capstone Program Samuel T. Ledermann offers an essential and inspiring textbook for students of and anyone interested in sustainable development.
Inspired by the work of the Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the UN Secretary-General (2019), this book provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and implementing the 17 UN SDGs, mapping Six Transformation Hotspots against Four Changemakers to show how local actions drive global change. Spanning governance, finance, science and technology, and collective action, it connects theory with practice across food systems, just economies, human capabilities, urban and rural development, green energy and industry, and environmental regeneration. Written for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, instructors, and changemakers, it offers curated resources, discussion prompts, and practical tools for driving real-world sustainable development.