Connecting Voluntās Policy Advisory Projects with SDGs

Meaningful Societies

Article | Project

Mapping the meaningful impact of our work

The idiom ‘Don’t miss the forest for the trees’ serves as a reminder that while individual actions have their respective impact, meaningfulness is derived from the way actions work in tandem to contribute to a bigger picture.

At Voluntās Policy Advisory, we understand that larger goals, the forest, are actualized and composed by individual actions, the trees. We conceptualize our work not only in its respective impact, the trees, but we recognize how everything is connected and contextualize our work within the wider ecosystem of policymaking, the forest.

In pursuit of looking at the bigger picture, we are developing a methodology for parsing out and mapping the ways in which our work contributes to sustainable development goals (SDGs). This challenges us to think critically about how resources are allocated, allowing us to recognize the direct impact and meaningfulness of our work on global goals.

For example, projects that aim to restore infrastructure directly contribute to SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. From there, we track expenditures that directly contribute to projects’ infrastructural activities, outlining the allocation of expenditures per SDG as shown in the figure below.

By mapping the connection between projects and SDGs we become privy to a more comprehensive perspective and understanding of how our actions and activities contribute to the overall meaningfulness of our work.

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