Summary

The journal article “Deepening our understanding of which policy advice to expect from prioritizing SDG targets: introducing the Analytic Network Process in a multi-method setting” demonstrates how methodological approaches can be used for prioritizing SDG targets and understanding how the overall quality of policy advice can be improved.

Henrik Carlsen, Co-Director of Mistra Geopolitics and Senior Research Fellow at SEI, et al. discuss positive and negative SDG target interactions by  introducing the Analytic Network Process in a multi-method setting. Some of the methods explained throughout the paper are Analytic Network Process (ANP), including a CI-matrix containing the SDG target order of influence on specific targets, and building Nilsson-scales asking the question “If progress is made on target x (rows), how does this influence progress on target y (columns)?”.

Key messages

• Comparing different analytical methods focused on finding positive and negative SDG target interactions can assist in determining how well results can be translated into concrete and practical policy advice.
• SDG target interactions analysis can be used to identify cost-effective actions implementing SDGs, which can lead to supporting different goals simultaneously while also saving financial resources.
• Results highlight the need for a conceptual framework of the ‘SDG implementation system’ to facilitate the evaluation of its implementation as well as trade-offs.

Conclusion

The journal article demonstrates how methods such as Analytic Network Process (ANP) can be used to prioritize SDGs and classify the methods’ potential to formulate policy advice and identify to which policy challenges the policy advice responds to.

Citation

Toth, W., Vacik, H., Pülzl, H. & Carlsen, H. Deepening our understanding of which policy advice to expect from prioritizing SDG targets: introducing the Analytic Network Process in a multi-method setting. Sustain Sci 17, 1473–1488 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01009-7. This article is part of the collection:  Special Feature: Synergies and Trade-offs between Sustainable Development Goals and Targets.