From SDGs to Human Flourishing: Towards a Legal Framework for Multi-Level Governance
摘要
The limitations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have increasingly come into focus as we start the renegotiations of the global goals post-2030: a reliance on economic indicators, hierarchical governance structures, and a neglect of non-material aspects of well-being. This chapter proposes a paradigmatic shift from the current SDGs to a governance framework based on the concept of human flourishing. This novel approach requires an integrated-systems approach to flourishing that includes ecological, cultural, social, and spiritual dimensions of human life, in other words that recognizes the material and non-material aspects of the human condition as equally important. The multi-level governance model proposed in this chapter, emphasizes the need for decentralized and adaptive governance structures that integrate both top-down global principles and bottom-up local realities. Recognizing that global aspirations need to be matched by local realities, needs, and practices, the herein presented governance roadmap aims to align global aspirations with local contexts through a combination of legally binding commitments based on international human rights law, soft law instruments, and community-driven indicators. By embedding a governance approach to human flourishing into existing legal frameworks and multi-level governance structures, this chapter offers new pathway for constructing a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development framework of human flourishing for the post-2030 future.