8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Students can contribute to SDG 8 by collaborating, speaking and acting for decent work and positive economic change. They can do so by seizing and creating opportunities to develop, plan and implement entrepreneurial projects with positive ecological and social impact. This requires their capability to think in a systematic way in order to craft “pictures” of the future in which the ecological, social and economic impact of their individual short term decisions is viewed on a global scale and in the long term. It also requires the students’ capability to facilitate sustainable change processes, in order to contribute to a society and economy which ‘meets the needs of all within the means of the planet. In other words, to ensure that no one falls short on life’s essentials (from food and housing to healthcare and political voice), while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth’s life-supporting systems, on which we fundamentally depend – such as a stable climate, fertile soils, and a protective ozone layer’ (Raworth, 2017).

You can empower your students to become sustainability leaders for SDG 8 by fostering during your courses values-driven leadership, sustainable consumption and sustainable entrepreneurship. SDG 8 includes sub-targets related to: sustainable economic growth, financial services and economic productivity, global resource efficiency, entrepreneurship and innovation, job creation, employment and decent work, youth employment, forced labour, human trafficking and child labour, labour rights, including migrant workers and those in precarious employment. In your classroom, you can link this SDG to themes such as working conditions, labour rights and inclusive labour market, sustainable consumption and sustainable business models.

Targets ▼

8.1 Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries
8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalisation and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
8.4 Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead
8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms
8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment
8.9 By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all
8.a- Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries
8.b- By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

Action Area

Values-driven leadership

Values-driven leadership empowers students to take the lead in sustainable transition processes, based on the ability to reflect on their own and others needs and values. Leadership is a mutual relationship based on shared needs and values. Values-driven leadership allows you to put values, which are the guiding principles in our lives, into practice. Students should be encouraged to be empathic, committed and to reflect on theirs and others needs and values in order to facilitate change and improvements related to decent working conditions and sustainable economic growth.
Conscious consumption

Sustainable consumption empowers students to act as responsible citizens, reducing their ecological footprint and overcoming the limitations of the mainstream sustainable consumption strategy. Sustainable consumption implies “the use of goods and products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimising the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generations.” (Seyfang, 2006) Therefore students should be encouraged to think in a systematic way and to analyse, evaluate, and craft “pictures” of the future in which the impact of local short term decisions is viewed on a global scale and in the long term.
Sustainable entrepreneurship

Sustainable entrepreneurship empowers students to take informed decisions and responsible actions in order to contribute to a more sustainable world. A world in which economic growth is limited by planetary and social boundaries. Sustainable entrepreneurship refers to the discovery, creation, and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities that contribute to sustainability by generating social and environmental gains for others in society (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010; Pacheco et al., 2010; Shepherd and Patzelt, 2011). Therefore students should be encouraged to create and seize opportunities, to be adaptive and to develop, plan and implement entrepreneurial projects with positive ecological and social impact, while taking into account other viewpoints in the decision-making process

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Learning Objectives ▼

Cognitive ▼

The learner understands the concepts of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work, including the advancement of gender parity and equality, and knows about alternative economic models and indicators.
The learner has knowledge about the distribution of formal employment rates per sector, informal employment, and unemployment in different world regions or nations, and which social groups are especially affected by unemployment.
The learner understands the relation between employment and economic growth, and knows about other moderating factors like a growing labour force or new technologies that substitute jobs.
The learner understands how low and decreasing wages for the labour force and very high wages and profits of managers and owners or shareholders are leading to inequalities, poverty, civil unrest, etc.
The learner understands how innovation, entrepreneurship and new job creation can contribute to decent work and a sustainability-driven economy and to the decoupling of economic growth from the impacts of natural hazards and environmental degradation.

Socio-emotional ▼

The learner is able to discuss economic models and future visions of economy and society critically and to communicate them in public spheres.
The learner is able to collaborate with others to demand fair wages, equal pay for equal work and labour right from politicians and from their employer.
The learner is able to understand how one’s own consumption affects working conditions of others in the global economy.
The learner is able to identify their individual rights and clarify their needs and values related to work.
The learner is able to develop a vision and plans for their own economic life based on an analysis of their competencies and contexts.

Behavioural ▼

The learner is able to engage with new visions and models of a sustainable, inclusive economy and decent work.
The learner is able to facilitate improvements related to unfair wages, unequal pay for equal work and bad working conditions.
The learner is able to develop and evaluate ideas for sustainability-driven innovation and entrepreneurship.
The learner is able to plan and implement entrepreneurial projects.
The learner is able to develop criteria and make responsible consumption choices as a means to support fair working conditions and efforts to decouple production from the impact of natural hazards and environmental degradation.

Organisational Perspective ▼

Contributing to sustainable development, by undertaking actions based on the SDGs should be a priority for all organisations.

If you want to contribute to the SDGs in the prosperity cluster (7, 8, 9, 11) you, as an organisation, should start first by analysing and discussing your organisation’s ecological and social impact. This is a source of innovation, facilitating access to new business opportunities and new partnerships. For SDG 8 you should initiate an impact assessment of your business model, assessing your organisation’s overall ecological and social impact. We also suggest an evaluation of and an action plan for a sustainable HRM strategy in order to contribute to the decent work sub-targets. Undertaking actions to reduce negative ecological and social impacts benefits the environment and your organisation’s community. In addition the sustainable transformation process of your organisation influences your stakeholders since experiencing sustainable practices has a positive impact on individual sustainable behavior.

Second, you should initiate a process of change management in your organisation, focusing on empowerment of your stakeholders, starting with your employees. In order to support your organisation’s sustainable transformation process, you can empower your employees to become sustainability leaders. This can be done by providing your employees a context that allows them to develop sustainability competencies, in partnership with other organisations and stakeholders. In order to become more resilient as an organisation to external shocks such as lack of resources or a changing labour market, enabling your workforce to become sustainability leaders is essential. Sustainable leadership of your employees gives your organisation the force to tackle the sustainability issues that you are confronting. It also empowers your employees to take informed decisions and responsible actions to contribute to a more sustainable world. A world in which economic growth is limited by planetary and social boundaries.

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Targets ▼

Action Area

Learning Objectives ▼

Cognitive ▼

Socio-emotional ▼

Behavioural ▼

Organisational Perspective ▼

Find out more

United Nations - SDG Knowledge - SDG8

United Nations - Facts & Figures - SDG

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Action Area

Values-driven leadership

Conscious consumption

Sustainable entrepreneurship

Organisational Perspective ▼