Building a wise and sustainable future : moral purpose and challenged assumptions

The aim of the chapter is to build an argument around the importance of sustainable development and the place of social entrepreneurship in shaping positive local and global futures. It is argued that working collaboratively and wisely at local and global levels to shape a future that takes account of the social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges currently facing the world is now central to building a sustainable future. How the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG s) are providing wise leadership, vision and a values-based agenda for action in this arena is outlined. The focus is on a key message of the book – that shared wisdom, moral purpose, collective and responsible action and effective implementation strategies are needed in combination to wisely shape and enact our global futures. The chapter encourages policy makers, educators, students, business and community members to build on what people are already doing to successfully enact the SDG agenda. It is argued that the work of the UN, as an international agency with the collaboration of more than 190 countries committed to participating in this project, is a strong example of how wise futures can be shaped. The chapter explores not only what might be done but how to make it happen. It explores what values underpin the SDGs and how they can be put into practice through collective action. The chapter is, therefore, about the big picture of successful change management for a sustainable future. It focuses on what Aristotle called ‘practical wisdom’ and its key messages are ‘good ideas with no ideas on how to implement them are wasted ideas’ and ‘change doesn’t just happen but must be led, and deftly’ (Fullan & Scott, 2009). And it highlights how the strategies found to underpin successful change implementation embody the very values that will enable a sustainable future.