+ BACKGROUND, CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES
The challenges that the SDG Centre address are:
• Establishing an informative place for the public to gain more understanding on the SDG's, in particular about Kuala Lumpur initiatives and progress
• Kuala Lumpur being the capital city of Malaysia with the most population in the country reaching 1.8 million residents
• The centre was set up during the Covid19 pandemic thus work was delayed. However, meetings and discussions continued online to get the initiative underway
• Located in the country’s heritage core, a hotspot of tourists as well as locals, highly accessible to students from many of the city university campuses, the SDG Centre serves many patrons on a daily basis and hosts international visitors
• The SDG Centre is a first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and establishes numerous partnerships between embassies, government ministries, students as well as grassroot organizations
• Many new initiatives have sprung from discussions between experts, practitioners, corporate types and community members
• The goal of the SDG Centre is five fold, that is to play the role of a Community Centre, Knowledge Sharing hub, Data Depository, Innovation hub and Partnership Centre
• All these goals should work in synchronicity and lend their strengths and address weaknesses
+ OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS
An overview of the outcomes and impacts:
• There have been layers of the population been affected by the Centre, of which mostly have been academic types from as young as 10 years old up to senior citizens (retirees)
• The setup of monthly SDG Deep Dive sessions at the Centre to address SDG targets in detail has brought together participatory exercises and inclusiveness
• A concerned person may walk into the Centre and question what has the SDG done for their community, and our task is to create a safe place for their voices to be heard as well as setup the platform for it to be addressed constructively
• Success has been found through built partnerships and ongoing programs that are not one off, rather built upon and adopted by the community as their solution
• There have been groups that have not been able to get their voices heard, such as AIDS victims who have been discriminated against, who have taken advantage of the SDG Centre to help create a discussion between their community and policy makers with practitioners to come up with solutions
• Marginalised groups will find a voice through SDG targets, and together with the SDG Centre can partner and connect with relevant stakeholders that face similar roadblocks and challenges to mutually benefit each other
: The Nordic Month Launching Event
+ REPLICABILITY AND SCALABILITY
Replication of the SDG Centre functionalities should be considered because:
• As the SDG Centre is a public space, it benefits the public and connects higher levels with grassroots types
• The more replications that can take place at the community level, the better and quicker concerns may be addressed
• It is particularly successful to be an inclusive space that makes a collective concern advantageous for those affected
• The centre aspires to reach many more beyond its physical capacity which is why a virtual / digital platform of its type must exist
• There could be satellite hubs throughout the city-to-city / sister city SDG Centres that contribute equally to sharing their programs, projects and initiatives in order to move quicker and reach higher numbers of people
• Lessons learned from one centre to another can be beneficial when producing programs and projects on a replication strategy
• A key takeaway is that the SDG Centre is able to connect quickly and effectively from public concerns, directly to city hall and policy makers
• It is also a place where financial institutions that have certain obligations towards sustainable practices can be connected with active participants on the ground actually making positive changes relatable
• Collaborations and knowledge sharing are a key lesson that reaches many levels
+ BUDGET SOURCE
Resources that have been allocated on planning, implementation and ongoing maintenance of this initiative are:
• The SDG Centre has received support for its initial setup and current existence from the Ministry of Finance and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH)
• These supports come in the form of physical space that covers utilities and basic administration
• There are also small allocations for implementing projects that cover food and giveaways like t-shirts and writing utensils for schools and participants
