JOVIN HURRY
A Core Team Member of the IDG Mauritius Community Building Network
“Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man’s world…” These lyrics of songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus in Abba’s popular song must have been hummed under their breath by many who attended the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, last November.
With in mind new resources to be mobilised to support the most vulnerable countries and communities, Baku was billed as the ‘finance COP’. The New Collective Quantified Goal final figure of a dismal US $300bn per year is very far from the expected US $1.3tn per year.
Are there other ways to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); for world leaders, policymakers, and climate experts to avoid badly managed sets of talks that flirt with collapse; and to make us realise that we don’t have a crisis of sustainability per se, but rather have a crisis of behaviour?
Climate action is not just technical, but personal.
The future of climate action isn’t just about technical solutions, but about transforming ourselves from within.
The irony is that we have accumulated much knowledge about the climate crisis, poverty and other social ills. Yet, we seem to lack the inner capacity to deal with our increasingly complex environment and challenges.
What has been largely missing from current strategies is a keen insight into which abilities, qualities or skills we need to develop among individuals, groups and organisations that play crucial roles in working to fulfil these SDGs.
Fortunately, modern research shows that the inner abilities we require to complement and accelerate our external approaches can be developed. This was the starting point for the Inner Development Goals (IDG) initiative.
Over several years, different organisations interested in the connection between inner development and outer sustainability have been on a learning journey together.
In 2020, at the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden, the IDG initiative was first introduced. In 2021, the IDG framework, co-created by 1000+ scientists, experts and Human Resources & Sustainability professionals, was made available open source to the world. In 2023, the IDG Foundation was initiated. In 2024, the IDG Foundation takes over administration and oversight of the initiative.
The IDG is now a not-for-profit and open-source initiative, for the long-term purpose of bringing the power of inner development to global challenges.
The idea of going beyond technical solutions, and transforming ourselves from within has mobilised a movement worldwide. Currently, there are 500+ hubs & networks in 80+ countries and 35,000+ community members, including in Mauritius.
IDG Mauritius Community Building Network is set up to think and act differently.
An IDG Network is a self-organised emerging ecosystem of people from all kinds of backgrounds who work collectively around the IDGs.
As a connector, Daniella Bastien gathered several Mauritians in Mauritius in October 2023 and then set up a core team with a few co-coordinators. Over a series of meetings and events since, these forward-thinking professionals have come together around collective exploration and actions aligned with the IDG Framework.
The logo of the IDG Mauritius Community Building Network [Credit: Nelly Yiptong]
The IDG Framework is a roadmap that can assist in navigating and developing our inner lives to catalyse the needed outer change. Rooted in interdisciplinary research, it consists of five dimensions with 23 skills of human inner growth and development. The five dimensions are: Being – Relation to Self; Thinking – Cognitive Skills; Relating – Caring for Others & the World; Collaborating – Social Skills; and Acting – Enabling Change.
The IDG Mauritius Community Building Network organised numerous online and in-person meetings over the last year, working on initiatives to present the IDGs to more people, attract more members, and use the IDGs to work with complex societal issues in Mauritius successfully. Consequently, new members have joined since thus growing the network and adding fresh perspectives.
The activity of the local Network even went international with one of its members volunteering at the IDG Summit in Stockholm, Sweden last October, with the gracious welcome of the IDG Staff, namely Jonna Lundberg, Volunteer Lead; Pontus Holmgren, IDG Hubs Co-lead and Jan Henriksson, Executive Director IDG. The Summit is its biggest annual gathering that aims to shift the narrative on sustainability and human development towards more hope and action.
| Inner Development integrates into Corporate Life and the White House.
The annual IDG Summit in Sweden explored “The Space In Between” highlighting practice stories from business, governments, civil society & academia on how inner skills can lead to outer change.
Business leaders, in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), explored how integrating inner development can transform corporate life and accelerate progress towards the SDG.
Participants gained valuable insights and practical tools for embedding the IDG agenda within their organisation in support of efforts to realise sustainability transformation. They heard directly from Chief People Officers who shared key learnings from their own IDG journeys, engaged in a simulation game and explored emerging strategies and tools for effective IDG activation in a corporate setting.
Participants discussed how to bring the IDGs into businesses and sought inspiration from real-life experiences to build their approach. They engaged closely with consultancies, CEOs and business leaders with unique expertise in implementing IDG into business settings. The program designed as an immersive journey leveraged the collective wisdom in the rooms to help businesses explore their edge with IDG and strengthen their ability to apply this framework in addressing their adaptive challenges.
Additionally, the audience learned about how federal agencies are rallying behind inner work for a sustainable future at the White House, engaging in thoughtful discussions on how to apply systems thinking to enhance employee engagement and accelerate sustainability goals across U.S. agencies. |
The impact of the constant sharing and learning among the members did not go unnoticed among themselves.
Nathalie Venis-Randabel, Passionate Leader, says that “Einstein’s quote, ‘we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,’ reflects the essence of the IDGs, a great tool that helps me change perspectives. I’ve made new friends in our small group, making it a great space for learning and growing together.”
Anne-Clotilde St.Mart, Certified Coach & Experience Designer, equally favours these skills development. « I believe that the more we are connected to ourselves and the environment we are part of, the more we can unlock creativity and optimism. The IDG Framework has enabled me to develop a more targeted approach towards the skills we need to develop. »
“The IDGs align beautifully with my profession within the field of Human Resources Management,” says Adilla Diouman-Mosafeer, Director and Founder of Talent Lab. “The IDGs bring in a softer and much needed approach to organisations, beyond balance sheet bottom lines and board room objectives. If properly embraced, engagement, rapport and alignment become almost a natural process over the long run.”
Nelly Yiptong thinks that “as someone who is constantly analysing human behaviour, the concept of the IDGs made a lot of sense. The Five Dimensions are the lenses through which I now filter my perceptions in order to achieve a heightened degree of perspective. Honing these skills can provide anyone with the necessary resources to trigger ‘mind shifts’ and collectively create systemic societal change.”
Echoing Nelly, Daden Venkatasawmy, an active citizen, adds that “the IDGs are about people. The setting up of the local community has been a deep, inquisitive and enriching human experience. We shared, questioned, discussed, voiced and listened to converging and diverging views in a very open, passionate and respectful way. It is now time to open this human journey to all those who want to work for the common good, the human way.”
Broadening Daden’s idea outward, Daniella Bastien, Connector, believes that “Mauritius, as an island state, is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is no longer enough to think about actions to protect our environment without taking into consideration the people who are impacted. The IDGs fill this gap: how to catalyze inner change for outer transformation. The Five Dimensions now accompany all my reflections, both personal and professional.”
A small group of people moves forward for positive impact.
The local Network carries on learning, innovating, prototyping, practising and sharing the application of the new tools being adopted.
One of its next activities in 2025 is entitled “Nou Zwenn!” and will be an invitation to anyone interested in reconnecting with oneself and others. Through various activities fostering inner development, this public space will embrace the multicultural Mauritian society to think through national challenges more effectively.
Moreover, armed now with the Inner Development Toolkit, courtesy of Sara Øllgaard, Leadership Changemaker (www.saraollgaard/idg), the Core Team intends to invite its members to get the most out of the IDGs in a playful, yet serious way. The tool fosters deep reflection and valuable dialogue to inspire more leaders to balance their inward focus with their external change plans.
Anyone interested in knowing more about the IDGs or joining its mailing list is welcome to write to its coordinators at idgmauritiusnetwork@gmail.com.
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus wrote the lyrics of yet another Abba’s hit: “Take a Chance on Me.” What if we could handle the crisis of sustainability by checking on our behaviour first; by taking a chance on ourselves in honing our personal skills, with the risks anMoodysd discomfort this brings; and by then taking a chance on others, to learn about them, trust, collaborate with them for small positive steps ahead for Mauritius?