Lund University and the Inner Development Goals: From individual engagement to global ripple effects

At Lund University (LU), we are increasingly working with linking inner and outer transformation and the inner development goals (IDGs) for accelerating sustainability across different disciplines, departments and levels. Related work started around ten years ago with the establishment of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program, which involves research, education, impact and outreach activities. The latter also involved active engagement with the processes and organisations that led to the creation of the IDGs in 2020. Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) became a founding member of the initiative, and LUCSUS Professor Christine Wamsler has been acting as a senior scientific advisor to the initiative since its very beginning. Over time, LU has increased its engagement in linking inner and outer transformation, and nurturing transformative capacities through the following fields and activities: i) undergraduate and postgraduate education (targeted courses and seminar series), ii) student career services, iii) staff capacity development, iv) strategic collaboration within and outside the university, v) the working environment and wellbeing, vi) scientific knowledge development, and vii) large-scale networking, outreach and impact work for advancing education, research and practice in the field. In this paper we present related activities and ripple effects within LU and beyond, with worldwide impacts. We reflect on the drivers, outcomes, and processes that advance the systematic consideration and institutionalisation of inner dimensions of sustainability and the IDGs, supporting shifts in discourses, paradigms and associated action-taking, from which other institutions can learn.