On 31 January 2023, UNU will host “The Crucial Value of Approaching SDG Targets through a Nexus Lens”, a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Professor Edeltraud Guenther, Director of the UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES). This event will be held via Zoom webinar at 18:00 JST (UTC+9).

Because all 169 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intrinsically interlinked, their achievement is interdependent, with the impact of one target affecting all others. The Resource Nexus concept offers an effective means to examine these interdependencies by considering the functioning, productivity, and management of a complex system, instead of just individual components.

Professor Guenther will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Sawako Shirahase to introduce the Resource Nexus Approach and discuss why a Nexus perspective is imperative for meeting the targets of each SDG.

Please note this event will be in English. Advance registration by 30 January is required. Registrants will receive an email on the day of the event with a link to attend via Zoom webinar.

About the Speaker

Prof. Edeltraud Guenther is a globally recognised expert in environmental management and sustainability assessment. She assumed the position of Director of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) in Dresden, Germany on 1 September 2018.

Prof. Guenther’s research focuses on sustainability management, environmental accounting, and management control systems, with an emphasis on corporate responsibility, life cycle assessment, resilience, and sustainability assessment. As UNU-FLORES Director, Prof. Guenther is a vocal advocate for “Advancing the Resource Nexus”, which is also reflected in the Institute’s mission to create meaningful impact across the scientific landscape, and to champion the Resource Nexus as a vital scientific perspective.

As part of strengthening the connections between UNU-FLORES and the wider United Nations network, Prof. Guenther was also one of the establishing Directors and the first Chair for UNU Water Network, which was initiated in 2019. In 2020, she was appointed UNU Senior Official for the Environmental Management Group (EMG).

Prof. Guenther received her doctorate in Environmental Accounting from the University of Augsburg and has held the position of Chair of Business Management, Sustainability Management and Environmental Accounting, at the Faculty of Business and Economics at Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) since 1996.

For more on Prof. Guenther’s background, see her full profile.

About the series

The BIG IDEAS: SDGs Dialogue Series introduces the people, projects, and organisations behind shared efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each event features leading representatives and researchers from international organisations, UN agencies, and UNU institutes to stimulate discussion on sustainable development issues and initiatives. The events provide a unique opportunity for young researchers, graduate students, and civil society to become more familiar with SDG-related topics, ask questions, and learn how they can contribute to local and global SDG progress.