The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Novel Futures provides support and advice to UN agencies for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Clients include the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), UNICEF, the UN Development Programme, and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. In this capacity Novel Futures Director, Darren Swanson,  co-authored the UNSDG's 2030 Agenda Mainstreaming Reference Guide and Online Training Course on Integrated Approaches to Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support for the SDGs.  

Novel Futures provides training, consulting and facilitation services to governments for mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals (SDGs) into strategies, plans and monitoring systems. In this capacity, Novel Futures Director, Darren Swanson, has organized national training and knowledge sharing workshops for the Islamic Development Bank and the Incheon-based UN Office for Sustainable Development annual Sustainable Development Transition Forum.

As a judge for CPA Canada's annual corporate reporting awards for 15 years,  Darren Swanson has witnessed innovations that have helped businesses stand out from among their competitors and peers, including through integrated reporting and most recently, by incorporating the SDGs. As a Director and Project Officer of the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Measurement & Assessment program for ten years, Darren assisted with internal corporate  sustainability reporting using the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

As a past member of the project team for Winnipeg's award-winning community wellbeing indicator system, PEG, and as a current steering group member for this United Way-led initiative, Darren Swanson understands first hand how critically important stakeholder engagement is in conceptualizing, measuring and navigating progress toward community wellbeing and sustainability.

Novel Futures  Director, Darren Swanson, provides sustainable development strategy and reporting support to international NGOs and Development Banks. In 2017, Novel Futures prepared an assessment framework and report for the Islamic Development Bank Group's 10-year Strategy and alignment with the SDGs. And recently in 2018, Darren created a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Geneva 2030 Ecosystem Network.