ENS 201.03

Muskegon and the Sustainable Development Goals

The City of Muskegon, Michigan is in transition.  From a lumbering town to heavy industry, Muskegon has suffered from pollution especially along and in Muskegon Lake. Now the city has an opportunity to rise to a new level with the progress of cleaning up Muskegon Lake.  What will be the city's future? 

Can the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) help to guide the city in creating a robust sustainable place to live?  ENS 201 students formed groups and selected one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for their collaborative projects about Muskegon.  The SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as "a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity." (UN)  Although the SDGs are global in scope, communities have localized these goals as they prepare Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) of their SDG implementation efforts.  Can Muskegon follow the lead of these communities?