Multi-stakeholder Engagement for the Sustainable Development Goals: Introduction to the Special Issue

Area of Science:

• Business and Management
• Sustainability Science
• Public Policy

Background:

• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development faces challenges in achieving its goals.
• Multi-stakeholder engagement, including cross-sector partnerships, is crucial for sustainable development.
• Private enterprises encounter difficulties in establishing effective multi-stakeholder configurations for sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how business purpose can be aligned with sustainability goals through multi-stakeholder partnerships.
• To advance the discourse on meaningful engagement strategies in sustainable development.
• To identify research pathways for enhancing multi-stakeholder engagement in the Decade of Action.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of nine scholarly contributions on multi-stakeholder engagement.
• Development of a conceptual framework for research on multi-stakeholder engagement processes.
• Identification of three coupling lines for research: relational, cognitive, and material.

Main Results:

• Challenges exist in integrating business purpose with common sustainability agendas within partnerships.
• The study identifies key areas for research to improve multi-stakeholder engagement effectiveness.
• Three research pathways are proposed: multi-sector alignment, operational perception alignment, and goal/strategic alignment.

Conclusions:

• Effective multi-stakeholder partnerships are essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Further research is needed to understand and optimize the alignment of business purpose with sustainability objectives.
• The proposed research pathways offer a roadmap for advancing business studies in support of global sustainability efforts.