Harnessing hope: a psychological strategy for achieving the sustainable development goals

Abstract

The 2023 SDG Report reveals a concerning trend: weak progress on over 50% of SDG targets in the last three years, with 30% stalled or regressing. Failure to make progress towards goals may lead to a rise in negative affective states, including anxiety and depression. Hope is a teachable skill that leads to positive outcomes in psychiatric and medical health, education, the workplace, and overall well-being. Teaching hope globally using established programming and dissemination of hope science is vital for SDG progress by teaching everyone the essential skill of hope. Literature for this narrative review was compiled based on keyword relevance, relevancy, and recency. Findings on hope’s relationship to the SDGs and actionable strategies are discussed.