SDG 18: Spirituality Values and Culture for Humanising Sustainable Development A Future Worldview

Editor: Abdelaziz Berghout & Khaliq Ahmed
Publisher: ISTAC - IIUM Publication
ISBN: 9789839379754
Weight: 
Pages: 364ppp
Year: 2023
Price: RM100

Our experiences and ideas have led us to believe that spirituality is just one more dimension that we must be aware of when dealing with issues of sustainable development goals (SDGs). We recognise it and can make it work for rahmalan lil 'alamin's global Ummah as well as for the rest of humankind. It is therefore timely to examine spirituality in relation to its global applicability. This publication on SDG 18 is the first of its kind not only in our university but also in many other parts of the world. It is meant as a vehicle to advance the cause of spirituality, values, and culture in humanising sustainable development. More significantly, though, is to show that although this dimension is intangible, it is currently gaining relevance in global discourse, which is what our analysis of this edited book will focus on. This book highlights how urgent it is to come up with a new SDG namely SDG 18, that addresses the role of spirituality, values, and culture in not only humanising sustainable development but also maintaining the harmony needed to support both ecological and human civilisation in a complex and globalised world.

As the world moves towards chaos and post-normal complexities and dynamics, it is only prudent to rethink our concept of what sustainable development entails. As a result, it is critical that the taxonomy, structure, and function of development be critically examined in order to improve articulation and orientation. Any viable development viewpoint must contain a thorough and integrated understanding of who the human being is. The human being is defined not only by his body, mind, intellect, brain, and senses, but also by the forces of his soul and heart, values and character, culture, and social acts. Therefore, the human being is a synthesis of these physical, psychological, mental, intellectual, spiritual, emotional, moral, social, cultural, and civilisational forces, all of which must coexist in harmony and balance. Sustainable development must target holistically the entire human person as the driving force of growth and civilisation if it is to reclaim balance and efficacy.

Among other things, SDG 18 addresses the issue of balance and harmony in the formula for sustainable development. If one desires to see future-balanced growth, spirituality, values, and culture must be reprioritised and institutionalised as part of the mainstream sustainable development narrative and worldview, as well as policies, strategies, and action plans.