Urban-rural linkages are an integral part of fostering development in both urban and rural communities. However, the focus on development tends to have an urban bias toward Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with an increase in urbanization. Ghana is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in SSA. This paper sought to identify the challenges of urban-rural linkages, their corresponding solutions, and contributions to Agenda 2030 that are context-specific to Ghana through a stepwise solution scanning technique. In step 1, the study applied a scoping process to identify the urban-rural challenges. In step 2, a solution for the identified urban-rural challenges in step 1 was co-designed. In step 3, each identified solution was assessed based on its potential to contribute to all three pillars of sustainability by ranking and prioritization. In step 4, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) interlinkages of the top five prioritized potential solutions were analyzed. The identified challenges were (1) inequality and gender gaps, (2) poor and lack of basic and economic infrastructures, (3) the limited effectiveness of decentralization, and (4) food and nutrition security dynamics. The prioritized potential solutions were gender inclusiveness, investment in infrastructures, sustainable agricultural systems, effective decentralization, and financial inclusion. This study recommends maximizing the synergies and minimizing the trade-offs between the SDGs of the potential solutions identified.

In Brazil, the process of localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using public databases faces technical, institutional and political challenges. There are essentially no comprehensive current studies regarding the downscaling of the SDG indicators at the smallest territorial levels (e.g., the municipal level). In the context of unprecedented health emergencies, such as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, this paper discusses the capacity of the Brazilian public information system to support the localization of SDG 3 (good health and well-being) indicators at the municipal level. This study evaluates the proposed indicators for SDG 3 and databases that underpin these indicators. The results and discussion cover central data and process deficiencies in the public health information systems that hinder SDG 3 localization efforts, the 2030 Agenda and its goal of universality.

A adaptação às mudanças climáticas, entendida como moderação das sensibilidades e fortalecimento das capacidades adaptativas, modifica as condições e consequentemente os impactos do clima nas populações vulneráveis. Por outro lado, a capacidade adaptativa depende de políticas públicas adequadas à realidade social, econômica e ambiental. Nesse contexto, o presente artigo discute vulnerabilidades específicas, medidas adaptativas e oportunidades identificadas por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e oficinas participativas em três grupos de diferentes perfis socioambientais: as comunidades tradicionais de Fundo de Pasto (FP) no norte da Bahia, a comunidade indígena Tuxá em Rodelas/BA e os perímetros irrigados do polo Juazeiro/BA-Petrolina/PE. Os estudos de caso confirmam que a adaptação está fortemente condicionada às características físicas do local em que a população se encontra (como o regime de chuvas e proximidade de corpos hídricos perenes, fatores que condicionam o “risco”); mas que também depende de uma ampla gama de fatores sociais, econômicos, culturais e políticos.

The objective of this study was to determine how to support actions to increase the resilience and adaptation of socio-ecological systems in the semiarid region of Bahia State, focusing on the Fundo de Pasto Communities (FPCs) of the Uauá municipality. Primary (semistructured interviews with decision-makers and community leaders) and secondary data sources were used. Five dimensions of analysis were selected to organize the primary data within a framework of adaptive capacity (AC) for climate change: territorial, socio-cultural, environmental, economic and politico-institutional. For approximately 200 years, FPCs have been communally occupying and using the Caatinga biome based on agrosilvopastoral systems. The results showed the communities’ resilience in dealing with climate stresses in both the territorial and socio-cultural dimensions. This includes processes of self-organization in associations and in networks, which facilitate the flow of knowledge and collective decision-making processes. The results also identified the environmental, economic and politico-institutional dimensions of the climate risks to FPCs, which could potentially limit their AC.