About the project

Our aim is to promote sustainability in our society in line with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sdgs English

We do this by shedding light on and boosting sustainability engagement, bringing together organisations from politics, business, academia and civil society, jointly developing new ideas and solutions to tackle the challenges posed by the sustainability transition.

The 2030 Agenda embraces the economic, environmental and social dimensions of development and calls on everybody to gear their actions to these imperatives. Because everyone needs to pitch in to achieve the SDGs – from the climate-neutral sports club to the sustainable local government to the DAX-listed company going circular.

What is the Joint Action for Sustainable Development?

The Joint Action for Sustainable Development is a new initiative and open platform to promote sustainability engagement in and from Germany. We don’t want – or need – to reinvent the wheel. The Joint Action builds on existing engagement, makes it visible and scales it up.

The online platform aims to boost visibility for organisations and their activities and offers a space to network. Events will offer a chance to put heads together, exchange ideas and forge future alliances. We are also turning goals into action with community targets, action weeks, awards and open social innovation processes. You can find our guidelines in the participation pledge.

Our joint focus topic for 2024 was an area of transformation from the German Sustainable Development Strategy: biodiversity.

How do we achieve our goals?

Who is behind the Joint Action for Sustainable Development?

Since January 1, 2025, Engagement Global has been implementing the Joint Action for Sustainable Development. Engagement Global unites various funding programs as well as numerous projects, initiatives and pogrammes for a fair and sustainable global cooperation under one roof and works in particular with civil society, municipalities and schools. Engagement Global works on behalf of the German Federal Government and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The Joint Action for Sustainable Development was initiated and designed in 2021 by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) on behalf of the federal and state governments. The official launch took place in September 2022. After more than two years of successful management, the platform was handed over to Engagement Global on January 1, 2025.

The Joint Action for Sustainable Development cooperates with many sustainability projects that have registered on the site and have already done a lot of preliminary work at local level or on individual topics.

Nachhaltigkeit lebt von Engagement. Mit kreativen Ideen und großem Enthusiasmus engagieren sich viele Bürgerinnen und Bürger, Vereine und Kirchen, Kommunen, Gewerkschaften und Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik für eine globale nachhaltige Entwicklung. Das Gemeinschaftswerk Nachhaltigkeit macht diese Aktivitäten sichtbar und ermöglicht die Vernetzung untereinander. Und es ermutigt zu neuem Engagement, denn zu den 17 globalen Nachhaltigkeitszielen kann jede und jeder Einzelne etwas beitragen.

Svenja Schulze, Bundesministerin für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung

Who can get involved?

The Joint Action for Sustainable Development is aimed at anyone taking action to make our society more ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. After all, our theme ALL TOGETHER NOW is the name of the game: whether you’re an association, club, company, local government, civil society initiative, trade union, welfare organisation, religious community or cultural or sporting activity – everyone’s invited. You and your organisation included! Because sustainability impacts us all.

The online platform offers networking opportunities, both regionally and nationwide, for those looking to exchange their thoughts, share collegial advice or just discover good ideas. As such, we want to mobilise regional efforts and get everyone involved. The lack of scaling, communication and exchange means there are a whole host of great approaches out there led by really motivated people that can’t quite get beyond the local level. Too often, it’s a case of reinventing the wheel for each and every person who wants to get involved, whether that’s procuring or buying sustainably within your organisation, taking steps as a company to go circular, or ensuring a rapid local government transformation to climate neutrality. The solutions are out there, but right now they are not always easy to find. All that is about to change, thanks to the Joint Action online platform!

Your benefits:
- Sign up your organisation and invite colleagues
- Show your activities and events
- Post offers and best practices
- Follow organisations and bookmark activities