Subject Guides: Sustainable Development Goals at NSCC: Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

About Goal 8

Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, aims to promote, inclusive and sustainable economic growth with productive employment and decent work for all. This goal has two key targets, to sustain and grow the economy through consistent increases in the GDP and higher levels of economic productivity. The second is to support employment and decent work through equal pay and protection of labour rights.

Learn more about Goal 8

United Cities and Local Governments. (2016, March 17). Learning about SDG 8 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/HBbEo4qoAmI

NSCC and Goal 8

Examples of NSCC initiatives that are helping to advance Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Career Advising	NSCC helps students prepare for entering the workforce through personal career advising sessions and job seeking support
Local Economy	The Analysis of the Economic Impact and Return on Investment of Education: the Economic Value of Nova Scotia Community College study investigates the economic impacts created by NSCC on the provincial economy and the benefits that the college generates in return for the investments made by its key stakeholder groups—students, society, and taxpayers.
Meeting Industry Needs	The College works closely with employers and industry partners across Nova Scotia to develop programs, learning opportunities and research projects that not only support our students with their studies but benefit our collaborators and communities. Due to this, our graduates are well positioned to enter the workforce with the skills they require.
Support for Entrepreneurs	NSCC delivers a free online workshop, Financial Information for Small Business,sponsorship by CIBC.

Resources and Links

Government of Canada: Rights in the Workplace
Canadians have the right to be treated fairly in workplaces free from discrimination, and our country has laws and programs to protect this right.
International Labour Organization: World Employment and Social Outlook 2021
This ILO flagship report explores how the contemporary platform economy is transforming the way work is organized, and analyses the impact of digital labour platforms on enterprises, workers and society as a whole.
OECD: Canada Economic Snapshot
Canada’s economy has largely recovered from the COVID-19 crisis.
Public Policy Forum: The Future is Now: Creating Decent Work Post-Pandemic
This paper reviews the current state of Canada’s labour market, explores key trends related to the nature and quality of work, and considers which trends might accelerate or change course post-pandemic.
United Nations Environment Programme: Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth
With the growth of both population and prosperity, especially in developing countries, the prospect of much higher resource consumption levels is “far beyond what is likely sustainable” if realized at all given finite world resources, warns this report by UNEP’s International Resource Panel.

Books

eBook - At What Cost: Modern Capitalism and the Future of Health by Nicholas Freudenberg
An incisive and powerful investigation of corporate impact on human and planetary well-being.
eBook - Nature's Wealth: The Economics of Ecosystem Services and Poverty by van Beukering et. al (Eds.)
Presenting new insights into the relationship between ecosystem services and livelihoods in developing countries, this book takes up the challenge of assessing these links to demonstrate their importance in policy development.
Sustainable work and the environmental crisis : The link between labour and climate change by Baldry & Hyman
This book demonstrates that there are definite and complex connections between degraded jobs and a degraded environment, that neither the dominant economic model nor the rate at which we exploit the planet's resources are sustainable and that the limits for both may be reached sooner rather than later.

Key Organizations

International Labour Organization
The main aims of the ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.
OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
An international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives.
The World Bank
The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.