The implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as well as other ap-proaches to sustainability transformations including stabilizing the geophysical plane-tary life support system require the capacity of multiple actors to better understand not only dynamics of the Earth System, but also the features and dynamics of socie-tal change processes.

When Thomas Berry in 1999 reminded us of the need for the “Great Work” that would need to be done in the twenty-first century, he framed it this way: “The Great Work now, as we move into a new millennium, is to carry out the transition of a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner.”

The state of the world suggests we are at a crossroad - the next 15 to 20 years will have a decisive impact - more than in any period before - on the conditions of life on Earth. As many scientists predict, we need to rise up to our capacity for Earth Stewardship, if we want to stabilize the trajectories of our planet. In a short-term perspective we need to collectively step-up to damage control and voluntarily air obligatorily simply comply with the targets that have been set so many times.

The Global Goals require recognition of the complex interplay between systemic interventions for the different goals - as well as between the actors and networks they touch. Seeing the 17 goals not only as a technical and political implementation challenge, but also as an invitation to operate with a systems view of life, in a spirit of collective leadership (link to Compass), may advance new thinking and subsequently new practice – that could then become the unstated norm.

I know many people who are determined to make the world a better place, by analysing the status quo, recommending and reminding of what needs to be done, or by pushing new agendas. But what startles me is how many of them tend to be locked in a strange paradigm – our habit of believing that it is events that change the world. Packed with key note speeches, panel discussions and so-called break-out sessions (breaking-out from what?) these publically noticeable events are built on the assumption that if the audience listens to new or convincing thoughts they get inspired and will do things differently.

The advent of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals already shows that human consciousness has risen to the point that the globality of the challenges has been acknowledged. While negotiated at the UN level, the SDGs have gradually entered the political and administrative arena of every country, to a greater or lesser extent, with many activities and initiatives emerging from civil society to governments to business.