Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and knowledge work – a responsible match?

The responsible workplace for knowledge work is multifaceted phenomena. It is an attraction and value-statement for individual employees. It is part of the sustainability agenda of the employer. So far sustainability-related practices in workplace management have been connected to ecological, economic and social factors. In terms of ecological sustainability energy efficiency is a much used sustainability indicator. It is also a known fact that an organisation can decrease
a large part of their emissions by improving their methods of business travel. Space use efficiency can be identified as an economic sustainability factor as occupying less space usually means smaller rental cost. There are different environmental tools to develop green practices connected to the working environment. All United Nations members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015. At the core of the agenda are 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Since, many organisations, public or private, in different countries are committed to these SDGs. However, how these SDGs are practised in knowledge work and in responsible workplace management is not investigated thoroughly. Therefore, the indicator framework for SDGs needs more intense conceptual and methodological considerations to support the development of responsible workplace management. The goal of this paper is to connect SDGs and sustainable practices of knowledge work environments. The
research question asked is: What are the potential SDGs to indicate the responsibility of knowledge in the workplace? How can these SDGs be practised and measured? The method to this qualitative study is focus group interviews. The focus group will consist of workplace management practitioners in Finland. The qualitative and explanatory approach opens the insights to adaptation of SDGs in workplace management. The result of this provides insights to different SDGs as part of responsible workplace management.