ASSIGNMENT 1 : REFLECTION REPORT

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP

Name : NOOR ‘OLYA DOLLAH

Matric No: PPP223041
Program : Doctor Of Philosophy Education

Title :

Leadership and Governance for Sustainability

Speaker : Dr. Wesam Al-Madhoun
Overview

The talk focused on the current state and potential future developments of leadership and
governance for the purposes of sustainability. More specifically, the emphasis was placed
on finding a balance between the various issues and challenges that will be involved in
making decisions to promote sustainability.

Key points:
● There is a disparity between global population and income and wealth since
developing nations have a greater population but less income and wealth to gain
than developed nations. It has presented difficulties for the global leader to manage
plans for sustainability.
● In light of the current trend, Dr. Wesam has stated that the majority of the world's
population is unaware that we are living in an unsustainable manner, as an
increasing number of earth resources are being mismanaged, which can result in
the rapid depletion of natural capital. This is considered to be the greatest threat to
the sustainability of the world in which we live, thus it is making the process more
difficult.
● Despite the fact that Covid-19 has become the main cause of death on a global
scale, air pollution has become a huge conundrum in terms of actual causes of
death, especially as the fundamental cause of climate change resulting from global
warming. As a result, there are a few major impacts of climate change on the world,
including the relocation of entire towns, decreased harvest productivity, price
increases, extreme meteorological phenomena that cause widespread poverty, the
 appearance of disease due to hot climate, a lack of clean water supply, more wars to
gain scarce resources, loss of work capacity due to heat, and the cost of adapting to
rising sea levels. Due to the effects of climate change, an increasing number of
countries must shoulder the rising expense of national support.
● To corroborate the fact, he also highlighted the research from an NGO that claimed
that air pollutants cost USD 2.9 trillion a year worldwide and cause 4.5 million
premature deaths.
● If air pollution can be reduced and good health can be regained, a $12 trillion
increase in GDP is anticipated for 2040.
● On the other hand, Dr. Wesam disclosed that the worldwide lockdown decision due
to Covid-19 is, shockingly, one of the causes that will allow the earth to heal itself, as
fewer people will be able to consume the resources and influence climate change at
once.
● Dr. Wesam recommends that the environmental, economic, and social components
of sustainability should be considered in order to ensure the sustainability of
nations. For instance, if governance can safeguard environmental aspects such as
hazardous waste management, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions, it can
contribute to the preservation of current resources for future generations.
● He also suggests three major ideas to maintain sustainability: focus more on
renewable energy such as solar to meet the needs of heating and electricity
generation, protect biodiversity and restore the environmental effects of natural
capital degradation, and be more sensitive in managing waste and pollution by not
overloading natural systems with harmful chemicals.
● As a supplement to the ideas, he emphasized the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG) outlined by the United Nations, which must be met by 2030. Among these are
climate action, clean water and sanitation,life below water and etc, which will be the
guidelines to achieve sustainable development by means of these
recommendations.
● Dr. Wesam highlighted that the collaboration and integration among all respectives,
including government, agencies, academic institutions, and organizations, to
support the nation's sustainable development as the most important goal be
achieved.

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 ● Therefore, Dr. Wesam has outlined the six principles of sustainability leadership: 1)
leaders must have a worldview mindset; 2) initiate networking; 3) work across
boundaries; 4) influence without authority; 5) comfort working with complexity; and
6) recognise the significance of self-leading.
● To conserve the ecosystem and ensure its continued viability, he emphasized the
importance of having strong leaders who make the proper calls and impose rules on
the populace.
● Nonetheless, a leader needs to consider how to deal with the difficulty of striking a
balance between the economic, society, and environmental considerations, and
making sure all three are equally represented in the nation's plan for sustainable
growth.
● Free from violence, fear, and crime, good governance helps construct peaceful and
secure societies with the stability essential to attracting and retaining development
investments.
● Another difficulty he brought up in his address was the difficulty in determining how
good governance can interpret the experience and evidence from many sources to
generate solid and bold affirmations to establish the nation's sustainable
development strategy.
● As there are a few key players—the state, civil society, the market, and non-state
actors—that need to be involved for the government to do its job, the government
should have good laws, institutions, and processes in place to ensure accountability,
stability, equality, and access to justice for everyone.
● In the final remarks of his address, he made the unequivocal assertion that the
leadership of the nation's government plays an essential part in ensuring that the
nation is able to contribute to the long-term development of the entire world.

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Reflection :

The talk provided a comprehensive and insightful overview of the current state and
potential future of leadership and governance to achieve national sustainability. It
emphasized the importance of considering sustainability's environmental, economic,
and societal implications, as well as the need for responsible and transparent
governance in order to govern it effectively and efficiently. It also emphasized the
importance of government participation in leadership programmes in sustainable
development, which I found to be very true in order to achieve the partnership for the
goals agenda in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Overall, the
talk was thought-provoking and raised several important issues that I will research
further to equip my knowledge on good governance and leadership for sustainable
development.

Improvements Needed: The talk did not delve deeply into specific examples of unethical
and societal consequences of governance failure to maintain sustainability, and it would
have been interesting to explore these issues in greater depth.

Overall, the talk was informative and well-organized, providing a valuable perspective on
the current state and potential future of how good leaders and the government of the
country can effectively plan for the nation's sustainable growth.