Report on Loudon Girl Scout Troop 60180: A Case Study in Localizing Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

Loudon Girl Scout Troop 60180, under the leadership of Sheena Corbett, serves as a compelling model for implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a community level. The troop’s activities are strategically aligned with key global objectives, focusing on gender equality, quality education, sustainable communities, and fostering strong institutions. This report analyzes the troop’s methodologies and their direct contributions to achieving these goals, transforming a traditional scouting experience into a dynamic platform for youth empowerment and sustainable development.

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality

The troop’s core mission is centered on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. This is accomplished through a multi-faceted approach that builds confidence, leadership, and challenges conventional gender roles.

Key Strategies for Empowerment:

• Fostering Female Leadership: The troop operates on a “girl-led” principle, where members vote on all activities, from badge selection to community service projects. This practice directly supports SDG Target 5.5 by ensuring full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership.
• Expanding Career Horizons: Ms. Corbett actively exposes the scouts to women succeeding in a diverse range of professions, including traditionally male-dominated fields. Visitors have included an EMT, a mechanic, a state representative, and a dental hygienist, demonstrating that “girls can do anything” and broadening perceptions of future career opportunities.
• Building Self-Confidence: Practical exercises, such as requiring girls to make phone calls to local businesses to arrange cookie booths, are designed to push them out of their comfort zones and develop essential communication and negotiation skills.

Contributions to Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education

Troop 60180 provides inclusive and equitable quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities beyond the formal school system. The program focuses on developing relevant skills for personal and professional success.

Educational Objectives and Outcomes:

1. Life Skills Development: The curriculum emphasizes practical skills essential for promoting sustainable development, including critical thinking, decision-making, and interpersonal communication, aligning with SDG Target 4.7.
2. Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship: Through activities like fundraising and managing cookie sales, the scouts gain hands-on experience in financial management, a key skill for future economic independence as noted in SDG Target 4.4.
3. Inclusive Learning Environment: The troop intentionally mixes ages and includes girls from multiple towns (Loudon, Pembroke, Bow, Boscawen), fostering mentorship between older and younger scouts and promoting inclusive social dynamics.

Fostering Sustainable Communities and Strong Institutions (SDG 11 & SDG 16)

The troop is deeply engaged in community service and civic life, thereby contributing to the creation of inclusive, safe, and sustainable communities and promoting participatory institutions.

Community and Civic Engagement Initiatives:

• Community Service: The troop actively identifies community needs and takes action. A notable project involved raising funds to purchase Christmas presents for children in foster care, directly addressing local inequalities (SDG 10) and strengthening community bonds (SDG 11).
• Promoting Civic Participation: Ms. Corbett leverages her position at the New Hampshire State House to provide the troop with unique insights into governmental processes. Regular visits to the capital and interactions with state representatives foster an early understanding of and respect for public institutions, supporting SDG Target 16.7 (ensure responsive, inclusive, and participatory decision-making).
• Democratic Governance: The troop’s voting-based decision-making process mirrors the principles of a democratic institution, teaching the girls the importance of participation and representation from a young age.

SDGs Addressed in the Article

The following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are connected to the issues highlighted in the article:

• SDG 4: Quality Education – The article focuses on providing girls with practical life skills, confidence, and exposure to various career paths, which are forms of informal education and lifelong learning.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality – A central theme is the empowerment of girls. The troop leader works to build strong, independent girls, promote female leadership, and expose them to women succeeding in various fields.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – The troop’s active involvement in community service, such as fundraising for local foster children, and bringing together girls from different towns contributes to creating inclusive and supportive communities.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – The article mentions the leader’s efforts to provide “civic-minded exposure” by organizing visits to the State House and teaching the girls about governmental processes, fostering an understanding of public institutions.

Specific SDG Targets Identified

Based on the article’s content, the following specific SDG targets can be identified:

• Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
  • This is demonstrated by the leader’s initiative to have the girls develop practical communication skills by “calling local businesses to set up cookie booths” and exposing them to various job opportunities to prepare them for the future.
• Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
  • The article states the troop is “girl-led,” where the girls make decisions through voting. The leader’s goal is to create “well-rounded, strong girls” and show them “what female empowerment looks like,” directly supporting this target.
• Target 11.a: Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.
  • The troop itself fosters social links by bringing together a “mix of ages” and “19-21 girls from Loudon, Pembroke, Bow and Boscawen,” creating relationships between people from different schools and communities.
• Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.
  • The troop’s operating model, where “everything is a vote” and leaders act as “facilitators, while the girls make the decisions,” is a direct application of participatory decision-making. This is further reinforced by visits to the State House to learn about civic processes.

Indicators for Measuring Progress

The article mentions or implies several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets:

• Indicator for Target 4.4: The number and variety of professionals who visit the troop. The article explicitly lists that a “dental hygienist, EMT, state representative, personal trainer and mechanic have visited the troop.” This serves as a direct measure of the girls’ exposure to different careers.
• Indicator for Target 5.5: The implementation of a “girl-led” decision-making process. The article notes that “everything is a vote,” which is a qualitative indicator of the girls’ participation and leadership in their own activities. The number of girls participating (19-21) is a quantitative measure of reach.
• Indicator for Target 11.a: The number of community service projects undertaken. The article gives a specific example of “making Christmas ornaments to raise funds to buy presents for foster kids,” which can be tracked as an indicator of community engagement.
• Indicator for Target 16.7: The number of civic engagement activities organized for the troop. The article mentions that “The girls often visit the state house with their group,” which is a measurable activity promoting civic awareness.

Summary of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: concordmonitor.com