The missing link to a sustainable future: the inner development goals

Author: Marina Stögner

In 2025, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) will celebrate their 10th anniversary. Some things are moving in a climate-friendly and socially just direction, but we are far away from a rosy perspective. Although we would have the innovation and technology to manage global warming and end world hunger (just as an example), we still do not do it – there is obviously something missing.  The theory behind the emergent concept of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) is that in order to reach the “outer” SDGs, we collectively need to “level up” internally. Zen-master and applied Buddhist Thích Nhất Hạnh phrased it as “the way out is in”, which I find is an excellently precise description of what I think is humanity’s greatest challenge at the moment. The IDGs are an internationally developed, scientifically-backed framework of 5 categories with 23 sub-aspects of inner development qualities. All of these are meant to be strengthened in each one of us to increase the likelihood of creating a world that works for all. 

 

Inner Development Goals (IDG) is a non-profit and open-source initiative for inner development. We research, collect and communicate science-based skills and qualities that help us to live purposeful, sustainable, and productive lives. The beauty of this framework lies in the flexibility of interpretation for your specific sphere of impact. Even before the IDGs officially came into existence, the Impact Hub Network had many of the aspects baked into its DNA already. In this article, I would like to shine the light on how we translate the Inner Development Goals specifically at Impact Hub Vienna to support our core target group: our Impact Entrepreneurs.

Disclaimer: While we practice many of the aspects for over a decade, we are far from perfect and are aware that developing the Inner Development Goals within our community and ourselves is a journey. I am writing this from my individual perspective in the “Entrepreneur Support” team and will also just highlight some of the strongest aspects in each category. Hence, this is neither a full overview of the IDGs nor the activities at Impact Hub Vienna, but rather an appreciation of what stands out the most for me at the moment. 

“Cultivating our inner life and developing and deepening our relationship to our thoughts, feelings and body help us be present, intentional and non-reactive when we face complexity.”

We are in the luxurious position that the great minds that join us with their impressive ideas are already rooted in most of the dimensions in this category. From a deeply felt commitment to do good in the world, a good degree of radical honesty towards oneself, to a mindset of curiosity and an (unfortunately still not mainstream) willingness to be vulnerable. To embrace constant change and growth even more, Impact Hub Vienna supports its founders by implementing self-care tracks in its programs that focus on the “being human” behind the “striving founder”, like in the current edition of our acceleration program Greenstart. For the time after acceleration, we are developing continuous learning opportunities, like the Founders Pass membership for Impact Entrepreneurs. There we practice self-awareness and presence, the ability to be in reflective contact with ourselves in face of speed, complexity, and the heaviness of improving the world.  

“Developing our cognitive skills by taking different perspectives, evaluating information, and making sense of the world as an interconnected whole, is essential for wise decision-making.”

In our many-fold programs, we ensure critical(re-)thinking of ideas and approaches by connecting the ventures with our coaches and experts, to accompany them through the next project stage. In our Founders Pass membership, we provide regular masterclasses on skills to review and validate entrepreneurial plans. For sense-making, we include a versatile range of workshops tailored to the cohort’s needs, for example on Impact Modelling and Measurement for long-term orientation, as last seen in the current edition of our accelerator program FABB. 

“Appreciating, caring for and feeling connected to others, such as neighbors, future generations or the biosphere, helps us create more just and sustainable systems and societies for everyone.”

At Impact Hub Vienna, we focus on building vibrant communities of like-minded individuals, like fellow entrepreneurs and a wide range of other stakeholders that all have the thriving of our founders at the center of their activities. With a colorful variety of community events in our locations Impact Hub, Climate Lab and Future Health Lab we ensure connection and cohesion. Additionally, we ensure that we make space for appreciation, gratitude and celebration, for example at our legendary summer parties. To stay connected throughout the year, we provide online channels such as our Impact Community on Slack that ensures not only a constant flow of valuable information but also having someone at your fingertips to exchange and share your founder experience when you need it. 

“To make progress on shared concerns, we need to develop our abilities to include, hold space and communicate with stakeholders with different values, skills and competencies.”

Clearly, the ability to really listen to others, to foster genuine dialogue and to adapt communication to diverse groups needs daily practice. We contribute to that by interweaving various stakeholder types in the thematic ecosystems we created: At Impact Hub Vienna, Climate Lab and Future Health Lab private and public institutions as well as investors and experts meet with the entrepreneurs of the future. We support these encounters with skilled workshop designers, experienced facilitators and hosts trained in the Art of Hosting and passionate about creating extraordinary experiences each and every time we bring people together. 

The Impact Hub Vienna’s team composition alone reflects 18 nationalities, working on supporting our founders and creating a welcoming, intercultural and inclusive space that reaches from a more just and accessible program design (less “pitching-of-the-loudest” for a more equal access to our acceleration programs) to redesigning the physical space with vulnerable groups in mind (facilities that are accessible not only to the able-bodied). This consistency in improvement also fosters trust in what we stand for and for over a decade, and we have an open ear at all times – you can walk through our gates at any time and be sure to find a helpful hand and heart! 

“Qualities such as courage and optimism help us acquire true agency, break old patterns, generate original ideas and act with persistence in uncertain times.”

The times are definitely uncertain. Back in the founding days of Impact Hub Vienna, the innovation and startup scene in Vienna was barely noticeable. Courage never comes without fear, which is an essential fuel for standing up for values, taking decisive action and disrupting existing structures. It took a bold move and vision to establish what after over a decade still stands strong, while evolving within an ever-changing ecosystem. With its tagline “Where courage meets collaboration”, our flagship conference Impact Days marks the annual peak of how we navigate and are in service in an accelerating and complex world. Creativity is at the core of our founders’ original ideas. As Impact Hub Vienna, we see ourselves as home to these disruptive ideas and actively nurture the creative process of their development. In our acceleration programs, we use diagnostics tools and the expertise of our coaches and experts to translate powerful concepts into concrete development plans, to maximize the probability of dreams coming true via tangible milestones, and to unlock the full potential of the creators with co-creation.  What we think is our most powerful tool for optimism is a strong community. Backed by a partnership with Hil Foundation on well-being, we actively practice to embody showing up as full humans in this world and create a future-proof work culture through how we work inside of Impact Hub Vienna, which (hopefully) translates to how we host our community – head, heart and soul aligned.