The Contribution of Local Agents and Citizens to Sustainable Development: The Portuguese Experience

Abstract

The achievement of the 2030 Agenda implies a shared responsibility in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Local government, in particular municipalities, is closer to citizens and, therefore, better placed to respond to the needs of each region. This study intends to explore initiatives promoted by civil society, businesses, and local organizations in the context of each municipality in Portugal to address the sustainable development goals established in the 2030 Agenda. It adopts mixed methods to quantify the impact of these initiatives in the territories and qualitatively explores the inherent characteristics associated with each project. The findings show that there are significant asymmetries in the number of projects in the Portuguese regions and that there is a moderately positive correlation between the number of projects and the municipality’s population density and GDP. It was also found that the projects focus mainly on areas such as SDG1, SDG1, SDG11, and SDG13. The projects are mainly characterized by offering platforms for collaborative work among the various stakeholders, seeking to meet the challenges of combating social exclusion, and supporting environmental education. Above all, this study offers implications for local agents to work in networks and establish synergies between projects that may lead to greater territorial coverage and contribute to reducing the socioeconomic asymmetries that exist in the country.

1. Introduction

Concern about the health effects of environmental conditions and their changes has been an issue of intense community interest in recent years [1,2,3,4]. It has become necessary that citizens actively participate in solving environmental problems. In this context, environmental education and health education are the main integral strategies for the fundamental task of informing citizens about environmental awareness.

Environmental health is one dimension of public health. It is distinguished by the influence of political–environmental decisions on individual health, such as deliberations regarding the physical and social environment, legislation and regulation of environmental pollution, and equity or discrimination based on gender, age, ethnicity, or other social groups [5]. Lodeiro et al. [6] present environmental protection and health promotion as two of the greatest challenges facing modern society. It is increasingly assumed that the commitment to safeguard equity between generations is based on a sustainable development model. To improve the relationship between society and nature, it is necessary to look at the issue of quality of life (which is directly related to the quality of the environment and the satisfaction of basic needs) to achieve a balanced and sustained development. According to Hajat et al. [7], this goal involves challenges and requires common efforts aimed at harmonizing socioeconomic development, with emphasis on the preservation and diversity of natural ecosystems.

The 2030 Agenda is a document that defines and updates a set of guidelines to be followed to achieve sustainable development. Carpentier & Braun [8] emphasize that its main objective is to create solutions to global socio-environmental problems, based on thinking globally and acting locally. Based on this orientation, it is assumed that the 2030 Agenda is a dynamic document to be applied by the various actors according to the situation, capacities, and priorities of the respective countries. Another consequence of the 2030 Agenda is that sustainability is not an option but a pressing need. In this sense, the 2030 Agenda provides a systematization of concrete measures and incentives to reduce the environmental impact of nations and contributes to revitalizing development in developing countries to eliminate poverty [9]. The 2030 Agenda also highlights a proposal of actions to be carried out by individual citizens [10]. In summary, the issues addressed in the 2030 Agenda include the five Ps of sustainable development: people, planet, prosperity, partnerships, and peace [11].

From the perspective of the proponents of the 2030 Agenda, this instrument should become a platform for dialogue and consensus building in a participatory strategy for local sustainability, assuming that policies of greater proximity generate greater interaction between the governors and the governed, both in the identification and resolution of problems [12]. However, the operationalization of this collaborative platform is not easy and presents risks and difficulties, especially in countries where people’s participation in the public cause is still residual. This is precisely the case in Portugal, where we can identify causes for the low participation of people in the establishment of public policies. Fishman [13] points to historical reasons, related to many years of dictatorship, that inhibited public participation; Machado [14] also highlights the excessive weight of central power and the difficulty of decentralizing political decisions, and Rodrigues [15] also mentions the increasing levels of distrust and dissatisfaction of citizens with the performance of democracy. However, in recent years, we have also identified signs of a greater involvement of Portuguese society in the context of new forms of participatory democracy. Associations, social movements, non-governmental organizations, and participatory local budgets have emerged and have been gaining a growing space and revealing themselves as the best allies for the exercise of creative strategies for local development. It is, therefore, relevant to study these phenomena, and this study addresses the challenge of exploring how local actors and citizens can contribute to the realization of the 2030 Agenda. This study adopts the municipal platform of the Sustainable Development Goals to learn about local sustainable development initiatives and explore their contribution to the 2030 Agenda. This data source allows you to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. In this sense, this study adopts mixed methods which allow us to perform a sufficiently comprehensive analysis to quantitatively count these initiatives and their geographical distribution in Portuguese territory, and to qualitatively explore the characteristics of these projects to identify common and distinct points between these initiatives. Accordingly, four research questions have been proposed:

• RQ1. How can the geographical distribution of sustainability projects in Portugal promoted at the municipal level be characterized?
• RQ2. What is the relevance of population density and municipal GDP in characterizing the emergence of these projects?
• RQ3. What are the sustainable development goals addressed by these projects?
• RQ4. What are the main themes addressed in these sustainable projects?

The rest of this manuscript is organized as follows: Initially, a theoretical contextualization of sustainable development is performed. After that, the process of adopting mixed methods and associated methods is presented. Next, the results are outlined, followed by a discussion considering their relevance and conformity with the literature in the field. Finally, the main conclusions are listed, indicating the theoretical and practical contributions. It is also in this last section that the limitations of the study are addressed and indications for future work are provided.

2. Background

The complexity of social interactions arising from the globalization process has transformed the act of governing into an interactive process where no single actor has the knowledge, capabilities, and resources to solve problems unilaterally. Consequently, new ways to overcome the difficulties inherent in this process have emerged, namely new methodologies and approaches to public participation. This is a reaction that seeks to manage a large variety of contexts, themes, and actors. The literature discusses several reasons for the emergence of new collaborative projects, such as the increased desire of citizens to participate in the resolution of social problems [16], the need to respond to gaps in the responses of government entities [17], and the involvement in proximity initiatives at the local level where they can feel more involved, guarantee greater capacity for pressure and monitoring, and sense a greater chance of being taken into account in the final decision-making [18].

In most current societies, there is a consensus that all citizens share rights and entitlements. Despite unequal speeds and scope, the levels of environmental awareness have been progressively gaining relevance. This valorization of ecological values in citizens’ consciousness is, in the perspective of sustainability, an important factor because it is directly related to feelings of belonging that, although focused on local dynamics, do not lose a holistic and global perspective [19]. As Torelli [20] recognizes, governance for sustainability, more than the expected trio composed of transparency, accountability, and participation (which is already difficult to achieve), requires a broad ethical sense capable of mobilizing citizens to defend the common good. This commitment should not be exclusively focused on the present, but also on the future, not only the immediate family and community, but all humanity and even the entire biosphere. This view is confirmed by Huttunen et al. [21] who advocates a governance strategy for sustainability that involves the institutions of administration and citizens. Indeed, it is recognized that there can be no successful governance if there is no link between those who govern and those who are governed.

Sustainability implies increased community effort regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or nationality. Furthermore, no group, community, or generation should usurp the benefits of natural resources for itself or disproportionately bear the harmful effects of environmental damage from the social uses of nature. Ross [22] points out that sustainable development cuts across the entire social fabric, making it inseparable from the type of operating model that the political system and the economic policy thrusts. In the context of globalization in which we live, it is not possible to improve quality of life without an idea of environmental justice on a global scale. Therefore, environmental problems resulting from human action in faraway areas have effects and repercussions all over the planet. As stated by An-nan-Aggrey et al. [23], one should try to act at the local level to have global effects and avoid the unfair use of natural resources that endanger the livelihood of local communities. It also becomes relevant to look at consumption patterns that should be sustainable [24,25,26,27,28,29,30].

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without effective redistributive policies of increasingly scarce resources that apply to humanity as a whole and do not lose sight of a medium/long-term horizon [31]. Paradoxically, economic policy in recent decades has mainly focused on economic growth [32,33,34,35]. It is recognized that it is difficult to conceive of generalized satisfaction of basic needs without economic growth, at least in the economies that are the least predatory of natural resources and, at the same time, the least able to supply such needs. Rather than pretending that economic growth will end, sustainable development recognizes that the problems of poverty and underdevelopment cannot be solved without a new era of growth in which developing countries play an important role and reap many benefits [36]. Sustainability is based on three principles: the social, the environmental, and the economic [37,38]. These three dimensions need to be integrated by considering people and their living conditions (e.g., education, health, leisure), the planet’s natural resources and how they are used by society, and economic factors related to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Human interference with the planet is now more drastic in scale and impact and is becoming more threatening to vital systems, both locally and globally [39]. From this perspective, unsustainability results from the mismatch between a natural rhythm that cannot be hurried and a society of increasingly accelerated consumption, in a dynamic of estrangement in which the constraints that already exist on the living conditions of present generations can only worsen with future generations. Sustainable development responds to this challenge by arguing that to respect the rights to a dignified and safe life, governments must promote change and follow paths that are more respectful of ecological balances, ensuring more restrained and equitable access to available resources [40].

Campbell [41] points out that the pressure caused by ecological scarcity implies greater difficulties of access, especially among the most disadvantaged social groups. Furthermore, the intensive use of energy and advanced industrial technologies often results in the displacement of production units to more favorable social contexts, namely less demanding in the environmental and social components [42]. Therefore, to be effective, Biermann et al. [43] emphasize that sustainable development must include both restrictive (e.g., limits to the growth and exploitation of natural resources) and redistributive (e.g., the need to reduce the levels of social inequalities and environmental inequities) policies.

3. Materials and Methods

This study adopts the ODSlocal platform as its primary source of information. This platform was initially launched in 2019 with its pilot phase and idea co-creation, followed by the initial opening face and involvement of the first group of municipalities in 2020, culminating with the implementation and expansion phase in 2021. The fundamental objective of ODSlocal is to mobilize municipalities and other relevant entities (e.g., businesses, non-governmental organizations, citizens) for the co-creation, at local level, of the sustainable development goals enshrined in the 2030 Agenda. The involvement of this diverse range of entities is carried out through the promotion of dissemination, capacity building, and collaboration activities. In addition, ODSlocal provides an online portal with public access that allows users to visualize and monitor the progress of municipalities against multiple sustainable development goals. Finally, the platform allows for the identification of innovative and sustainable local practices and projects. It also recognizes the role that ODSlocal can play in sharing intermunicipal knowledge associated with local needs and priorities. Additionally, it also inspires municipalities to promote partnerships that favor their replication. Although it is not the only initiative that advocates the intervention of different local actors in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, as shown in the studies carried out by Boto-Álvarez & Garcia-Fernández [44] in Spain, Masuda et al. [45] in Japan, and Oosterhof [46] considering Asia and Pacific regions, the local SDGs can be considered innovative both nationally and internationally, due to their comprehensiveness of including the 17 sustainable development goals enshrined in the 2030 Agenda and for having emerged according to a bottom-up approach with participation from several municipalities that allowed the national coverage of this initiative respecting the local roots of each territory.

The information made available on the ODSlocal portal is divided into two components: information regarding the monitoring of progress indicators and information regarding the mapping of innovative and sustainable practices and projects. Only municipalities may join ODSlocal. However, all civil society agents, who have autonomously contributed to the achievement of sustainable development goals, are invited to add their projects to the ODSlocal portal and map by filling out a form regarding the innovative and sustainable actions underway on the ground, which will give them greater visibility and notoriety. The most visible external component of the ODSlocal portal is its front office (see Figure 1), which essentially allows for the identification of activities carried out by municipalities, a search for projects, and the identification of good practices. Also worth mentioning is its back office that allows each municipality to quantify municipal practices and analyze their contribution to achieving sustainable development goals.

This study employs mixed methods as a research strategy, in which the accounting of sustainable development projects is evaluated according to their geographical distribution in Portugal, the correlational analysis with population and GDP factors of the municipalities, their framework within the UN sustainable development objectives, and the most relevant themes addressed. The idea underlying mixed methodology is that neither quantitative nor qualitative methods are sufficient in isolation to understand a phenomenon. Thus, and according to Regnault et al. [47], the use of mixed methods allows for the production of more complete analyses of the research problem. However, the combination of mixed methods must be performed in such a way that they complement each other mutually [48]. This study adopts the sequential mixed-methods approach. This approach differs in the sequence of data collection that can be defined through a sequential design and the methodological conditions that lead one group of data to be preceded by the other. There are three types of sequential design: explanatory sequential, exploratory sequential, and transformative sequential [48]. This study applies the explanatory sequential design, in which quantitative data are collected first, followed by qualitative data. It is also emphasized that the priority in the use of data is unequal, that is, qualitative data are used to increase the quality of quantitative analysis. However, this data analysis is connected, as it aims to integrate the selected data in the interpretation and discussion phase. Figure 2 schematizes the methodology adopted in this study. In the first phase, quantitative data on projects are explored considering two perspectives: (i) distribution per municipality; (ii) number of projects per sustainability indicator according to the 2030 Agenda. The parametric and nonparametric correlation between the number of projects and the population density (PD) and GDP of the municipality is also explored. These data were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics in Portugal. These two variables are defined as:

• PD—Intensity of population expressed by the ratio between the number of inhabitants of a given territorial area and the surface of that territory (usually expressed in number of inhabitants per square kilometer). The data refer to the year 2021;
• GDP—Indicator intends to translate the purchasing power manifested daily, in per capita terms, in the different municipalities. The data are relative to the year 2019.

In the 2nd phase, a thematic analysis of the qualitative data from each project is performed using the MAXQDA 2021 license software to identify the themes related to each project and allow for the identification of the most relevant intervention areas for each project. The goal is to help identify best practices for the emergence and implementation of these initiatives.

4. Results

4.1. Quantitative Analysis

The presentation of the results begins with the counting of the number of projects per municipality, as presented in Appendix A (

Table A1. Characterization of the municipalities.

Municipality	District	No. of Projects	PD (ind./km2)	GDP (%)
Águeda	Aveiro	1	137.6	86.59
Aljezur	Faro	3	18.7	67.13
Almada	Setúbal	3	2532	109.16
Azambuja	Lisboa	3	81.6	98.86
Bragança	Bragança	2	29.5	96.95
Calheta	Azores	2	27.2	77.68
Cascais	Lisboa	31	2198.7	117.95
Castelo de Vide	Portalegre	7	11.8	84.11
Coruche	Santarém	12	15.6	77.24
Funchal	Madeira	19	1388	115.71
Fundão	Castelo Branco	1	37.9	78.88
Guimarães	Braga	2	650.8	91.3
Leiria	Leiria	10	227.6	103.21
Lisboa	Lisboa	27	5456.5	205.62
Loulé	Faro	18	94.7	109.34
Lousada	Porto	3	493.1	72.58
Madalena	Azores	2	43	90.57
Marco de Canaveses	Porto	6	245.4	73.54
Matosinhos	Porto	7	2764.9	130.63
Mértola	Beja	19	4.8	68.69
Odemira	Beja	1	17.2	85.58
Oeiras	Lisboa	7	3743.8	153.13
Pombal	Leiria	13	81.7	82.72
Porto	Porto	8	5597	154.02
Porto Santo	Madeira	2	120.7	96.35
São Roque do Pico	Azores	2	22.6	79.4
Seia	Guarda	2	49.9	76.58
Seixal	Setúbal	11	1744.6	91.16
Setúbal	Setúbal	9	536.3	107.95
Torres vedras	Lisboa	9	204	96.37
Viana do Castelo	Viana do Castelo	2	268.9	93.77
Vila Franca do Campo	Azores	3	132.4	66.12
Vila Nova de Gaia	Porto	33	1803.7	100.55
Vila Nova de Poiares	Coimbra	1	80.6	71.42

). The individual data of each municipality were aggregated by district which allowed for the construction of the map in Figure 3. The islands of the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira were mapped in a single district corresponding to each region. An interval scale of 15 was considered, except for Lisbon district, which has an interval of 20, since it has a total of 77 projects. The districts of Lisbon and Porto stand out prominently with the highest numbers of projects. It can also be concluded that the districts south of Lisbon on the coast have a greater number of projects than those in the interior of the country or north of Leiria, except for the district of Porto.

After that, a descriptive statistical analysis of the sample was performed. The sample includes a total of 34 municipalities in Portugal with 281 sustainable development projects. In

Table 1. Descriptive analysis.

Min	Q1	Q2	Q3	Mode	Mean	Std. Dev.
1	2	4.5	10.75	2	8.265	8.750

the following statistical indicators are presented: Minimum (Min); Quartile 1 (Q1); Quartile 2 or Median (Q2); Quartile 3 (Q3); Mode; Mean; and Standard Deviation (Std. Dev.). The statistics focus exclusively on the municipalities that present at least one sustainable development project. Of the 308 municipalities in Portugal, 274 municipalities do not present any projects. Most of the municipalities present two projects. The median is equal to 4.5 and lower than the mean. The average of projects is 8.265 which indicates that it is strongly affected by the municipalities with the highest number of projects (e.g., Vila Nova de Gaia, Cascais, Lisbon). The standard deviation of 8.750 is quite high, indicating that there is a great dispersion of projects presented by the municipalities.

Table 2. Correlational analysis.

Variable	Parametric		Nonparametric
	Pearson	Sig. (2-Tailed)	Kendall	Sig. (2-Tailed)	Spearm.	Sig. (2-Tailed)
PD	0.416	0.014	0.276	0.027	0.383	0.025
GDP	0.447	0.008	0.299	0.017	0.420	0.013

complements the analysis by exploring the correlation between the number of projects per municipality and its population density and municipal GDP. Pearson’s correlation, Kindall’s correlation, and Spearman’s correlation are determined. It is noted that the Pearson correlation is more significant than the nonparametric correlations. According to the framework proposed by Ott & Longnecker [49], it can be concluded that the correlation is moderate positive and is similar for the two variables (i.e., PD, GDP).

Figure 4 presents the distribution of the number of projects by the 17 sustainable development goals proposed in the 2030 Agenda, which includes: SDG1—no poverty, SDG2—zero hunger, SDG3—good health and well-being, SDG4—quality education, SDG5—gender equality, SDG6—clean water and sanitation, SDG7—affordable and clean energy, SDG8—decent work and economic growth, SDG9—industry, innovation, and infrastructure, SDG10—reduced inequality, SDG11—sustainable cities and communities, SDG12—responsible consumption and production, SDG13—climate action, SDG14—life below water, SDG15—life on land, SDG16—peace and justice strong institutions, and SDG17—partnerships to achieve the goal. The projects place the most focus on SDG4 (n = 92; 13%), SDG1 (n = 68; 10%), SDG11 (n = 66; 9%), and SDG13 (n = 63; 9%). On the opposite side, SDG7 and SDG14 only have 14 projects each. The number of projects that address SDG4 is more than six times those that seek to address SDG7 or SDG14.

4.2. Qualitative Exploration

In an initial phase, the qualitative analysis intended to find the 10 themes with the highest number of occurrences, as shown in Figure 5, in which the number of occurrences for each development goal is presented. After this,

Table 3. Thematic analysis of sustainable development projects.

Theme	Quote
Local government Institutional cooperation	“The Eco Card Schools is an innovative pilot project which aims to encourage the school community to improve good environmental practices in the field of solid waste management and selective waste disposal.” (Eco Card Schools Project) “The goal of the Cascais in Transition group is to create a local network to connect all those in the Cascais Municipality who wish, by sharing knowledge and affection, to move towards a more sustainable and happy life, celebrating what unites us while respecting what separates us.” (Cascais in Transition) “Zora is an associative movement of young people from Marco de Canaveses whose main objective is the development of the municipality of Marco de Canaveses.” (Zora—Marco de Canaveses)
Social inclusion Food support Employability	“The ZERO WASTE initiative was born from a citizenship movement, when in the middle of the economic and social crisis, huge amounts of meals and end-of-life food were being deposited in waste containers, usually in undifferentiated waste containers, which could have been recovered, for human food or, if not possible for human food, for animal feed or composting.” (Zero Waste) “The Cozinha com Alma is a social take-away open to the public that supports families in financial difficulty.” (Cozinha com Alma) “The Lighthouse House is a shelter for women in situations of social vulnerability, with or without children.” (Casa do Farol)
Environmental education Citizenship Awareness-raising	“The activity has a set of workshops related to environmental issues and promotion of well-being and covers pre-school students (public and solidarity network), the 1st CEB and special education in the municipality of Azambuja.” (A day in the Field) “This group intended to work on themes such as, the family’s responsibility in their children’s school path and the importance of the family relationship for the educational success of the students.” (Magic Ark) “The Salgueiro Maia Citizenship House opened to the public on 1 July and aims to promote the values of April, giving due recognition to a major figure of the revolution of 25 April 1974, Salgueiro Maia.” (Casa da Cidadania Salgueiro Maia)
Nature conservation Biodiversity Waste management	“Transforming plastic into useful everyday objects with the Precious Plastic machines.” (Reciclaro) “The Stork, Horse and Owl treks promote full contact with nature, people and animals, sharing with visitors all its heritage in terms of landscape and cork oak forest.” (PDC—Coruche) “The initiative aims to stimulate activities to enhance the material and immaterial value of endogenous resources, linked to natural, gastronomic and cultural tourism.” (Lince Territories)
Agriculture Urban Farming Organic Horticulture	“The Olivais Pedagogical Farm arose from the growing demand for contact with nature and the need to keep alive an increasingly distant and unknown reality, life in the countryside.” (Quinta Pedagógica dos Olivais) “It intends to respond to the threat to genetic heritage—the loss of biodiversity resulting from climate change, but also from the privatization of seeds and reduced viability of reproduction—by offering simple and effective alternatives for the preservation of genetic diversity.” (Germinate a seed bank) “Agroforestry is a natural space where forest, fruit and vegetable trees are planted or sown, aiming at maximum use of space and productivity, with the objective of forest recuperation, with the reintroduction and maintenance of native species.” (Bela Flor Respira)
Environmental rehabilitation Environmental restoration Regeneration	“The project consists of the environmental requalification of the pre-existing riverside path and to promote the organization of the various recreational and leisure activities that already occur along the left bank in the strip between the agricultural fields and the river.” (Sorraia River) “An Integrated Bio-, Phyto-Remediation and Aeration System will be installed in the Vala das Baleias (tributary of the Sorraia River) in order to reduce the state of eutrophication of this aquatic system, and nearby areas.” (Vala das Baleias) “A treatment solution for the wastewater produced by the population of the Curral dos Romeiros site promoting the safety and public health of the residential population at the Curral dos Romeiros site and avoiding the presence of unpleasant odors.” (Curral tos Romeiros)
Sustainable mobility Mobility in cities	“The project consists in the promotion and creation of an action cluster, promoting the safe and responsible use of the bicycle and its dynamization, demystification and economic valuation.” (Pedalada) “Lisboa Viva is a card that identifies the student and the school or school group to which he or she belongs and allows access to the public transport network in the 18 districts of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.” (School Navegante Card) “The public shared bicycle system in the city of Loulé that is currently under public contracting foresees the implementation in the urban area of the city of 10 stations, 120 parking docks and 60 bicycles with electric support.” (Loulé Electric Bicycle Network)
Entrepreneurship Collaborative economy	“This project aims to transform an old cork factory, located about one kilometer from the center of the village of Ameixial, into a space for incubation and hosting of economic activities.” (Incubadora Ameixial) “The Balcão do Investidor (Investor Desk) was created to help boost the local economy by promoting investment and job creation.” (Balcão do Investidor) “The Viveiro de Lojas is an innovative initiative that intends to help densify the local commercial fabric with new and differentiated concepts.” (Viveiro de Lojas)
Psychological support Mental health	“Crescer a Brincar implemented in a classroom context, included in the school curriculum and is intended to promote the development of social and emotional skills, psychological adjustment and academic performance, preventing or reducing emotional and behavioral problems in 1st cycle children.” (Crescer a Brincar) “An innovative therapeutic program is proposed, integrated and conveyed through the practice of surfing, which aims to combat and prevent the pejorative symptoms that are evident in 348 children exposed to situations of risk in the Municipality of Matosinhos.” (Onda Social) “The Therapeutic Gardens project, presents itself as a pilot project to mitigate the lack of sociability, social isolation and passivity of the senior population, aggravated by the measures of confinement and social distancing imposed by the COVID pandemic.” (Therapeutic Gardens)
Local culture Communities	“The Project seeks to cover, in a transversal way, the contact with the cultural—traditional and geographical reality of the Municipality and consequently with its citizens.” (The journeys of Zambujinho) “In 2011 Azimute “rescued” an isolated, depopulated, and aging village, Portela, and turned it into an “Educational Village”, taking advantage of the existing infrastructures in the village and valuing the knowledge and life experience of its elderly inhabitants, giving them the designation of Masters.” (Aldeia Pedagógica de Portela) “Moinho do Papel is a water mill, rehabilitated by the Architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and considered an ex-libris of the industry’s history.” (Moinho do Papel)

presents quotes from the projects that support each theme. Similar themes were grouped, and three quotes extracted from projects that focus on each theme are presented as examples. The most relevant themes are related to governmental initiatives in which a strong collaboration is encouraged with entities from the municipality and the region; initiatives to support social exclusion, such as the fight against poverty and employment; and environmental education initiatives. Other themes such as “digital inclusion”, “equality”, “inclusive tourism”, and “poverty”, among others, do not appear in the table because they registered less than 11 occurrences.

5. Discussion

The number of sustainable development projects presents a heterogeneous distribution in Portugal. Therefore, we can conclude in RQ1 that the distribution of sustainable development projects does not equitably cover the entire territory. There is a higher geographical prevalence in municipalities with higher population density and GDP, which indicates that these two factors are relevant to characterize RQ2. It is noted that the largest number of projects are presented in the two largest metropolitan regions in Portugal (i.e., Lisbon and Porto). On the other hand, the regions in the interior of the country, especially in the north and center of the country, are those where the number of projects is lower. The bottom-up approach presents benefits from a greater involvement of the population and civil society, as recognized in Potluka et al. [50], but it may lead to the emergence of asymmetries, especially in the less developed territories. Although institutional collaboration with universities is a relevant element for the emergence of these initiatives, the lower demographic density and municipal GDP of Portugal’s inland regions cause the number of bottom-up projects proposed by citizens to be lower. It is mainly near the large population centers that a greater mobilization of knowledge in the social and economic dimensions emerges, which according to Popescu [51], contributes to the creation of a more sustainable future, leading to the development of projects that respect the natural and social balance of the global ecosystem. This implies that the goals enshrined in the 2030 Agenda regarding the reduction of inequalities between territories may not be fully achieved. Thus, it is proposed that the most economically and socially vulnerable municipalities can complement bottom-up with top-down approaches, in which the municipality plays a central role in driving these initiatives. Interestingly, this approach has already emerged spontaneously in several initiatives, especially in the municipalities with the largest number of sustainable projects, in which municipalities have been catalysts for the emergence of projects such as the Eco-School Card or Zora. This situation was evident in the thematic analysis performed to answer RQ4, which highlights the role of local government and institutional cooperation as two themes that are interconnected and that register the highest number of occurrences. Therefore, the local specificities of the territory can be exploited to favor the emergence of projects that increase the competitiveness of these regions through innovation. This strategy is based on the paradigm that cooperation should not only occur between companies but should also involve other local players, such as research centers, the various spheres of government, and support and development institutions [52]. This same guideline is supported by Midgley & Lindhult [53] when defending the idea that innovation is a collective and systemic process, in which the contribution of different actors is required, and it is recognized that it is strengthened by the constitution of a local innovation system. Therefore, as recognized by the OECD [54], it is necessary that the various actors measure the impact of their actions on people’s well-being and sustainability.

RQ3 highlighted notable asymmetries when looking at the projects from the perspective of the sustainable development goals addressed. The goals enshrined in SDG4 regarding the provision of an inclusive and equal quality education and lifelong learning programs have been proposed within each municipality. Environmental education plans have emerged, as in the case of the municipality of Leiria, which promotes an education policy fostered in practical workshops, guided tours, and training for educators. This initiative presents a playful and sensorial approach to knowledge sustained on the perspective of the 3Hs (Head, Heart, and Hands). According to this principle, the activities are designed and programmed to ensure a playful experience on topics such as climate change, nature conservation, and ecosystems, among others. This playful vision of knowledge transfer is also largely supported by the concepts of gamification [55,56,57,58] and based on the proposal of Oliveira et al. [59] that education for sustainability requires unconventional and student-centered approaches, such as case studies, problem-based learning, and games. Combating poverty (SDG1) is another goal broadly addressed by the projects. The goals of SDG1 and SDG4 are evidently interconnected, as shown in the EPES Junior project promoted in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia. EPES Junior aims to promote the integration and social inclusion of all children and young people, preventing future situations of social exclusion and marginalization. This population often presents high levels of school failure. Thus, we seek to work together to develop personal and social skills so that they feel more motivated, confident, and determined in their academic path. This approach of working with the younger population draws attention to the responsibility of not only fighting effects, but acting on the causes, which will lead to more solid and sustainable results in the fight against poverty [60]. Also strongly addressed by the projects are the SDG11 objectives concerning the development of sustainable cities and communities. Portuguese cities have been investing, with local universities, in the involvement in European projects for the construction of smart cities, which has allowed for the emergence of pilot initiatives and technological spinoffs. This new approach for the cities contemplates the adoption of technology to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants and to foster economic growth without giving up the preservation of the environment [61,62,63]. The pandemic of COVID-19 demonstrated that smart cities can also play a relevant role in responding to social emergencies. Collective and collaborative intelligence has allowed civil society to launch projects to address the challenges of the pandemic, both in the field of health and in the daily activities of the population [64,65]. However, it is not only the cities that benefit from the projects in SDG11. A good example is the initiative for the preservation and recovery of the dune systems on the coast of Torres Vedras. These actions aim to promote the fixation of sand and to increase the dune volume, as well as increase plant populations and species diversity, to enhance its functions as a supplementary source of sediment for beach nourishment and as a barrier against overtopping and flooding phenomena.

Sustainable entrepreneurship is another area where numerous projects are emerging in which municipalities and local entities (e.g., universities, companies, financing entities) have worked together to enable the emergence of micro and small businesses in the market. Supporting the creation of new startups is especially important in Portugal as it is the second country in the European Union with the highest number of micro and small enterprises [66]. Two groups of projects appear: (i) support desks for entrepreneur activity with the objective of helping in the constitution of new businesses and reducing the bureaucracy and costs associated with the process; (ii) requalification of obsolete facilities to become business incubation spaces. I highlight, for example, the Ameixial Incubator which was installed in the region’s former cork factory. Although not all the projects arising in the context of these incubation spaces address the circular and sustainable economy, the reality is that many of the projects arising in these places have this aspect. This occurs due to the promotion dynamics of these places together with universities and research centers. Many of the projects that have emerged come from the scientific and academic environment in the context of support programs for the emergence of sustainable products and businesses. As Nosratabadi et al. [67] recognize, these businesses are characterized by a business model in which profit generation is combined with social and environmental impact. Another characteristic element of these projects is addressed by Bolis et al. [68] when they highlight humanized management as a fundamental pillar in the exploration of the consequences of the companies’ services and products for the world and the environment. Accordingly, the projects developed in this area must demonstrate special attention to people who will be affected by their activities, whether they are consumers of their products, employees, or residents of the region.

The fieldwork developed allowed for the identification of local culture and communities as a relevant theme characteristic of these initiatives. Although there is not a specific goal related to culture in the 2030 Agenda, the role of culture is present there. In Wiktor-Mach’s view [69], safeguarding and promoting culture are ends in themselves and, at the same time, they contribute directly to many of the sustainable development goals. Their role can be framed in numerous pillars, such as safe and sustainable cities, decent work, economic growth, reducing inequalities, the environment, promoting gender equality, and peaceful and inclusive societies. In this sense, the indirect benefits of culture result from culturally aware and effective implementations of sustainable development goals. Recognizing and preserving the local culture where projects are developed is a concern that is present in numerous projects and that is widely recognized in the literature as a key strategy in the sustainable development of territories. In Kapsalis & Kapsalis [70] and Szetey et al. [71], it is recognized that the role of local communities is promoting cultural sustainable projects and, furthermore, Kusakabe [72] and Li [73] provide examples of implementing these projects in Japan and Costa Rica. The fieldwork carried out allowed us to identify projects that aim to save local communities from abandonment and oblivion. I highlight, for example, the Portela Pedagogical Village, which aims to combat the depopulation of the most isolated territories and value the knowledge of its inhabitants. The knowledge and life experience of the populations can be used and framed in a sustainable tourism offer that promotes tourism of experience and brings economic valuation to hidden territories. It is increasingly important to value cultural practices that privilege the relational, the proximity, the land, the detail, and the transformation; that care for genealogies; and that build the present while thinking about tomorrow.

Finally, less preponderance is given to the projects that address the sustainable development goals related to sustainable energy and protection of marine life. Within these goals, I find several targets related to universal access to energy services, increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy matrix, promoting access to clean technologies (SDG7), the conservation of coastal and marine areas, the access of artisanal fishermen to marine resources, and the reduction of marine pollution (SDG14). These goals are unequivocally important in the context of the 2030 Agenda but are difficult for a municipality to address comprehensively and in isolation. Contributing to the achievement of these goals requires a greater intermunicipal and inter-regional scope of projects as Camarinha-Matos [74] and Payumo et al. [75] recognize by highlighting those networks that play an important role in innovation for environmental management and sustainable development. Therefore, the relationships with the different network actors and stakeholders are crucial for the implementation and management of projects that require greater investments and the interconnection of several players. In this way, sustainability is adopted as a network perspective, due to the limitation shown in the actions of municipal scope. Furthermore, it should be specifically noted that in Portugal the protection of marine life and the economy of the sea is of great relevance [76]. Geographically, Portugal is one of the countries in the world with the most maritime space. However, there is a big gap between the potential of this area and its actual use [77]. Therefore, the need for the emergence of projects that seek to address the challenges associated with the cluster of the sea and that can raise the emergence of cooperative relationships between the various municipalities is evident.

6. Conclusions

6.1. Theoretical and Practical Implications

This study offers both theoretical and practical contributions. From a conceptual perspective, this study explores the role of projects that have emerged in the municipal context promoted by civil society, citizens, companies, and other stakeholders with the aim of addressing the challenges set out in the 2030 Agenda. The study also analyzes the correlation between the emergence of these projects and the population density and GDP of each municipality. The data are explored considering a mixed-methods approach that allows for quantitatively characterizing the geographical distribution of these initiatives and their contributions to the sustainable development goals, as well as qualitatively exploring the characteristics of these initiatives according to the guidelines of each project. In the practical dimension, the results of this study are important at the municipal, regional, and national levels, considering the potential for replication of these projects in other regions. Also important is the role that the results of this study can play in finding synergies that can increase their social and economic impact on the community. It is also relevant that the results of this study can be used by the promoters of each project to encourage the emergence of new projects, especially in geographically less densely populated areas with lower GDP. With this, it is also intended that this study serves not only to meet the specific objectives of each sustainable objective but also to increase territorial cohesion.

6.2. Limitations

It is recognized that this study has some limitations that it is important to address and consider. First, there was no search for the degree of similarity between the projects, despite the unequivocal evidence of significant degrees of similarity that could help increase the impact of each project and reduce the dispersion of resources. To reduce the necessary resources allocated to each project, the role of cross-border cooperation could be explored, not least because the challenges faced are not specific to Portugal but include the Iberian Peninsula. There was also no exploration of the synergies between the various sustainable development goals. In this sense, as future work, it would be interesting to address how the various sustainable development goals are interconnected. Furthermore, the state of development of the projects was not measured. Thus, as future work, it is suggested that the existing correlation between the degree of development of the projects and the areas covered by each project could be explored to detect whether there are sustainable development objectives that can be more easily and/or quickly addressed by these initiatives. Finally, I recognize the interest in exploring the social, economic, and environmental impact of the projects.

6.3. Final Remarks

The 2030 Agenda represents an opportunity for local public management bodies, such as municipalities, to develop projects to address the sustainable development goals. By their nature of being closer to the population, local initiatives encourage the emergence of bottom-up sustainable development mobilizing solutions that can have a strong local impact and constitute elements to broaden partnerships and funding opportunities.

This study made it possible to understand that although municipal initiatives involve all the regions of the Portuguese territory and include all 17 axes of the sustainable development goals, the number and maturity of these initiatives are quite asymmetric. The coastal regions, especially south of the Leiria region, have the largest number of projects. There is also a moderate correlation between the number of projects and the density and GDP of the municipalities. There are notable asymmetries between the sustainable development objectives. The number of projects under SDG4 is approximately six times higher than projects under SDG7 or SDG14. Finally, the main common features among the projects are related to municipal cooperation initiatives among the various stakeholders, the fight against social exclusion, and environmental education and citizenship. It is expected that asymmetries may arise in most European countries, and the approach taken in this study can be replicated for other countries, where researchers can also explore the causes that explain the emergence of these asymmetries in more depth.