Sustainable development has become a concept of significant focus in current times. By definition, sustainable development refers to the idea that human societies should live and attain their needs without compromising the future generation's ability to meet their own needs ( Meschede, 2020; Niestroy et al., 2019 ) . In other words, sustainable development involves organizing communities to continue to exist in the long term. To attain sustainable development, both the present and the future imperatives such as conservation of the environment, effective management of natural resources, and equitable economic status are taken into consideration. Sustainable development entails integrated interaction between five primary dimensions: population growth, food production, industrialization, pollution generation, and depletion of non-renewable resources. Several processes have originated from the sustainable development concept. For instance, the industrial revolution is directly linked to the idea of sustainable development. In the second half of the 19 th century, Western societies discovered that their economic and industrial undertakings had substantial social balance and environmental effects ( Kopnina, 2017) . Often people act rationally, independently, and focused on accomplishing individualized interests. As such, there is a possibility that people can go against the common community interest, thereby exhausting natural resources. Therefore, sustainable development is essential in ensuring that people change their ways of using shared resources to avoid future disasters.
As used in the sustainable development concept, development can create more value out of the current resources, use the resources to achieve current wants, and ensure that the resources do no lose weight. The future generation can then use them in attaining their desires. The Netherlands has involved itself in sustainable development for an extended period. According to Netherlands (2018), the Netherlands has used its development policy established since 2000 to contribute to sustainable goals development (SDGs) and the Millennium development goals. Besides, it is observed that the Netherlands has extensively invested in primary education, vaccination of children, and balanced access to drinking water, thus making a substantial contribution to magnificent advancement made by developing countries in such areas. The essential factor in aiding sustainable development in the Netherlands is the national strategy (Netherlands, 2018). SGD in the Netherlands gives more weight to health and water issues ( Meschede, 2020). Nonetheless, it is observed that the Netherlands has continued to enhance combined efforts in the transportation industry and energy, thus establishing sustainable infrastructure meant to reduce the carbon footprint of the country. Notably, the Netherlands has made significant progress towards the achievement of sustainable development.
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The concept of sustainable development was mainly aimed to reduce poverty in developing countries (Lucas et al., 2016). However, with the rise of the 2030 agenda, developed countries such as the Netherlands have been included in the sustainable development program (Lucas et al., 2016). There are several implications for sustainable development goals regarding the Netherlands' environmental policy. To attain sustainable development in the Netherlands, several strategies are focused on by the Netherlands. Firstly, the Netherlands government is keen on forming partnerships. It is observed that all the four countries making up the Netherlands have shown willingness to form partnerships both at national and international levels. Besides, the Netherlands is keen on forging partnerships by ensuring inclusivity and combined efforts to resolve domestic issues and tackle water-related challenges ( Netherlands, 2018) . The Netherlands has formed a major partnership with the European Union and makes sustainable development efforts related to the EU's policies. The sustainable development program has been considered by governments, private sectors, and knowledge institutions as an opportunity for accelerating the achievement of own sustainable developments.
Although the Netherlands has made significant steps towards sustainable development, it can not be ruled out that there are particular challenges the country has continued to experience. For instance, a portion of the Netherlands population is experiencing economic challenges and, therefore, has difficulties in upholding sustainable consumption models (Global sustainable development report 2019, 2019). Income levels and household finances are the main factors affecting quality and quantity food consumption. Some citizens may show an unwillingness to incur more expenses to purchase products from sustainable production systems. Besides, some people limited time to spend in shaping food consumption. Searching for certified products may also be time-consuming to some people, leading to a barrier in the process of establishing a sustainable food consumption policy. It is noted that some of the sustainable development policies do not engage citizens (Glass & Newig, 2019). The standards created about environment management, ecological conservation, and care for the natural environment is not fully observed. Other challenges that the Netherlands has continued to face in implementing sustainable development include poverty, environmental degradation, and inequalities.
If the Netherlands has to achieve SDGs in the future, more comprehensive strategies should be enhanced to outdo the current challenges. It may be vital to ensure integration into existing policy cycles. In other words, the Netherlands will incorporate SDGs into their development plans to ensure that they are better achieved. Besides, the Netherlands will have to strive for coherence. The Netherlands has confidence in its institutions since most of its citizens feel safe in their neighborhood. Resultantly, the number of crimes experienced is reducing. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the drive for introducing sustainable development in the Netherlands, the steps the Netherlands has made in implementing sustainable development, and the strategies used during implementation. Furthermore, this paper will elaborate on the challenges already faced in implementing sustainable development and offer recommendations on possible strategies to be used in the future to achieve better sustainable development goals.
References
Glass, L., & Newig, J. (2019). Governance for achieving the sustainable development goals: How vital are participation, policy coherence, reflexivity, adaptation, and democratic institutions? Earth System Governance , 2 , 100031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2019.100031
Global sustainable development report 2019. (2019). Global Sustainable Development Report . https://doi.org/10.18356/5d04ad97-en
Kopnina, H. (2017). Teaching sustainable development goals in The Netherlands: A critical approach. Environmental Education Research , 24 (9), 1268-1283. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1303819
Lucas, P., Ludwig, K., Kok, M., & Kruitwagen, S. (2016). Sustainable development goals in the Netherlands: Building blocks for environmental policy for 2030. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. https://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/sustainable-development-goals-in-the-netherlands-building-blocks-for-environmental-policy-for-2030
Meschede, C. (2020). The sustainable development goals in scientific literature: A bibliometric overview at the meta-level. Sustainability , 12 (11), 4461. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114461
Netherlands, S. (2018). The Sustainable Development Goals: the situation for the Netherlands. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague , 104 . https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/publication/2018/10/the-sdgs-the-situation-for-the-netherlands
Niestroy, I., Hege, E., Dirth, E., Zondervan, R., & Derr, K. (2019). Europe's approach to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: Good practices and the way forward. European Parliament Policy Department for External Relations: Bruxelles, Belgium . https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2019/603473/EXPO_STU(2019)603473_EN.pdf
