Inner Development Goals (IDGs): A New Path for Workforce Development and Agriculture-Related Education

by Jama S. Coartney  --
This past month, Stockholm, Sweden hosted the third annual summit for the Inner Development Goals. The conference brought together global leaders in business, academia, civil society, and government interested in bridging the inner and outer transformations essential for meaningful change. The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) are a framework of personal growth and inner skills designed to help individuals create positive change in their lives, communities, and organizations.

Developed as a complement to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the IDGs focus on cultivating essential human qualities such as self-awareness, empathy, critical thinking, collaboration, and resilience.

The IDGs are divided into five dimensions:
  1. Being – Self-awareness, mindfulness, and inner calm
  2. Thinking – Creativity, critical thinking, and long-term vision
  3. Relating – Empathy, active listening, and trust-building
  4. Collaborating – Courage, inclusion, and conflict resolution
  5. Acting – Purpose-driven behavior, perseverance, and resilience

The idea is that personal development isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s essential for sustainable growth, professional success, and tackling complex social and environmental challenges. But what makes these goals especially relevant is how they can be transferred to workforce development, readiness, and education.



Why do the IDGs matter for workforce development and agricultural-related education?
As industries evolve—whether through automation, climate change, or new technologies—technical expertise is not enough. Soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, creativity, and adaptability are now critical for success. This is particularly true for sectors like agriculture, which is undergoing rapid transformation with increasing demand for sustainable practices, data-driven innovations, and community-based solutions.

The IDGs can be a game-changer. They provide opportunities to integrate workforce development and agriculture-related curricula: 
  • Bridging the Gap Between Technical Skills and Soft Skills
  • Building Workforce Resilience and Adaptability
  • Promoting Collaboration and Inclusion
  • Encouraging Purpose-Driven Work
  • Fostering Mental Health and Well-Being
How to integrate the IDGs into the curriculum?
To fully realize the potential of the IDGs, workforce programs and agriculture-related curricula will need to integrate the IDGs into existing practical applications:

Teach Collaborative Leadership and Problem-Solving
Real-world simulations, such as team projects on sustainable farming, cultivate teamwork and empathy, allowing students to develop critical IDG competencies for effective group dynamics and problem-solving.
Create Purpose-Driven Career Pathways
Programs can support the alignment of personal values and career goals. Pathways in areas, such as urban farming and environmental restoration, would help students connect their work with broader social and environmental impact.
Integrate Mental Health and Resilience Training
Integrating mental well-being tools into the curriculum is another option. Workshops on stress management, goal-setting, and work-life balance can help build resilience and long-term success.
Partner with Industry Leaders
Collaborating with agriculture businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies can ensure that IDGs align with industry needs. Internships and on-the-job training that includes both technical skills and personal development will benefit everyone.
Embed Mindfulness and Reflection in Training
Training programs can incorporate mindfulness exercises or reflection activities to develop participants’ self-awareness. This approach could involve guided meditations or journaling in university agriculture programs, helping students build a strong inner foundation.


The IDGs can help to prepare a resilient, collaborative, and purpose-driven workforce—ready to tackle complex challenges. By embedding these competencies into education and training, we’re helping to prepare students and to build a sustainable, resilient workforce ready to address the uncertainties of the 21st century.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Integrating Employability Skills in a Traditional Ag Classroom through Learning Badges

Image
by Dr. Mallory White -- To weave workforce readiness skills into a traditional agriculture classroom can be a little challenging. My first-year animal science class tackled four of the twelve AWT4CL employability learning/digital badges. This blog discusses how we did it, challenges and possible lessons for the instructor and the student, and overall perception of the digital badges.  How We Did It   First, I set aside one lab period to discuss the project and complete many of the in-class activities. This required me to combine two traditionally separate, short labs into one to free up a week, but I was determined to make room for important employability content . The activities from each digital badge created by the badge authors are short and effective, but I wanted the students to do more in order to earn a badge. As an instructor, it can be difficult to come up with new, creative activities in the limited time we have. As I was rushing to come up with additional activ...
Read more

Agriculture Peer Group Formation at the Virginia Community College System

Image
by Adam O'Neal -- Based on input from a cohort of agriculture faculty from around Virginia, an Agriculture and Food Systems Peer Group has been constituted by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to serve the needs of agriculture program faculty around the Commonwealth of Virginia. Peer groups have existed for other disciplines for some time, but none for this area of study until now. From the shared experiences of the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) cohort members and other agriculture faculty, we understand that collaboration at professional levels has proven challenging. This peer group promises potential benefits to agriculture faculty in unraveling professional challenges and related classroom and teaching concerns. Agriculture is the largest private industry in Virginia, with over 43,000 farms contributing to $82.3B a year in economic impact (Virginia Farm Bureau, n.d.). Though a number of Virginia Community College System ( V...
Read more

Fresh Year, Fresh Perspective

Image
by Megan Seibel -- I don’t know about you, but there is something about starting a new year that brings mixed emotions – anticipation, excitement, and even a bit of stress over all the things that were supposed to get accomplished last year and, well, just didn’t.  It is also interesting that each new year seems to be long anticipated, yet happens abruptly. And the changes that go with it sometimes require thought and attention. Take writing the date for example. After 365 days of writing 2023, it became a motor memory. It takes thoughtfulness to write 2024, with the trust that it will quickly become automatic.  So it goes with habits and intentions. New Year’s resolutions, so to speak. Looking back over the past year, perhaps some things warrant reflection so that adjustments can be made to improve, begin, or even stop certain behaviors. Here are a few tips and thoughts, similar to the PDSA (plan-do-study-act) model , to consider as we go into this new calendar year, and seco...
Read more