Gabi-Williams: Knowledge Infrastructure Key to Sustainable Development

Funmi Ogundare

Founder of the Living Sustainably project, Olatoun Gabi-Williams, has called for stronger African participation in global sustainability discussions, stressing that Africans must speak with much louder voices on international issues affecting the continent.

Speaking at a press conference and preview of the Anthology – ‘Living Sustainably Here: African Perspective on the SDGs’, in Lagos, Wednesday, Gabi-Williams emphasised the importance of the ongoing convention on the Nigerian book industry.

She said the multi-volume sustainability project, currently focused largely on Nigeria, would soon expand across Africa and eventually target a global audience.

According to her, the initiative, which explores sustainability from cultural, social and developmental perspectives, is rooted in the belief that knowledge remains the foundation of human development.

“We need to speak with much louder voices into global conversations,” she told journalists. “I want to talk more into global affairs from a local perspective, an Africa looking at global affairs and making commentary about local affairs and making it available to the wider world.”

She described the hosting of the convention at the National Theatre, Lagos, as symbolic, noting that cultural sustainability and knowledge infrastructure are critical components of national development.

“Knowledge is huge. It cuts across the arts, cognition and human development. It is infrastructure in itself,” she said.

Gabi-Williams also emphasised the role of the book industry in driving sustainable development, describing publishers, authors and other stakeholders as part of the knowledge production industry.

She advocated interdisciplinary learning in schools, arguing that students should be equipped to solve real-world problems rather than being confined to isolated academic disciplines.

“We need more interdisciplinary teaching activity where students solve real-world problems and understand the world they are living in, not just books,” she added.

On the challenge of out-of-school children and educational development in Nigeria, she called for stronger collaboration between government and civil society organisations through participatory governance.

According to her, government must actively engage citizens and stakeholders in identifying and solving problems at the grassroots level.

She said: “There is probably not enough talking between government and civil society. Participatory governance is very important because communities can pool resources together to solve local problems.”

Gabi-Williams also dismissed concerns that Nigeria’s reading culture was declining, pointing instead to the growing popularity of book clubs and reading communities.

“I get the impression people are hungry for knowledge and hungry to read,” she noted, adding that curated reading platforms and book clubs were helping readers engage more meaningfully with literature.

She further disclosed that discussions had begun with institutions and agencies interested in translating the Living Sustainably volumes into other languages as part of efforts to deepen the project’s continental and global reach.

The programme witnessed a panel session, where panelists spoke on topics such as ‘ The Role of International Schools in Advancing the SDGs’, ‘ The Role of 21st Century Booksellers in Realising SDGs 4- Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education’, ‘ Access to Knowledge for Sustainable Development; and

‘Leveraging the the UN’s OER and Open Science Recommendations’, among others.