Dr. Tahl Kestin Network Manager (SDSN Australia)
“How Can Universities contribute to the SDGs
(Experience and Knowledge Sharing related to Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Universities)”
Dr. Kestin gave an overview of the role of universities in achieving the SDGs. She said that universities could contribute to the SDGs in many important ways, and already do a lot through their usual traditional activities. But to achieve the SDGs we need universities to implement activities that go beyond “business as usual”, in particular in teaching for the SDGs and research for the SDGs. She briefly looked into what universities need to do differently in these areas and gave some examples of how these ideas were implemented at Monash University. To finish up she gave some suggestions for where universities in Afghanistan could go to find more information.
Here is an excerpt from her presentation during the conference:
The SDGs, which you have been hearing about all morning, represent really complex and interconnected challenges that the world has not been able to solve for a long time. Universities have considerable and unique skills and expertise that can help solve these challenges, and we have an obligation to use them to help lead the local, national and international response to achieve the goals. The SDGs framework recognizes the special role of universities in several goals and targets that directly relate to general education, preparing students for employment, capacity building, research and innovation. However, university expertise is core to solving all societal challenges, so universities contribute indirectly to all the SDGs. In my view, the SDGs cannot be achieved without them.
How can universities contribute to the SDGs?
University research is critical for providing basic knowledge, evidence for policy, solutions, technologies and innovations that help solve the SDGs.
General quality education is crucial to the implementation and achievement of all the SDGs. But university teaching can also provide students with the specialized knowledge, skills and motivation to help them become SDG problem-solvers.
Universities are often large entities and can have significant influence on the society, economy and environment within their campuses, communities, and regions. Therefore, universities can make a big contribution to the SDGs by ensuring that their policies and practices reflect the intentions of the SDGs. And finally, universities can leverage their unique position within society to bring different sectors together and support good policy making – something which today’s conference demonstrates beautifully.
Universities can contribute to the SDGs in a huge number of ways and already do a lot of these things through their core “business as usual” activities. However, there are a couple of areas where universities need to go beyond what is considered usual practice, and these are teaching for the SDGs and research for the SDGs. We will go into a bit more detail on these next.
Teaching the SDGs – What
The SDGs represent very complex challenges. To address them we need people and organizations that can operate in new, more collaborative, interconnected, and systemic ways. This is recognized in SDG 4.7, which calls for “all learners to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development”. This requires universities to provide “learners”, regardless of what they are studying or their profession, with knowledge, skills, and motivation to understand and address the challenges of the SDGs, and empower them to take action. The knowledge includes understanding of the SDGs framework itself, as well as more generally understanding the major sustainable development issues facing our world. Teaching for the SDGs also includes a wide range of cross-cutting skills, many of which were originally identified by the fields of Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education, but go beyond them. For example, systems thinking, collaboration, communication, cross-cultural engagement, entrepreneurship, design thinking, critical thinking, ethical thinking, social and emotional learning, and so on. These are not generally actively taught at universities, and if they are, it is often to a small number of students as part of something like a “sustainable development” course. The SDGs require us to mainstream teaching these to all learners in the university. (And I am deliberately using “learners” here rather than “students”, because universities have access to many other kinds of learners beyond formal students – including people in other sectors, the local community, and university staff.)
Teaching the SDGs – How
Some universities are starting to grapple with what teaching for the SDGs means on a practical level. The general conclusion so far is that there are many different ways to do this, and it is up to each university to develop a suitable approach. For example, there are multiple channels through which the SDGs can be taught. The formal curriculum is just one of them –teaching the SDGs can also be effectively delivered through other channels, such as co- and extra-curricular activities, executive education, and community outreach. And while there are many channels, there are generally just two main approaches to teaching the SDGs: either creating specialized courses or activities around the SDGs, or integrating SDG knowledge and skills into existing courses or activities across all disciplines.
There are also several key elements that have been identified to strengthen SDG teaching, such as:
This is a very high-level overview of teaching the SDGs, and I will provide some resources at the end for people who want to explore further.
Teaching for the SDGs – Examples
Before closing off on this topic, I wanted to give you three brief examples of how my university is starting to implement these ideas. Just remember that there are many other ways to do it. The first example is an extra-curricular program called Leave No One Behind. It is a social entrepreneurship competition for students to develop a solution to one or more SDGs, such as a new product or a community program. It builds student literacy in the SDGs and fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s been a huge success with students, and they developed some great ideas. We also provide a “Leadership for Sustainable Development” stream as part of the cross-faculty Masters in Environment and Sustainability. The stream aims to equip students with everything that’s needed for them to guide, influence and lead the development of positive social, environmental and economic solutions to the SDGs. Finally, we offer a leadership program called Transforming the Future specifically for Business School students, on how businesses can make a positive contribution to solving global challenges.
Research for the SDGs – What
Let’s move now to research for the SDGs, and what universities need to do differently in this area. As I mentioned earlier, research at universities is fundamental for the successful implementation of all of the SDGs. For example, it can help with:
Research for the SDGs – How
While traditional disciplinary research is very important for the SDGs, if we really want to solve the complex SDG challenges in the real world, we need research that leads to action. This requires universities to support newer and different research approaches and to work actively to bridge the research-policy divide. For example:
partnership with the organizations that will be implementing the actions – such as governments and businesses
Research for the SDGs – Examples
Here are three very brief examples of research for the SDGs from my university. There are many other things universities can do. The SDG 6 Working Group is a cross-sector group of water experts that we brought together to look at how monitoring and reporting on SDG 6 in Australia can be improved. Land Use Future is a
big and complex project that is looking at how SDGs around sustainable agriculture, climate change, biodiversity and water can be solved simultaneously; so, we can provide healthy food for a growing global population while achieving net zero emissions. And finally, Social Systems Evidence is a new initiative that is creating a free online repository of research evidence on what works to address the SDGs, in a way that is intuitive and easy to access for policy and decision makers.
More information
I’ve covered a lot of topics relating to the role of universities in achieving the SDGs he more.
Firstly, I would like to recommend a guide we produced called “Getting Started with SDGs in Universities”. This is a very practical and concise guide and provides a great overview of how universities contribute to the SDGs, a step-by-step process for engagement and tools, case studies and resources to inspire action. For those interested in looking more deeply at teaching for the SDGs, some useful organizations to look up are: the SDG Academy, SDSN Youth, UN PRME (which stands for Principles for Responsible Management Education), and UNESCO’s pages on the SDGs. And for those interested in research, good places to start are the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Future Earth. re today, but still barely scratched the surface. Here are some resources for those who want to learn
Comment is not allowed
