Implementing the UN SDGs in Universities: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned

Abstract

The education sector is one of the few sectors that can support, promote, and contribute to achieving all of the 17 United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Universities, in particular, are essential to achieving the SDGs because they can equip the next generation with the skills, knowledge, and understanding to address sustainability challenges and opportunities and perform research that advances the sustainable development agenda. Universities can also provide examples and use their expertise, capabilities, and leadership to influence stakeholders to adopt and model more sustainable practices. To be effective, however, universities should be fully committed to support and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDGs are an important vehicle for creating positive impact by embedding sustainability into university business strategies, decision-making processes, and practices, and for improving their accountability to stakeholders. This article aims to contribute to research and practice fostering discussions and sharing the experience of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Melbourne, Australia, in undertaking an ambitious and innovative project to raise awareness, foster collaboration, measure impact, and communicate the university's contributions toward achieving the SDGs across the entire university.

A Holistic Approach to Integrate and Evaluate Sustainable Development in Higher Education. The Case Study of the University of the Basque Country

“…They agree on the identified difficulties and conclude that the development of sustainability plans (particularly when combined with local and community development) could also act as an enabler to capacitybuilding, with a special attention to relevant matters of local and global interest. From all these qualitative case studies, the most relevant are those developed at the University of South Africa [24], the University of Bologna [25] and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology [26]. These three case studies not only report the institutional processes they carried out (leadership, set-up of priorities, plurality of topics, courses and programs on offer, engaging various stakeholders) but also detail their own systems of indicators for the monitoring of achievements.…”

Educating Higher Education Institutions to Support SDGs: Indonesian Case

“…The implementation of various programs and activities to achieve the SDGs targets has been carried out in many universities both abroad and in several universities in Indonesia, including Diponegoro University. There are many challenges and opportunities faced in implementing SDGs in higher education institutions [7]. The establishment of SDG Center, sustainability office or similar unit is an initial reflection of the understanding and exclusion of higher education institutions for the SDGs program.…”

SDGs and Innovation in the Business Context Literature Review

“…Multiple actors are involved in the pursuit of the SDGs, consistently with the spirit of cooperation advocated in the SDG 17. Some authors [62,63] concentrate their studies on training institutions and how these are able to contribute more or less directly to the achievement of some goals. A goal directly related to educational institutions is certainly the SDG 4 [64], which aims to ensure a quality, fair and inclusive education and the possibility for everyone to achieve it.…”

“…Some papers note that there is a lack of capacity for higher education institutions to integrate the principles and practices of SDGs into all the aspects of education and learning, which hinders the ability to act as an entrepreneurial university [62]. Others, after a comparative analysis between the keywords contained in the SDGs and those contained in the programs of the various faculties, investigate the possible link between education for sustainable development and SGDs [63].…”