What role do universities play in implementing the Sustainable

Development Goals?

Countries are committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by

2030, but universities can contribute through education, research and
operations

Alexandra Hiniker
This article is written by Alexandra Hiniker, Director of the
Sustainability Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University.

 The problem: The 2030 Agenda recognises the critical role that
academia plays in helping to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals, but does not specifically lay out how post-secondary institutions
can contribute.
 Why it matters: Through education, research and operations,
universities both contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and
benefit from engaging in myriad ways.
 The solution: Use the guides I created with the United Nations
Foundation as a starting point to determine how your post-secondary
institution can benefit from engaging with this ambitious global
agenda.

In 2015, world leaders agreed to the Sustainable Development Goals after

years of consultations with millions of people around the world. While many
people associate sustainability with environmental actions, the 17
Sustainable Development Goals look at the broader topics covered by
sustainability, from environmental protection to social equity to economic
justice, with equity at the heart of the agenda.

Countries agreed to the goals through the United Nations resolution on the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes references to
academia but does not prescribe how post-secondary institutions should
engage.

Universities are uniquely positioned to advance this ambitious global

agenda through education, research and operations, so identifying
ways for them to contribute is critical to making the world more
sustainable for all.

Additionally, the 17 goals, 169 targets and 231 indicators can be totally
overwhelming for a university just starting to engage with the Sustainable
Development Goals, and many people do not think the framework is relevant
to their work because they associate the term sustainability primarily with
environmental actions.

However, universities are uniquely positioned to advance this ambitious

global agenda through education, research and operations, so identifying
ways for them to contribute is critical to making the world more sustainable
for all. What is exciting to me about working on this at the university level is
that we have an opportunity to go beyond questions about how the
operations meet the goals to start exploring what this means for our
educational and research undertakings. It also means that things can
become very unwieldy very quickly.

How to do it

Recognising that there is no single path and universities all have different
reasons for engaging, I partnered with the United Nations Foundation to
create a series of short guides for American universities to get started on
the Sustainable Development Goals, but the advice can be applied to
universities around the world.

The guides are informed by my previous experience leading New York City’s
Sustainable Development Goals programme, and my current role as director
of Carnegie Mellon University’s Sustainability Initiative. When I created the
concept of the Voluntary Local Review for New York City to report on their
progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals in 2018, I sparked a
global movement for cities to engage with this international framework, and
now over 300 local governments have committed to conducting their own
reviews. Here are my recommendations for aligning city strategies with
the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since becoming Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Sustainability

Initiative in 2020, I continue to build the movement by developing ways for
post-secondary institutions to contribute to the goals. In 2020, Carnegie
Mellon became the first in the world to publish a Voluntary University
Review, in 2021 we transitioned to an online, interactive reporting format,
and just last fall we opened the Sustainability Studio for our community to
connect and find inspiration to incorporate sustainability into their work.

However, many other universities are adopting the goals in ways that serve
their constituents and what works for Carnegie Mellon University may not
work for an institution with a different set of expertise, priorities and
administration.

Three simple steps

The four short guides I created are intended to help universities get started
with the process. The first guide poses three key questions and provides
resources for universities to answer them. I then developed short guides
focusing specifically on education, research and operations with different
options for institutions to take action.

1. Why and for whom are we choosing to engage with the Sustainable
Development Goals? Determine the purpose of engaging with the
framework, including identifying key stakeholders and how they will
benefit from engaging with this framework.
2. Where and how do we already work towards the Sustainable
Development Goals? Review your institution’s courses, research and
operations to determine where there are existing activities as well as
opportunities to do more.
3. What is our plan to implement the Sustainable Development Goals at
our university? Based on these findings, develop and implement
programming for your institution to help achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals.

Every institution can benefit from engaging with the Sustainable

Development Goals, but you need to determine for whom, why and how you
want to do so. Breaking your approach down into smaller, manageable steps
can also make the task much less daunting. By answering the three key
questions in the guide and implementing the education, research and
operations plan that suits your particular context, you will find the way that
works best for you.
Source: https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/what-role-do-universities-
play-in-implementing-the-sustainable-development-goals