The Role of Universities in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) released two guides for universities that are on the path of implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Five years after the definition of the Objectives and Goals of Sustainable Development, educational institutions continue to detail the steps to be taken for their implementation in university communities. These 17 objectives, adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, are part of the 2030 Agenda and extend the Millennium Declaration. Each one contains specific goals to attain over the next 15 years and addresses the themes for optimal human development for the international actors who are involved. The areas suggested for development include gender equality, the reduction of inequalities, actions to address climate change, and quality of education, among others.

Universities are the primary institutions for the dissemination of knowledge, a key player in the attainment of these goals. Since its incorporation, Academia has had to come up with new educational measures that couple the formation of citizens with human awareness and learning communities. The Spanish Network for Sustainable Development produced two documents distinctly crucial on this issue during the webinar, “Universities as Agents of Change,” namely, the guide, “How to Assess the Contribution of the Universities to the SDGs,“ and the dossier, “Case studies in Education for the SDGs.” Both publications (in Spanish) reflect on the transformation that the educational institutions must undergo to play a leading role in the items of the 2030 Agenda.

The role of universities in implementing the SDGs

Higher education unquestionably potentializes innovation and develops citizens with a humanistic sense. The role of higher education is usually highlighted in the fourth SDG, which calls for inclusive, equitable, and quality education. Moreover, for this to take place, it is expected that these objectives are addressed transversally in all the various areas of university life, including training, research, and extension, and all those who make up educational institutions must be involved directly and indirectly.

“The need to act and accelerate the processes underway to achieve the transformation of our societies has been put into evidence, for which the universities are fundamental pieces.”

The University of Alcalá explains that academia plays a fundamental role in the formation of global citizenship and designs strategies to develop socially responsible competencies in students, who will be the agents of change in the future. A large part of the direct education that should address transcendental problems occurs in the area of teaching and research, which generates active feedback in the society where the university develops.

Along these lines, the universities should incorporate the vision of the SDGs and the development of appropriate competencies in the various professional disciplines. Through teaching and searching for information aimed at social improvement, academia can manage to respond to the problems set out by the 2030 Agenda to address. Using these objectives as benchmarks for educational administration not only makes timely implementation possible but also gives an advantage to those universities that want to build alliances with other involved stakeholders and have access to various sources of funding.

The guide, “Getting Started with the SDGs in the Universities,” published in 2017 by SDNS Australia/Pacific, was the first of its kind. It provided information on the tools needed for the 2030 Agenda to be adopted by educational institutions. Here the question was answered, “What can the universities do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?”

What can the universities do to achieve the SDGs?

• Bestow the student bodies with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to understand and address the SDGs.

• Create more opportunities for student training and building professional skills in developing countries to meet challenges related to the SDGs.

• Support the full spectrum of research work needed to address the SDGs, including interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.

• Foster innovative solutions for sustainable development.

• Align university governance structures and operational policies with the SDGs.

Starting with its publication, the Spanish Network for Sustainable Development began to emphasize the importance of the role of teaching in the dossier mentioned above. In it, the experiences with the implementation of the SDGs in the area of teaching were highlighted. The most significant of these experiences serve as inspiration for other universities on the path to implement the 2030 Agenda in their educational communities.

The guide suggests that a correct initiative revolves around “providing students and university staff with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to address the complex challenges of sustainable development through any career or life trajectory that they take.” Also, it proposes “implementing the SDGs appropriately within the local academic framework, considering the university strategy and culture, the particularities of each center, its degrees and subjects, and the interests and capabilities of the university community.” Thus, each institution designs its development plans and procedures based on the information they have but always in function of its capabilities.

The guide, “How to evaluate the SDGs in universities” (in Spanish), proposes useful tools to assess and monitor the contribution universities make toward the development of the SDGs. IT provides three indicators for each objective and assessment strategies intended to give the necessary feedback to know if the implementation is being fulfilled, and if the student, teaching, and research areas are achieving significant results. Rather than creating a strict rubric for the designation of an institutional ranking, SNSD provides an opportunity for universities to self-assess their progress in the transmutation of the values of sustainable development.

This same network (SNSD) also suggests that for this assessment and the development of the objectives to be complete, transdisciplinarity must have standing. Institutions with rigid departments and infrastructure could have difficulties pursuing the achievement of the goals. “Work on projects must be collaborative among the different faculties on the university campuses, with integrated disciplines, and dynamic leaders who cheerlead the processes of change,” explains Javier Benayas from the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Latin American Universities

Since 2017, the National Strategy for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the National 2030 Agenda Council have been implemented in Mexico. The Mexican universities saw these organizations as a concrete step toward the vision of the 2030 Agenda. A year later, the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions published the document “Vision and Action 2030”. It suggests and creates a clear outline of the process that Mexican academia must go through to become an active change agent.

“Work on projects must be collaborative among the different faculties on the university campuses, with integrated disciplines, and dynamic leaders who cheerlead the processes of change.”

The country’s leading institutions, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Tecnológico de Monterrey, ranked 62th and 101th, respectively, in the Impact Rankings published by Times Higher Education, where the University of Auckland (New Zealand) ranked number one in the world. Together, the two universities coordinate the SDSN of Mexico, established only a year ago, hand-in-hand with their entity in Chile. This network of institutions develops proposals that encourage keeping involved in local and global issues. Unfortunately, “our country fails in eight of the 17 SDGs, while in the remaining nine, it gets an intermediate score because, at the regional level in Latin America and the Caribbean, the main challenges have to do with the high levels of inequality, violence, and insecurity”, explains Miguel Ruiz Cabañas.

However, recent publications offer these countries timely information for their continuous work toward fulfilling the SDGs. The assessment proposal, no doubt, is an indispensable tool for all those universities that are interested in putting into action the 2030 Agenda in their learning communities.

Can the current crisis accelerate the movement toward the 2030 Agenda?

The SNSD argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the ideal scenario for understanding the importance of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.

It is essential to identify and strengthen the tools that will be of great use to fulfill them, especially in this panorama. “The need to act and accelerate the processes underway to achieve the transformation of our societies has become evident; the universities are fundamental pieces of these processes.”

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Paola Villafuerte

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