New guide on accelerating education for the SDGs in universities

Universities and other higher education institutions have a critical role in helping society achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their research, learning and teaching, campus operations and leadership. One of the most important ways they can contribute to this is to support students and other learners within their sphere to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and mindsets to contribute to solving the complex sustainable development challenges our world faces.

Improving education for the SDGs

Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities is a new guide from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) that aims to help universities, colleges, and tertiary and higher education institutions implement and mainstream this “Education for the SDGs” within their institutions.

The SDG Impact Assessment Tool – one of the selected case studies

The guide is accompanied by a website with almost 50 examples of how universities around the world are already accelerating their implementation of Education for the SDGs. One of the case studies is the SDG Impact Assessment Tool, developed by the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development and SDSN Northern Europe.

Education is a very suitable and important application of the tool. When students assess how a specific project, activity, or organization impacts the SDGs, they will learn more about the SDGs themselves and get a better understanding of the complexity of sustainable development and the opportunities and difficulties of SDG implementation.

The tool is a user-friendly resource that teachers can use to arrange case study exercises or workshops addressing sustainable development and SDG implementation. When students identify knowledge gaps during an SDG impact assessment, they can be stimulated to seek new knowledge in various fields of knowledge.

To assess SDG impacts in specific case studies also enables teachers to easily apply the pedagogy of Problem Based Learning (PBL), which has been recommended by various studies.

Download the guide Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities >>

Visit the website with 50 cases on Education 4 SDGs >>

Read more about SDGs in Universities >>

The guide was prepared in collaboration with the SDSN Regional Network for Australia, New Zealand & Pacific, the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), and Monash University, and includes contributions from dozens of universities and higher education institutions around the world, SDSN Northern Europe being one of them.