SDGs and the Academy: Where we are now, where to next?

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-303-0_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

University rankings; World Systems Theory; Global Challenges; Interdisciplinarity; Strategic Missions

Abstract

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 set out an ambitious 15-year program towards making meaningful progress in addressing 17 core global challenges of our time. These Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address socioeconomic, technological and environmental development issues and require engagement by all countries, regardless of level of socioeconomic development. In 2024, however, despite commitment from all United Nations member states, tracking data indicated stalled and reversed progress. In this paper, I consider the roles and opportunities of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in contributing to the SDG mission, which - as I argue -have an integral role because of their global reach, capacity to connect across populations and communities, and breadth of internal capabilities. However, this influence is not always operationalised: by contrasting University ranking data (via the Times Higher Education rankings, 2024) with SDG rankings, it is clear that contributions to the SDG are not core business for the most prestigious HEI and that work to further the development agenda is largely being carried by institutions with less prestige and fewer resources. In addition, HEIs in low- and middle-income countries make significant contributions in this space. I conclude the chapter by examining three opportunities for HEI to further support progress towards the SDGs.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Narelle Warren
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/11
TI  - SDGs and the Academy: Where we are now, where to next?
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social Sciences and Law (ICSSL 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 15
EP  - 27
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-303-0_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-303-0_3
ID  - Warren2024
ER  -