Let’s move sustainability center stage in our academic mission, and not think about it as a third or other mission – sustainable development is our mission! What we do in higher education matters.
Speaking in New York at the latest UN HLPF HESI event https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdinaction/hesi, reinforced my view that universities and colleges have a critical role to play as change agents in shaping new ways for our world, creating solutions in partnership. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the first agreed actionable agenda for us all in the face of global environmental, social and economic challenges – need higher education to step up now.
“Achieving the SDGs is the ‘moon-shot’ for our generation” Jeff Sachs (Director, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network)
Being ‘locally rooted and globally connected’ higher education institutions can help the world achieve the SDGs, working with faculty, staff and students as well as with their stakeholder community and alumni. Framed as ‘living labs’, universities and colleges can make a fuller contribution in sustaining the economic, cultural and intellectual well-being of our communities and society at large.
Focusing deliberately and proactively on the SDGs, sustainable transformation within higher education can help deliver a more sustainable and inclusive future enabling the next generation of scholars and leaders over the long-term as well as driving knowledge-based innovation.
Let’s move sustainability center stage in our academic mission, and not think about it as a third or other mission – sustainable development is our mission! What we do in higher education matters 😊
