The efforts of higher education (HE) in driving delivery toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by 193 countries in 2015, can be accelerated through partnerships with business and industry.
Connecting with companies large and small, as well as with social enterprises and entrepreneurs, HE can help deliver a more sustainable and inclusive future. HE institutions are locally rooted and globally connected with significant opportunities to deliver against the SDGs, working with faculty, staff and students as well as with their stakeholder community and alumni body. As Jeff Sachs (Director, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network) said “Advancing the SDGs is the ‘moon shot’ for our generation”. Universities and colleges must step up and shape new ways for the world, supporting the economic, cultural and intellectual well-being of our communities and society at large.
Adopting the SDGs at a strategic level within HE is an important way to signal the importance of co-creating solutions with business and industry. Through teaching and learning assignments as well as research and innovation projects, HE can tackle the grand challenges of our day. Aligning stakeholder priorities with HE’s academic mission offers ways for students and faculty to became involved in real-world projects of local/global benefit. Collaborating with business and industry drives up student engagement and enhances graduate employability. Embedding the SDGs into the curriculum alongside entrepreneurship serves to deepen student engagement and prepare them for success in our hyper-connected interdependent world. It also offers opportunities to secure new funding and advance research impact through knowledge exchange and transfer.
Radical adaptive changes are needed to deliver the institutional transformation required to fully embrace the SDGs. An overhaul of teaching/learning, both in content and approach, will be required. Research strategy and leadership and governance frameworks will also need to be adapted to support collaboration with business and industry partners. Given the critical role universities and colleges play, mainstreaming the SDGs can deepen the transformational impact of HE in supporting a more equitable society and a better world. Working with business and industry is a way for HE to accelerate change and co-create a future for generations ahead.
