University Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger, Taisir Subhi Yamin, Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger, Taisir Subhi Yamin

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781789736441
• eBook ISBN:
  9781789736458
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The role of universities is not restricted to merely the exchange of knowledge, they are also responsible for playing a leading role in society. Universities have often come out of isolation to accommodate and facilitate social change, actively engaging in their communities. In order to be socially engaged and effective universities must work closely with industry, non-governmental, and non-profit bodies to identify societal needs and address them productively, working towards achieving common goals and objectives. This volume explores various facets of the Sustainable Development Goals and how well universities have been able to integrate those goals into their curriculum, and institutionalize those goals into their strategic plans and institutional culture. Authors from Nigeria, sub Saharan Africa, Italy and the Middle East have elaborated how to achieve this in the face of shifting expectations, student debt, and graduate mobility.

PART I

INSTITUTIONALIZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Introduction to University Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger and Tasir Subhi Yamin

ABSTRACT

The aim of sustainable development goals (SDGs) announced in 2015 by United Nations was to ensure that all students and scholars are being able to acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. The role of higher education is important when it comes to educating students in sustainability and sustainable developments. Universities can have a great influence on achieving social and economic progress of a country as well as protecting the environment and addressing complex issues that plague society. The role of universities is not only restricted to exchange of knowledge but also in playing a leading role as an active member of society. Universities have come out of their isolation to accommodate and be a part of social change and actively engage in community’s life and activities and not being confined to only classrooms and laboratories. Universities need to work closely with industry and non-governmental and non-profit bodies to identify the needs of society and address them productively and work toward achieving common goals and objectives. In this book, authors have explored various facets of SDGs and how well universities have been able to integrate those goals into their curriculum and to institutionalize those goals into their strategic plans and institutional culture. Authors from Nigeria, sub Saharan Africa, Italy, and Middle East have elaborated how to achieve this in the face of shifting expectations, student debt, and graduate mobility. As a result, this volume shows how some universities are cultivating SDGs both on- and off campus.

Keywords: Sustainable development; sustainability; university partnership; higher education; research; economic progress; social development; environment; industry partnership; students; social change

INTRODUCTION

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) announced by United Nation in 2015 provided a common ground and a framework which was adopted by 193 countries with 169 targets to be achieved which were divided among 17 goals (European University Association, 2016). These goals were all aimed at reducing poverty, saving the existing planet, and ushering in prosperity by 2030. International bodies agreed in unison that they will work toward achieving such goals. Access to quality education is one of the means of achieving sustainable development and that is possible only through access to higher education which helps facilitates social mobility, empowers people through their ability to think critically and make ethically based judgments, and provides the younger generation with the tools and skills they need in a rapidly changing labor market.

Universities can promote sustainable development through the goals specified in 2015. Universities provide cutting-edge research, high-quality education, and ground-breaking innovations (Goal 4 and 9). Strong universities are an important part of civil society (Goal 16) and they are excellent promoters of global and local partnerships (Goal 17). Through their contributions to these four goals, universities facilitate the achievement of all the other goals (European University Association, 2016).

Universities have helped students to understand science and develop a scientific mind-set with a bend toward entrepreneurship to help solve some of the pertinent issues required for sustainable development. University researchers, students, and teachers are expected to work in partnership with the public and private sectors and civil society to cocreate knowledge to provide solutions toward reduction of poverty and saving the planet. These core efforts that are ingrained in a university give it a cutting edge to achieve the SDGs. Many universities are beginning to adopt the SDG goals and make them part of their institutional strategies both in teaching methods and in implementing their research agendas. Sustainable campus management is also taking precedence over traditional methods and is now considered a responsibility of the university. Energy-saving methods, efficient allocation of resources, zero wastage, and end of the pipe solutions are now a part of the infrastructure and institutional policies and a key stakeholder issue that involves both internal and external stakeholders of the university.

The International Association of Universities has called on all universities to undertake a more decisive role in imparting knowledge on sustainability and take a proactive role in the driving process toward achieving a more sustainable future. Contribution of higher education toward sustainability is not only through its institutional practices but also through its curriculum. Education can be a powerful tool toward social change and poverty reduction through job creation and job allocation. Proper education creates health awareness and societal benefits from being healthy and working toward general well-being of everyone. Medical institutions and university hospitals create awareness on health-related issues, facilitate research, and play a key role in public healthcare system. A new generation of trained healthcare professionals provides care to millions and finds innovative solution toward the prevention of diseases (European University Association, 2016). Universities have undertaken extensive research to save the ecosystem and maintain an eco-balance. Research conducted by students helps students understand the developments of climate change and global warming and in identifying trade-offs to balance SDG goals. Therefore, the partnership between universities and civil society is crucial in promoting SDGs.

The Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, and the International Association of Universities at the UN High-level Political Forum on sustainable development held in July 2019 emphasized that the United Nations’ SDGs such as the internationally agreed framework for tackling poverty, inequality, disease, and climate change will remain unachieved without the involvement and contribution of higher education through research, teaching, and community engagement (Malley, 2019). During a High-level Political Forum organized by the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative, the three higher education organizations having representation of more than 2,000 different universities globally voiced the cause to champion the importance of higher education for the SDGs and call for partnerships within and beyond the sector to achieve the goals.

Blessinger, Sengupta, and Makhanya (2018) argued that sustainable development not only deals with environmental issues, but concerns itself with economic, social, and cultural issues as well. Societies have been burdened with increasing demand along with the environment for various reasons such as increased human migration, increased urbanization, and industrialization coupled with ongoing depletion of non-renewable resources. There has been an urgent call for global action which is needed to create a more sustainable future. Higher education as a knowledge provider can serve as a powerful means to help create a more sustainable future. Thus, the concept of “education for sustainable development” has taken precedence as one of the core educational initiatives to help address the problems associated with human development in a sustainable manner. Higher education’s role in creating a sustainable future will assume a greater importance as the world continues to become increasingly globalized and interdependent. Thus, students in institutes of higher education should be trained to cultivate critical and creative thinking skills, engage in authentic interdisciplinary learning activities, and help develop a value system that emphasizes responsibility to self, others, and the planet.

The International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association supports the SDG initiative and encourages heads of non-profit colleges and universities, associations, and institutes to sign the Declaration on University Global Engagement and adopt the SDGs as a framework for organizing their global engagement activities to address complex global challenges.

The declaration expresses a commitment to global engagement through a series of actions, including:

• developing the global competence of all students so they have the skills to productively engage with individuals from different cultural and national backgrounds;
• increasing students’ understanding of the most pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges facing the world today;
• significantly increasing students’ physical and virtual mobility across nations so that many more students experience realities outside their domestic contexts and deepen their understanding of challenges and opportunities in other parts of the world;
• committing to cross-border and cross-sector research, knowledge sharing, and innovation in collaboration with institutions’ public and private stakeholders in pursuit of novel solutions to the SDGs; and
• communicating publicly about the progress and importance of higher education’s global engagement.

The ability to continually learn and to pass the product of that learning (knowledge and skills) to future generations is what has allowed humans to progress politically, economically, socially, and technologically.

In short, the development of modern democracies, universal educational systems, and universal rights has allowed societies to evolve very rapidly. In contemporary society, the one type of renewable resource that is also needed for continued human progress is the resource of lifelong learning (Blessinger, Sengupta, & Yamin, 2018).

Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, put it this way:

We are convinced that in a world full of limitations – in terms of our resources and our means – humanity can count on the renewable resources of its intelligence, creativity and ingenuity. This wealth, fostered by the moral requirement to respect the rights and dignity of each individual, represents an infinite source of progress.

LITERATURE REVIEW

There have been several attempts to define the concept of sustainable development, but the most widely accepted definition has been the one that appeared in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development by Brundtland, which was published in 1987, and it states that sustainable development is one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission, 1987). Academics have made different interpretation of sustainable development and one of the common one is the one based on three pillars of economy, environment, and society (Parkin, 2000). While the study of three dimensions is equally important in most cases, it has been seen that the environment dimension is highlighted and in some the social dimension is overrated (Salzmann, Jonescu-Somer, & Steger, 2005). Other dimensions such as that of cultural and institutional can be found in several literature (Pfahl, 2005).

The contribution of education, mainly higher education, toward achieving sustainable development has been agreed by all. UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development emphasized the requirement of education toward sustainable development, which means including key sustainable development issues in the paradigm of teaching and learning (Lindberg, 2005). UNESCO (Resolution 57/254 United Nations General Assembly) has urged to mobilize educational resources to develop a sustainable future (Mula & Tilbury, 2009). In universities, the importance of sustainable development and its inculcation through different activities at colleges and universities is becoming mandatory and a commitment which is being recognized by universities all around the world. In Europe, the European University Association has created the Cooperation Program in Europe for Research on Nature and Industry through Coordinated University Studies (COPERNICUS) program, which published the University Charter for Sustainable Development in 1994. The charter was endorsed by 520 European universities:

universities should train the coming generations of citizens and have expertise in all fields of research, both in technology as well as in the natural, human and social sciences. It is consequently their duty to propagate environmental literacy and to promote the practice of environmental ethics in society. (Filho, Manolas, & Pace, 2015, p. 129)

Even after all good intentions, the notion of global sustainable development still remains a major challenge for colleges and universities to fully integrate it into their mainstream teaching and learning goals and process...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Part I. Institutionalizing Sustainable Development Goals
• Part II. Roles of Universities in Promoting Sustainability
• About the Authors
• Name Index
• Subject Index