The Impact of the UN SDGs on University Funding
In 2015, The United Nations unveiled its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 global targets that aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. The same year, the SDGs adopted by all UN member states as a universal call to action for sustainable development. Since then, the SDGs have been extensively covered in international media, taught in schools, and monitored by policymakers.
Universities are playing increasingly important roles both in advancing the SDGs through their teaching, research, and community engagement. Universities create and disseminate knowledge, impart skills, and provide solutions that can help us address the often-complex challenges facing humanity and our natural world. By aligning their own mission and operations with the SDGs, universities can demonstrate leadership and accountability in sustainability while making concrete impacts on sustainable human development
How universities are linked to SDGs
Naturally, Goal 4 – Quality Education concerns universities. However, universities are in the very fortunate position of being able to majorly contribute to every SDG through their research and education. For example, access to higher education is a major contributor to eradicating poverty and improving economic prospects (Goal 1 andGoal 8) and multidisciplinary research is vital to improving human health (Goal 3). They also play vital roles in researching the effects of human activities on the climate and finding ways of overcoming environmental issues (Goals 13, 14, and15.) Thus, universities will be important contributors to meeting the SDGs.
Universities that have embedded SDGs into their mission
In response to demand for action, many universities around the world have embedded the SDGs into their strategic vision and activities.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, better known as Amrita University, is a sprawling multicampus university offering research and education across a wide range of disciplines. Despite being a relative newcomer, it has risen up many academic rankings. In the most recent Times Higher Education (THE Impact Rankings, Amrita university was the top ranked university in India for overall SDG progress, and is impressively ranked at 9th in the world in terms of quality of education. Amrita University is notable in that it has a dedicated School of Sustainable Development, which is under the guidance of the university chancellor and offers unique Education for Life programs that seek to integrate the various aspects of community living to educate bother through academic and experiential means. This includes a fully funded PhD program
Kyoto University
Japan’s Kyoto University arguably vies for the position of Japan’s top research university with the University of Tokyo. They currently rank at 49th out of 1,591 institutions worldwide in terms of THE Impact Rankings, with particularly laudable performance in SDGs pertaining to poverty and human development. Kyoto University established its Institute of Sustainabilty Science in 2006, which has since been succeeded by the Research Unit for Realization of Sustainable Society. This unit has amassed an impressive list of ongoing multidisciplinary research projects covering dozens of disciplines. Outside of fundamental research, the Graduate School of Management has also established a yearly SDG Leadership Award to stimulate and reward any projects that relate to the SDGs.
Yonsei University
Yonsei University is a prestigious private research university in South Korea with a strong international focus. In 2017, Yonsei launched the Institute for Global Engagement & Empowerment, which has contributes to implementing initiatives to meet the SDGs. Recently, Yonsei University was ranked 1st in South Korea and 14th worldwide in the THE Impact Rankings. This has not gone unnoticed; in 2022, Yonsei University selected to host the 4th Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum on Sustainable Development, which was attended by former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon. This event focused on reflecting on the past of the SDGs and planning for their future.
How incorporating the SDGs into your university operations can enhance your funding
Enhancing your reputation and attractiveness
By aligning with the SDGs, universities can demonstrate that they are socially responsible and solving the problems that are relevant to current and prospective students, staff, partners, donors, and society at large. This can enhance their reputation and attractiveness as a destination of choice for education and research, which can be reflected in the aforementioned THE Impact Rankings. This can in turn lead to greater opportunities for funding due to increased exposure.
Accessing new funding opportunities
By engaging with the SDGs, universities can access new sources of funding that support sustainable development both from public and private sectors. This can mean new donors, government grants, and industry collaboration. By leveraging funding, universities can more effectively align current research with the SDGs and show their impact and value for money.
Fostering innovation and collaboration
The SDGs are not only goals for the future, they’re also useful as a framework for innovation and collaboration. Universities can generate new ideas, solutions, and partnerships that address local and global challenges and assess how well they meet the needs of the SDGs. By focusing on solutions to ongoing problems that the SDGs hope to address, universities can secure more funding from parties who expect to see concrete outcomes.
Integrating SDGs into funding models
Any initiative to secure or expand funding requires careful planning, so integrating the SDGs into your funding model needs to be performed to ensure that funding is appropriately managed and aligned with your organizational goals.
Develop a clear vision and strategy for SDG integration
It’s not enough to mention the SDGs and their importance. Universities need to articulate their vision and strategy for how they will contribute to the SDGs through their educational and research activities. They need to set clear goals, indicators, and targets to measure their progress and impact. Some deliverables can can include the realization of a research project, an improvement in rankings, or the establishment of a new SDG-focused academic initiative.
Communicate with stakeholders
Universities need to communicate and engage with their internal and external stakeholders on their SDG vision and strategy. They need to raise awareness, build capacity, solicit feedback, and foster ownership among all relevant parties. This can include by establishing a portal to collect information on your SDG strategy and including the relevant faculty and staff in all dialog so that their needs can be properly addresed.
Align resources and incentives
Universities need to align their resources and incentives with their SDG vision and strategy. Before soliciting further funding, they first need to ensure adequate resources for SDG-related activities, create incentives for staff and students to participate in SDG development, and reward excellence and innovation in SDG achievement. This can include offering awards, scholarships, and grants for outstanding performance in this field.
Conclusion
The SDGs offer a unique opportunity for universities to enhance their funding while advancing sustainable development. By integrating the SDGs into their mission and operations, universities can demonstrate their leadership and accountability in sustainability, attract more resources and partners, and generate more impact and value for themselves and society.
