The document discusses embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into higher education curriculum at UWE Bristol. It outlines why the SDGs should be integrated, including addressing issues like climate change, resource use, and inequality. It describes how the SDGs can be incorporated through curriculum content, research, placements, and engaging stakeholders. Examples are provided for how different disciplines like midwifery, public health, environmental science, law, and marketing relate to the SDGs. More work is needed to fully map curriculum and research to the goals and ensure holistic and ongoing engagement. The goals provide opportunities to enhance teaching, research, and student employability while contributing to positive social change.

1. Embedding the
SDGs into Higher
Education
Presentation by
Dr Georgina
Gough
Associate
Professor in
Education for
Sustainable
Development
May 2019

2. Overview
• Why?
• What?
• How?
• Who?
• Work still to do

3. Why? External context
• Climate change (contribution to and impacts from)
• Resource shortage, sourcing, waste
• Politics
• Funding (how/what to prioritise)
• Migration (workforce, demands on service)
• Equality (workforce and access to services)
• Accountability

4. • Personal development
• Supporting the future of society
• Leading development of professions
• Building organisational and societal capacity
• Understanding and new knowledge
Why wouldn’t we?
Why? Purpose of HE/
function of universities

5. Why? Internal context
• Cost saving pressure
• Staff demand
• Student demand

6. How:
Being
sustainable
ourselves

7. How? Benefitting society
• Placements / work-based learning
• Assessment briefs
• PG study / Apprenticeships
• Research / PhDs
• KTPs / Community Fund
• Professional / Advisory boards
• Skills Bridge

8. How: Through our curriculum
The task: To assess
alignment between the UN
SDGs and programmes of
study at UWE Bristol

9. The brief
Work with colleagues to consider the following:
• Where and how do constituent modules offer
students the opportunity to learn about issues
aligned to sustainable development (see UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and
their associated targets)?
• Is consideration given to the ways in which
these issues are relevant to the specific
discipline and its associated professions?

10. • In what ways might graduates of the
programme to contribute towards sustainable
development?
• How might professional practice be
influenced/ affected by measures introduced
to mitigate against issues such as inequality
and climate change?
• How are students prepared for becoming
future-facing and globally responsible during
the course of the programme (relevant to
UWE Graduate Attributes)?

11. Potential aspects to map
SDG Curriculum
content and
assessment
Module(s)
of
programme
Delivery of
programme
Professional
practice
1
2
3
Etc.

12. Midwifery
Which issues of relevance are taught
within the Midwifery programme at
UWE Bristol?
What issues need to be tackled which
can be aided by the study and practice
of the discipline of midwifery?

14. Public health
In what ways does the Public
Health programme at UWE
Bristol connect to the ambitions
of the UN SDGs?

16. Environmental
Science
What solutions to issues represented
in the SDGs might derive from the
discipline of environmental science?
Which modules of the programme
deliver learning relevant to the SDGs?

18. Law
How relevant are issues contained
within each goal to each module of
the LLM programme?

20. Information Technology
Which of the issues represented in the
SDG targets are included in the IT
Management for Business
programme?
Which modules are most focused on
issues of relevance?

22. Marketing, Events
and Tourism
Which issues of relevance are currently
included in modules led by or are the
focus of research activity being
undertaken by this disciplinary team?
Which modules contain relevant issues?

24. The opportunities
‘What is the value of this work?’
• Revision of curriculum to engage more with
important global issues
• Exciting and meaningful work (for staff and
students) which contributes to positive change
• Enhanced student experience
• Better employability outcomes for graduates
• Enhanced institutional reputation
• Interdisciplinary respect

25. No end point but a journey of
engagement with the SDGs.
Ongoing reflection on the extent to which
and ways in which research, teaching and
learning for sustainable development need to
be developed in order to achieve the most
desirable outcomes for individuals, for the
institution and for society.

26. Who? Everyone!
• Senior Management
• Sustainability team
• Academics
• Professional service staff
• Students
• Community

27. Work still to do
• More maps: curriculum and research
• Deeper engagement with the Goals
• Holistic decision-making
• Ongoing communication
• Sustainability Plan 2030

28. For more information about sustainability at UWE, visit:
http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/about/corporateinformation/sustainability.aspx
and https://www.thestudentsunion.co.uk/community/green-team/
or contact
Georgina.Gough@uwe.ac.uk (Education for Sustainable Development)
Vicki.Harris@uwe.ac.uk (Sustainability Engagement and Sustainability Team)