At the Forefront of Progress: Universities as a Key Element in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

© Kristina Shilova / HSE University

The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals can provide a breakthrough in creating a better future for younger generations, and universities are at the forefront of this process. Representatives of world universities discussed how to train future decision-making leaders in the concepts of sustainable development and make education more practice-oriented at the session ‘At the Frontier of Progress: Universities as a Key Element in Achieving SDGs’ in the framework of International Partners’ Week at HSE University.

New Courses, Research, and Expertise

As the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of universities in promoting the ESG agenda grow, they also poses new challenges and tasks.

Alexander Sorokin, Dean of the HSE St Petersburg School of Social Sciences and Area Studies, noted that the activities of universities aimed at implementing SDGs are now developed in three main areas: education, research, and consulting and expertise. The first area features many different courses on sociology, political science, the urban environment, and ecology. Various research laboratories and centres for young scientists are opening. Consulting and expertise are the most extensive areas and include a large number of activities, such as forming strategies for urban socio-economic development, monitoring the school environment, developing entrepreneurship among young people, studying migration and youth mobility, developing university campuses and many others, explains Alexander Sorokin.

However, miscommunication between universities hinders the full-fledged dissemination of practices and the establishment of new principles of sustainable development, adds Sorokin.

At the same time, many scientific initiatives come from students and partners, adds Anna Veselova, Director of the Centre for Corporate Sustainability Management (ESG Centre) of the HSE Graduate School of Business. Therefore, it is important to develop various analytical areas so that initiative groups have the opportunity to implement their ideas. ‘We launch various courses and programmes related to sustainable development,’ says Anna Veselova. Additionally, short-term programmes for established specialists have also been launched. ‘This area is becoming more and more relevant and important for us; the knowledge gained will be important both for financial experts and marketers, for example,’ adds Anna Veselova.

Improving the Quality of Education

‘Those who have an advantage in the comprehensive national power of sustainable development can lay a solid foundation and guarantee their own survival and development,’ says James Atta Peprah, Dean of the School of Economics at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Knowledge in the field of SDGs helps labour market participants to become more competitive, he adds.

‘Improving the process of training specialists in an environment similar to the working one will help students adapt faster and speed up work,’ says Maryna Karpitskaya, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno (Belarus). The interaction between a university and external stakeholders, various enterprises, and employers is important—both students and representatives of the real sector of the economy are trained, and technoparks and business incubators are launched. Centres with unique equipment are also opening to help students immerse themselves in their chosen professions.

We should study all our life,’ notes Zubirash Smagulova, Dean of the Higher School of Economics at Astana International University (Kazakhstan). This means that it is crucial to help develop not only students, but also teachers.

Active recruitment of international teachers also helps to improve the quality of education. ‘It has advantages for the university, because it improves its positions in rankings,’ says Umut Abdyldaeva, Associate Professor at I. Razzakov Kyrgyz State Technical University (Kyrgyzstan).

Inclusion and Socio-emotional Cultural Development

One of the aspects of SDG in universities is ensuring comfortable conditions for people with disabilities. In particular, according to James Peprah, the University of Cape Coast sets out projects to create comfortable infrastructure and improve the environment for vulnerable members of society.

‘It is necessary to guarantee inclusive and fair quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for everyone,’ agrees Vyacheslav Korotkevich, Head of the Education Quality Monitoring Department of the Belarusian National Institute of Education.

Vyacheslav Korotkevich

© Kristina Shilova / HSE University

It is also important to develop social and emotional intelligence among children, teenagers and young people, he adds.

Umut Abdyldaeva also notes that university projects aimed at social development are important in this regard. ‘It is important that students are interested not only in academic projects aimed at expanding knowledge and research horizons, but also in personality-oriented projects that impact people’s social and cultural development,’ she adds.

The Role of the State

‘We can’t work on achieving ESG without establishing partnerships at the global, regional and local levels,’ says Ksenia Shevtsova, Head of the HSE International Partnerships Office.

Wang Qi, Professor at Tsinghua University (China), highlighted the role of the state in the implementation of SDGs. It is the responsibility of the state to unite all groups of people to achieve SDGs and create a ‘Xiaokang’ (moderately prosperous) society, she said. ‘Chinese universities have studied this concept deeply and provided powerful theoretical support,’ notes Wang Qi.

Thanks to state support, major research projects in the field of sustainable development are successfully implemented in China. More than 270 universities across the country are opening faculties and new courses on environmental protection in order to contribute to the national environmental development strategy. ‘Comprehensive support of relevant national strategies is one of the ways universities strengthen their capabilities in achieving the SDGs,’ Wang Qi summarises.

SDG Indicators and Focuses

Zubirash Smagulova suggested looking at the results of opinion polls to answer the questions of how to evaluate activity (including university work) in promoting SDGs, as well as what goals to focus on. The respondents put good health and well-being in first place, quality education in second, and the eradication of poverty in third, followed by decent work and economic growth, clean water and sanitation. These focuses define a university's project activity, she adds.

Umut Abdyldaeva proposed seven criteria that ‘record achievements in the implementation of the SDGs’. The criteria are quality education, the improvement of science and education, the improvement of HR quality, the expansion of international communication, digitalisation as a further strategy for the development of university infrastructure, social and educational work, and the development of infrastructure, security, and an effective environment.

Ova Candra Dewi, Head of the Interdisciplinary Master Study Programme in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Indonesia, spoke about UI GreenMetric—a university ranking developed by her university that evaluates environmental friendliness. The benefit of this ranking for universities is that it helps to raise awareness of ESG-related issues around the world, creates a single unit of measurement for all countries, and promotes social change and action, she added.

The ranking takes into account infrastructure development, energy and climate change, emissions, water quality, transport development, and the level of education and research. The University of Indonesia also offers additional services, such as consulting, the organisation of events on sustainable development, and university branding.