ACTS is committed to supporting campuses to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their teaching, research and operational practices.
We recognise that education will play a critical role in delivering the global goals by providing the knowledge, innovations and solutions to address the complex and interconnected societal and environmental challenges that lie behind them.
Accelerating SDG Practice forums
SDSN AusNZPac and the ACTS have launched a joint series of bi-monthly online discussion forums for our member institutions that aim to help them accelerate and scale up action on the Sustainable Development Goals.
This forum series aims to help lift the collective response of the sector in our region to the SDGs by providing a space for our members to share and discuss approaches, challenges, and learnings about SDG implementation. The forums will also look for opportunities for follow up collaborations and for how we can share learnings with the broader community.
Universities guide
Getting started with the SDGs in universities is a guide to help universities, higher education institutions, and the academic sector in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific to accelerate their contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Guide is an initiative of SDSN AusNZPac in collaboration with ACTS, the global SDSN, and Australian and New Zealand universities. It highlights the important role universities have in implementing the SDGs through their teaching, research, operations and leadership, and provides practical guidance and examples to inspire further action.
Accelerating SDG Practice forum series
Universities, higher education institutions, and knowledge institutions have a critical and unique role in helping achieve the SDGs through their teaching, research and operational practices. To help fulfil this critical role, there is an urgent need for the sector to accelerate and scale up action on the SDGs.
In 2017, SDSN AusNZPac and ACTS worked together with institutions in our region to publish Getting Started with the SDGs in Universities, a definitive guide to how the sector can implement the SDGs with examples of what was (at the time) best practice.
Since then, many SDSN AusNZPac and ACTS member institutions have greatly increased their sophistication of working with the SDGs across different areas, and their experience with what works and what doesn’t. Other institutions are just starting their SDG journeys.
The aim of this forum series is to help lift the collective response of the sector in our region to the SDGs by providing a space for our member institutions to share and discuss approaches, challenges and learnings about SDG implementation. The forums will also look for opportunities for follow up collaborations and for how we can share learnings with the broader community.
The forums will take place approximately bimonthly and each will focus on a different topic relating to SDG implementation. Information about the first scheduled forums is listed to the right, and we also invite members to propose ideas for future forums.
The forums will take place via online videoconference, and are open to staff at SDSN AusNZPac and ACTS member institutions who are actively working in areas relating to the forum topic. We aim for all or most participants to have an opportunity to contribute. To facilitate this, applications will be through an EOI process, and the number of participants may be capped.
Getting started with the SDGs universities guide
Getting started with the SDGs in universities (2017) is a guide to help universities, higher education institutions, and the academic sector in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific to accelerate their contributions to the SDGs.
The Guide is an initiative of SDSN AusNZPac in collaboration with ACTS, the global SDSN, and Australian and New Zealand universities. It provides practical information on how universities can engage with the SDGs and accelerate their contributions, including:
- How universities can contribute to the SDGs through teaching, research, operations and external leadership
- A step-by-step guide to developing a cross-university framework for SDG implementation.
- Practical guidance and tools to assist the process, including SDG mapping, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and managing interlinkages between the SDGs
- Case studies and examples to inspire action
Translations for the guide are now available in Chinese (中文), Japanese (日本語), Portuguese (português) and Spanish (español).
