Universities and other higher education institutions have a critical role in helping society achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their research, learning and teaching, campus operations and leadership. One of the most important ways they can contribute to this is to support students and other learners within their sphere to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and mindsets to contribute to solving the complex sustainable development challenges our world faces.

Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities is a new guide from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) that aims to help universities, colleges, and tertiary and higher education institutions implement and mainstream this “Education for the SDGs” within their institutions.

This guide aims to inspire universities to take action and support them through this process, regardless of their context, capacity or starting point. It does this by offering practical approaches and guidance, including the case for action, the different ways Education for the SDGs can be implemented in a university, the outline of a strategic implementation process, the roles of different stakeholders, how to overcome common barriers, and in-depth analysis of transformative examples. The guide is accompanied by a website, blogs.upm.es/education4sdg, with almost 50 examples of how universities around the world are already accelerating their implementation of Education for the SDGs.