Young adults have an important role to play in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Adopted by all UN member nations, the SDGs offer a frame for an ambitious plan to transform our world for the better. Engaging young adults in meaningful discussions can lead to transformative learning — and action is key to meeting local and global targets.
Universities across Canada and the world are working towards making institutional commitments towards sustainability and engaging students in this also. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization launched a Reflect-Share-Act framework in 2020 to assist anyone in acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to promote sustainable development in their community. Over the past two years, I participated in a sustainability fellowship program at the University of Saskatchewan .
As part of this, I redesigned a marketing class using the UNESCO framework to include sustainability learning outcomes, activities and assessments. I used a survey at the start and end of each term to measure changes in student perceptions around sustainability and students’ own belief in their ability to enact change. The results showed consistent increases in terms of knowledge about what sustainability is and student optimism around how to make change happen.
When most people think about sustainability, their first thought is usually about the environment or climate change. However, the UN global goal.