Digging for SDGs: Laying Foundations for Sustainability in the Higher Education Sector

This partnership between UCL Laws and the UCL Students’ Union, will provide an in-depth analysis of UCL students’ sustainability awareness and behaviours

The idea behind Digging for SDGs: Laying Foundations for Sustainability in the Higher Education Sector is to apply the ‘dig where we stand’ methodology from the community heritage movement and nexus theory to guide empirical research on the sustainability of UCL, as the place we work, learn, and live.

This partnership between UCL Laws and the UCL Students’ Union will provide an in-depth analysis of UCL students’ sustainability awareness and behaviours, registering students’ concerns and ideas, and their identification of obstacles to implementing sustainable practices. The key question is how to give meaningful and practical effect to SDG 4.7: "...ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development" in relation to achieving a broader range of SDGs, specifically on climate change, good health and well-being, gender equality, responsible consumption and sustainable cities and communities.

The objective of digging deep into how students understand and practice sustainability, is to help lay foundations for longstanding environmental governance structures and processes in universities which embed fully student participation in the formation and implementation of sustainability policies. This research, grounded in UCL, explores the potential for higher education to serve as an arena in which to deliver holistic and democratic implementation of SDGs, working at the level of national and institutional policymaking, as well as that of the individual.

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