How Do You Teach Undergraduate
University Students to Contribute to UN
SDGs 2030?
Eric Pallant, Beth Choate and Benjamin Haywood
Abstract The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are designed to
mobilize countries around the world to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities
and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind. Institutions of
higher learning are important actors in creating individuals with the skills to accomplish these goals. The Environmental Science and Sustainability (ESS) Department at
Allegheny College (Meadville, PA) has been working for 40 years to produce students
capable of solving real-world environmental problems by teaching students to think
critically and communicate science. This review involved a comprehensive analysis
of existing classes at Allegheny College with a focus on the alignment of SDG principles with learning outcomes for core courses required of all students majoring in
ESS. The ESS curriculum implicitly supports the goals of the UN SDGs by using
local, state and international environmental issues to demonstrate the realities of
considering both the environment and well-being to advance a more sustainable and
equitable future. The aim of this paper is to highlight how a university curriculum
might explicitly focus on the principles of the UN SDGs. In discussing this model,
this paper identifies essential components and potential gaps in university curricula
and offers one template to provide a more thorough approach to educating for the
SDGs.
Keywords Education for sustainable development · United Nations · Sustainable
development goals
E. Pallant · B. Choate (B) · B. Haywood
Department of Environmental Science & Studies,
Allegheny College, 520 North Main St., Box E, Meadville, PA 16335, USA
e-mail: bchoate@allegheny.edu
E. Pallant
e-mail: epallant@allegheny.edu
B. Haywood
e-mail: bhaywood@allegheny.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_5
69
University Students to Contribute to UN
SDGs 2030?
Eric Pallant, Beth Choate and Benjamin Haywood
Abstract The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are designed to
mobilize countries around the world to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities
and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind. Institutions of
higher learning are important actors in creating individuals with the skills to accomplish these goals. The Environmental Science and Sustainability (ESS) Department at
Allegheny College (Meadville, PA) has been working for 40 years to produce students
capable of solving real-world environmental problems by teaching students to think
critically and communicate science. This review involved a comprehensive analysis
of existing classes at Allegheny College with a focus on the alignment of SDG principles with learning outcomes for core courses required of all students majoring in
ESS. The ESS curriculum implicitly supports the goals of the UN SDGs by using
local, state and international environmental issues to demonstrate the realities of
considering both the environment and well-being to advance a more sustainable and
equitable future. The aim of this paper is to highlight how a university curriculum
might explicitly focus on the principles of the UN SDGs. In discussing this model,
this paper identifies essential components and potential gaps in university curricula
and offers one template to provide a more thorough approach to educating for the
SDGs.
Keywords Education for sustainable development · United Nations · Sustainable
development goals
E. Pallant · B. Choate (B) · B. Haywood
Department of Environmental Science & Studies,
Allegheny College, 520 North Main St., Box E, Meadville, PA 16335, USA
e-mail: bchoate@allegheny.edu
E. Pallant
e-mail: epallant@allegheny.edu
B. Haywood
e-mail: bhaywood@allegheny.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_5
69