Universities, Sustainability and Society:
A SDGs Perspective
Walter Leal Filho
1 Introduction
As seen throughout this book, sustainable development and sustainability have been
considered and implemented in several sectors over the past decades (Ragazzi and
Ghidini 2017). Also, universities and higher education institutions have been highlighted as major contributors to sustainable development initiatives. This is mainly
attributed to the educational institutions having the power to shape the education
of future generations and-inter alia-of society, by fostering principles and values
among learners, that promote sustainability (Ragazzi and Ghidini 2017; Mohamed
et al. 2020).
This contribution has become even more important if ones takes into account the
process of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which
were unanimously adopted by all member states of the United Nations in September
2015 (UN 2015). These goals encompass a broad range of economic, social, and
environmental dimensions of sustainable development and entail a set of specific
targets for their implementation. In order that the timeframe set by the UN to achieve
these ambitious goals by 2030 is met, many mechanisms need to be put in place and
deployed at the same time. One of them is the active contribution of higher education.
There are in this case some reasons for optimism. Universities are playing a key
role in the SDGs implementation process, at the same time that they fulfil their
societal obligations. In more recent times, sustainable practices associated with the
SDGs have also been introduced in higher education institutions and universities,
via the implementation of special education and research programmes, community
projects
W. Leal Filho (B)
Faculty of Life Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate
Change Management”, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg,
Germany
e-mail: walter.leal2@haw-hamburg.de
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_35
555
A SDGs Perspective
Walter Leal Filho
1 Introduction
As seen throughout this book, sustainable development and sustainability have been
considered and implemented in several sectors over the past decades (Ragazzi and
Ghidini 2017). Also, universities and higher education institutions have been highlighted as major contributors to sustainable development initiatives. This is mainly
attributed to the educational institutions having the power to shape the education
of future generations and-inter alia-of society, by fostering principles and values
among learners, that promote sustainability (Ragazzi and Ghidini 2017; Mohamed
et al. 2020).
This contribution has become even more important if ones takes into account the
process of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which
were unanimously adopted by all member states of the United Nations in September
2015 (UN 2015). These goals encompass a broad range of economic, social, and
environmental dimensions of sustainable development and entail a set of specific
targets for their implementation. In order that the timeframe set by the UN to achieve
these ambitious goals by 2030 is met, many mechanisms need to be put in place and
deployed at the same time. One of them is the active contribution of higher education.
There are in this case some reasons for optimism. Universities are playing a key
role in the SDGs implementation process, at the same time that they fulfil their
societal obligations. In more recent times, sustainable practices associated with the
SDGs have also been introduced in higher education institutions and universities,
via the implementation of special education and research programmes, community
projects
W. Leal Filho (B)
Faculty of Life Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate
Change Management”, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg,
Germany
e-mail: walter.leal2@haw-hamburg.de
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_35
555