Sustainability at the Grassroots

The United Nations instituted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, popularly known as the UN SDGs, in 2015. Spanning from environment to human rights—the 17 goals lay out a wide net of key focus areas that society needs to address or resolve in order to achieve the vision of a sustainable planet and equitable world. These goals are not just the prerogative of a single nation or community but serve as a call to action for all. While the United Nations has laid down markers to identify if a nation has achieved a particular goal, they are not to be achieved only through government intervention and public policy. It is the sum of the actions of different stakeholders—civil society, public institutions, corporate entities, and the government.

The United Nations has underscored that these entities are crucial to achieving the goals imperative for realising the 2030 vision. One of the vital stakeholders in this process is, unarguably, universities. One view is to look at universities as sites to train citizens in developing the skills required to achieve the goals. More importantly, though, they can serve as spaces of discourse around sustainability, thus becoming the key to channelling any acquired skills and training in the right direction. In this vein, the United Nations itself has instituted the United Nations Academic Impact programme—a global network of educational institutions committed to achieving the 17 goals or the ones that are feasible and contextually relevant to bolster action towards the SDGs at the grassroots level. Indeed, the education space is one of the foundations for shaping and moulding individuals into responsible and driven citizens.

Beyond disseminating knowledge and fostering an ecosystem for the discussion and understanding of sustainability, what would it look like for universities and educational spaces to contribute tangibly to the UN-SDGs? Here is laying out some focus areas of action for Ashoka and beyond:

Instituting Programmes that Foster Student Projects and Engagement with Global Goals

Arguably, the major obstacle that passionate students face is the lack of immediate mentorship and support to work on their ideas. While platforms and programmes such as the Millennium Fellowship and various incubator programmes exist, awareness about them is limited to privileged educational spaces. When institutions create resource programmes to guide students in turning their ideas into actionable results, they incentivise the community to reflect on societal issues and find solutions. Every small positive action in this direction contributes to achieving global goals by addressing them at the hyper-local level. Illustrative of this is the LiveGreen@Ashoka Programme, which supports student projects focusing on making Ashoka a more sustainable campus and community. From hearing out every student’s ideas and connecting them to the resources and networks within the campus for collaboration to helping them liaise with the administration on idea implementation, the project serves as a stepping stone for students to experiment and learn––not just from the building but from obstacles and any failures too.

Spearheading Research

With an ecosystem of support for student ideas, building on the university’s research capabilities is just as vital. As bastions for knowledge, universities need to leverage their academic resources to contribute to sustainability research. Can new waste management systems be developed for villages? What insights can data tell us about combating poverty? What is the link between poverty and climate change? How can this be addressed in local contexts and beyond? Ashoka’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability is an example, which, in its own words, “brings together members of the Ashoka community with a shared interest in studying, communicating, and mitigating the effects of future climate change on our society, health and environment.” Additionally, the ethos of the 3CS Media Fellowship fits in perfectly with SDG 10—reduced Inequalities in its purpose of enabling journalism from marginalised communities dealing with climate change. By offering a platform for amplifying these voices, this programme aims to bridge the gap between communities whose lived experiences struggle to be recognised and the global discourse on climate change.

Adopting Sustainable Infrastructure, Operations and Principles

A vibrant space contributing to the discourse on sustainability will find its purpose diluted if it does not embody the principles it advocates for and seeks to instil in its community. Therefore, universities must lead by example. Adopting environmentally sustainable infrastructure, waste management practices, efficient energy consumption and repurposing resources would meet key goals focusing on safeguarding the environment. However, sustainability is a multifaceted concept. It cannot be achieved if we ignore its social implications. Therefore, in their efforts to embody the principles of sustainability, universities must focus on the aspects of the global goals that emphasise equitability and well-being for all through ensuring its community has equal access to resources and opportunities, is rid of discrimination and is a safe space where individuals from all walks of life can thrive. In this regard, Ashoka’s adoption of efficient menstrual waste recycling systems and water treatment infrastructure are cases in point; the mechanisms it has in place to address student grievances and the ecosystem of support provided by the different academic departments including the Office of Academic Affairs that takes into account students’ learning needs and the safe space that the Office of Learning Support strives to create for any student negotiating learning difficulties implements the targets of the global goals within its own community, addressing, in the process the vision laid out by SDGs 5 and 10––Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities.

Forging Partnerships

While adopting sustainability principles within its community serves to achieve global goals at a micro level, universities benefit from becoming part of wider networks working on implementing sustainable processes and practices. That could be by being signatories of funds and forums committed to vocalising the cause of the global goals like the United Nations Academic Impact Charter or partnering with NGOs, policymakers and even the government to further the cause of the projects and research the university undertakes. Indeed, even a small-scale collaboration focussed on furthering some element of sustainability means that the university has met a crucial UN Goal of standing for partnerships to meet global goals (SDG 17).

These pointers are easily achievable by all educational institutions—a well-endowed university or a rural school—as the global goals are a work in progress. The scale at which the institution achieves these goals does not matter, for even a village school can uphold the UN SDGs by ensuring equal treatment for children from all genders, orientations and walks of life. It need not have to be at the forefront for producing cutting-edge research, but a no-plastic policy in a rural school is enough to take the community forward towards achieving sustainability and creating a citizenry, small that number may be, that is mindful and conscious of the importance of saving the planet.

As for universities, these spaces must realise their importance in contributing to global goals not only through research or projects but also by embodying the principles they envision for humanity because these spaces can mould the next generation of thinkers and doers.