Contribution of universities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

One of the strategic lines of work adopted by the ACUP, following its approval by the international community at United Nations Headquarters in September 2015, was the 2030 Agenda and the respective 17 Development Goals. Sustainable Development (ODS).

Since its approval, the ACUP has been promoting and coordinating various projects and initiatives aimed at the reflection and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the field of Higher Education, such as the Declaration 'The commitment of Catalan universities with the Sustainable Development Goals: towards a transformative education for a new world 'and the launch of the portal www.ods.cat, through the Catalan public universities show examples and cases of their contribution to the achievement of the SDGs through its teaching and research activity.

One of the specific lines of work of the GUNi (Global University Network for Innovation) network, which the ACUP holds as its secretariat and chair, is also the 2030 Agenda. In this case, with special emphasis on alliances, knowledge and research. The GUNi network project based on the SDGs is divided into the following three main activities:

• The GUNi International Conferences on SDGs: GUNi International Conference on Sustainable Development Goals: Actors and Implementation (2017) and GUNi International Conference on Sustainable Development Goals and Higher Education (2020).
• The GUNi Group of Experts on SDGs and Higher Education
• The following publications and reports: "Approaches to SDG 17 Partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)", "Sustainable Development Goals: Actors and Implementation, a Report from the International Conference" and "Implementing the 2030 Agenda at Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Responses".

The ACUP also contributes to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda within the framework of the Knowledge, Territory and Innovation Platform, a pioneering initiative that promotes social progress, economic competitiveness and the cultural vitality of Catalonia through stable cooperation between universities, companies, public administrations and civil society organizations. , The activities promoted by this platform focus, among other things, on forging alliances and stimulating new multi-actor collaborations that allow its members to move forward in a co-responsible and more efficient way towards achieving the SDGs.

Among the projects of which the ACUP is currently part, the following also stand out for its contribution to the 2030 Agenda: TeRRIFICA (consortium formed by 7 institutions and funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program. The project aims to promote climate action (SDG13) and to influence climate change mitigation and adaptation policies through responsible research and innovation (RRI) and the co-creation of knowledge between relevant actors and citizens in the six pilot regions across Europe where the project has an impact), DECODE (European Deans Council For Sustainable Development) and the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education (WHEC2022), in which the SDGs is one of the 10 main themes and it has ACUP / GUNi as its main local partner.