George Mason U. shows how higher ed. can prepare students to realize Sustainable Development Goals

What is it about?

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2015) established 17 targets — such as “no hunger,” “clean water” and “climate action” — to unite humanity in pursuit of a shared, prosperous future. These diverse global goals provide a universal agenda to enlist today’s learners in creatively ensuring our collective well-bring throughout their careers. How can higher education foster effective, intentional learning across courses and curricula to prepare our students to realize these global goals? George Mason University has established a diverse set of over 130 “green leaf” sustainability courses, along with regular co-curricular activities, to help our students develop their sustainability skills and practical expertise. These span a new 18-credit “sustainability pathway” through our general education requirements and a score of undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs. Together, these curricula permit students to move from first year through accelerated graduate programs while continuously building sustainability savvy. Meanwhile, Mason's co-curricular activities provide students opportunities to develop and apply “critical doing” sustainability skills beyond the classroom.

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Why is it important?

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an inclusive and widely recognized set of shared targets for us to bring humanity to a better condition by 2030. Today's college students can be tomorrow's leaders in realizing these global goals if they have many opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills to become engaged citizens and well-rounded scholars prepared to act. George Mason University models how to do so across departments, disciplines and academic degrees.

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