Stratford-upon-Avon College has pledged to take part in a national sustainability challenge based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
From Monday 28th February to Friday 11th March, the College will be taking part in the ‘Students Organising for Sustainability UK’ (SOS-UK) Teach In campaign which requests educators to incorporate the SDGs within their teaching.
The two-week challenge will allow the College’s Sustainability Officer, Maddie Booth, the Senior Leadership Team and lecturers to identify how they can work together to embed these goals into the curriculum. To motivate departments, the College has launched an internal competition which will see teams with the most engagement and sustainable activity receive prizes.
The United Nations 17 SDGs were adopted by all United Nations members with the commitment to complete them by 2030. The goals are as follows (click here for more information):
1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health and well-being
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
6. Clean water and sanitation
7. Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work an economic growth
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
10. Reduced inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible consumption and production
13. Climate action
14. Life below water
15. Life on land
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
17. Partnerships for the goals
By taking the national sustainability pledge, the College hopes to inspire lecturers to see how they can embed the 17 SDGs beyond the two-week period. The aims of the challenge are to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable development, catalyse curriculum reform and test new ideas, embed sustainability and social responsibility across all learning, link teaching, learning, and assessment to local and global concerns, and prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and attributes to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.
Maddie Booth comments: “As a college we recognise our unique role in helping address the climate change challenges. We are uniquely placed at the heart of our developing young people to encourage, inspire and support them to get the skills they need on their own green journeys. We are committed, through our education and training of thousands of people, to develop a wider understanding of what a more sustainable future looks like, and we look forward to the SDG Teach In campaign as a pilot towards embedding sustainability throughout our whole curriculum.”
