Staff Awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals at Australia’s Newest University: Professional Learning Implications

Abstract

Background/context. The establishment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has impacted all aspects of society, including universities that have been identified for their propensity to transfer knowledge of SDGs, especially due to their capacity for research, professional learning and scholarship (Purcell et al., 2019; Waas et al., 2010). The initiative/practice. The initiative, introduced to Australia’s newest university, incorporated a research-informed learning program about the SDGs to improve staff understanding of societal and environmental sustainability, and their importance. Grounded in the type of capacity building approach advocated by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (UN, 2023; WHO, 2023), this initiative has the potential to extend theories associated with capacity development to build the knowledge and skills associated with SDGs in a university context. Methods of evaluative data collection and analysis. In this study, a descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the baseline perceptions of faculty, administration and professional staff related to the University’s contribution to the SDGs. Informed by the findings of this survey, an awareness-raising professional learning program was developed that focused especially on providing educative information about the SDGs and how they are currently, or may potentially be, applied to various aspects of the University’s activities. Evidence of outcomes and effectiveness. This study provides an example of how a grass roots program may be developed for educating university staff about the scope and nature of the SDGs, especially as they relate to the University’s core business. While the application of the findings of this study were utilised to inform the development of a bespoke professional learning program for the University in which the study was conducted, the methodology of the study may be adopted by other universities aiming to increase their personnel’s awareness and actions associated with the SDGs.