Launch of the Chinese Translation of the SDGs in Universities Guide

The report Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities is a practical guide on how universities can leverage their learning and teaching functions to provide “Education for the SDGs” by helping students develop knowledge, skills, and critical thinking necessary to achieve the SDGs. The Chinese Translation of this guide was developed in collaboration with SDSN China Hub based at Tsinghua University, and was launched on November 16, 2021.

María Cortés-Puch, Vice-President of Networks at SDSN, opened the session by welcoming the audience made up of individuals from academia and the public. Cortés-Puch then introduced the panel speakers Ms. Tahl Kestin, Network Manager of SDSN Australia, New Zealand and Pacific at Monash University and Ms. Yi Zheng, the Head of Office at the Institute for SDGs of Tsinghua University and Network Manager for SDSN China Hub.

In this panel session, Ms. Kestin gave an overview of the SDG guide including the motivation behind the initiative as well as the transformations required by universities to respond to the urgent need for change. One approach highlighted was the “2nd operating system” approach, which involves universities breaking disciplinary silos, creating spaces for multi-stakeholder partnerships, focus on real-world challenges and turning their campuses into living labs. Ms. Kestin concluded her presentation with the mention of the launch of a new Working Group on University Transformations at the ICSD 2021 Conference as well as the work the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) is currently engaged in.

Ms. Yi-Zheng continued the session by sharing her experience translating the guide itself highlighting a concept that may be relatively new to universities in China, known as Education for the SDGs (ESDGs). Ms. Zheng shared that in translating this guide, she learned that the concept of ESDGs were not only a matter of teaching and researching but involves and is linked to the management of the university. Ms. Zheng went on to illustrate that though there are some differences, there are also similarities and overlaps between the roles of universities in China as defined by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and as stated in the guide. The session concluded with a sharing of a case study of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the publication of Tsinghua University Report on Sustainable Development Goals as well as the ongoing work of Tsinghua University regarding localization of SDG Education in China.

The final session of the event was an engaging dialogue on China, the United States and the SDGs between Jeffrey Sachs, President of SDSN and Dr. Xue Lan, Dean of Schwarzman College and Co-Director of the Institute for SDGs at Tsinghua University. Sachs began the dialogue by highlighting two recent positive developments between China and the United States during the COP26 Summit and China-U.S. Presidential Meeting. Dr. Xue expressed that China has been consistent in its effort to implement the SDGs, evident by two key announcements made by President Xi. The first being poverty alleviation in China and the second being the announcement of China’s target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which is already being turned into action.

The dialogue continued on the topic of the role of universities in the United States and China where Sachs put forth that it would be really advisable for US-China universities to engage in common studies of issues such as solutions for sustainable financing and renewable energy. Sachs also highlighted that such cooperation be extended to the Africa context as China can provide the best road map and be a role model on how to alleviate poverty for Africa. Dr. Xue followed with mentioning of the need for interdisciplinary work in universities and how to bring different disciplines together and proceeded to ask Sachs to share his experience in running the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Sachs made the point that if you are aiming for broad, complex problem-solving then it is required that the approach come from the perspective of the problem where then, the interdisciplinary becomes a necessity rather than a theory. Sachs mentions if you are able to solve the practical problems of financing and recruitment and finally, finding a way for students and scholars to have a core and interdisciplinary home, is a useful approach.

The event closed with a hopeful message from Sachs to Dr. Xue, “We are a globally interconnected world, we depend on each other for global well-being. I think in all the geo-political processes and challenges on climate, on the pandemic, on inequality…there’s so much we can do together.”

The Accelerating SDGs in Universitas guide is accompanied by a case study website with innovative and inspiring examples of how universities around the world are already accelerating the implementation of the Education for the SDGs. The guide is now available in six languages. Read it in Chinese, English, French, Korean, Spanish or Portuguese here.