The Sustainable Development Goals in Higher Education

Reviews / Votes

"Offering 'critical hope' for a more sustainable future, this clearly written book examines how higher education can engage in transforming itself and the world by considering the vision of social and environmental justice represented by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Steele and Rickards challenge universities to become enablers of change by combining deep institutional commitments with bold, ethical cultures of innovation, and to integrate the SDGs into inclusive research and teaching. Especially impressive is the way in which the authors draw on social theory and constructive criticisms of higher education and development, to provide positive and actionable pathways forward. Reading the manuscript, I wanted to immediately share the insights of this book with my university leadership, my faculty colleagues and my students, especially as we try to navigate a post pandemic, antiracist, more equal and low carbon future for people and the planet."
(Diana Liverman, Regents Professor, School of Geography, Development, and Environment University of Arizona, USA )
"The world's universities are important for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. What should universities be offering to this effort? Equally important, how should universities themselves change, in response to the SDGs? Wendy Steele and Lauren Rickards provide a unique, up-to-date guide to these issues, offering frameworks for thought and resources for action." (Raewyn Connell, author of The Good University )
"Offering 'critical hope' for a more sustainable future, this clearly written book examines how higher education can engage in transforming itself and the world by considering the vision of social and environmental justice represented by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Steele and Rickards challenge universities to become enablers of change by combining deep institutional commitments with bold, ethical cultures of innovation, and to integrate the SDGs into inclusive research and teaching. Especially impressive is the way in which the authors draw on social theory and constructive criticisms of higher education and development, to provide positive and actionable pathways forward. Reading the manuscript, I wanted to immediately share the insights of this book with my university leadership, my faculty colleagues and my students, especially as we try to navigate a post pandemic, antiracist, more equal and low carbon future for people and the planet."
(Diana Liverman, Regents Professor and Director of the School of Geography, Development, and Environment University of Arizona, USA)

"The world's universities are important for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. What should universities be offering to this effort? Equally important, how should universities themselves change, in response to the SDGs? Wendy Steele and Lauren Rickards provide a unique, up-to-date guide to these issues, offering frameworks for thought and resources for action." (Raewyn Connell, author of The Good University)

"This book presents a compelling and refreshing take on the contemporary university and its transformative potential. Analysing the engagement between the Sustainable Development Goals and higher education, Steele and Rickards provide energy and hope for those of us exhausted by the continual restructuring of the neoliberal university."
(Lesley Head, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, School of Geography, The University of Melbourne, Australia)