This blog has been written by Anna Maxfield, Policy and Networks Officer at London Higher.
Established in 2015, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda outlines 17 goals (more commonly known as the SDGs) that determine whether society is developing in a sustainable manner. A common understanding of sustainability is often confined to concerns of ecological improvements to land, sea, and climate. Fundamentally, this fails to consider the social aspect, ensuring equal access to opportunities for all, and the economic element, resilient long-term growth. The 1987 Brundtland Commission first defined how these three pillars must work dynamically to meet “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. For overarching sustainable development to be achieved, there must be equilibrium between economic growth, social equity, and environmental responsibility. The pillars are therefore interconnected and work interdependently, meaning that if just one falters, society no longer functions in an entirely sustainable way.
A set of subsidiary targets and indicators are provided for each goal. The 2024 Progress Report reveals that just 17% of goals are on target/ making adequate progress, with one-third of the goals stationary or losing momentum. The global picture is one of despair as disparities widen, environmental degradation worsens, and geopolitical conflicts intensify. Through a local lens, the London Sustainable Development Commission investigates the city’s own progress towards the goals set by the United Nations (UN), identifying five themes: people, prosperity, peace, planet and partnerships. Its 2021 report highlights that distinct social inequalities in healthcare, education and income, as well as environmental challenges such as air and noise pollution persist in the capital. The UN’s 17 goals provide guidance for how key stakeholders, including the higher education sector, can reduce inequalities and improve their campus/city infrastructure’s sustainable development.
Goal four, ‘quality education’, supports sustainable development by increasing access to primary, secondary and tertiary education for all and providing populations with the skills to find decent work opportunities and establish economic competency. Target 4.3 makes direct reference to the role of higher education in sustainable development:
4.3 Equal access to affordable, technical, vocational and higher education:
By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.
London’s higher education institutions increase access to exemplary teaching, research and learning for all and reduce the number of adults without qualifications. Quality education supports the people and peace themes of London’s sustainable development agenda. Therefore, they play a pivotal role in Goal 4’s progress and wider sustainability in the capital. However, the city’s educational progress is stunted by spatial, gender, ethnic and economic disparities. Notably, significant variations exist in the number of people without qualifications across London boroughs with Merton and Waltham Forest at just 2.3% and 3.5% respectively and Barking and Dagenham at 11.8%.
The interconnected nature of the goals means that higher education can contribute to more than just Goal 4 in the city’s sustainability journey. Larger universities and smaller specialist institutions have a duty to align their policy and practice with this agenda to:
- Promote gender equality (Goal 3)
- Ensure decent work and economic growth (Goal 8)
- Support industry, innovation and infrastructure (Goal 9)
- Reduce inequalities (Goal 10)
- Create sustainable communities (Goal 11)
- Generate peace, justice and strong institutions (Goal 16)
- Partnership for the goals (Goal 17)
The SDG Accord is a global response from 2800 higher education institutions and individuals, run by the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges. It creates a platform where the sector demonstrates their commitment and subsequent actions to Goal 4, alongside others. Several institutional signatories of the Accord are members of London Higher and have also committed to our Sustainability Pledge, sending representatives to our network meetings. London Higher’s 12 networks assist institutional alignment with sustainable development by:
| Network | Alignment with sustainable development |
|---|---|
| Centres | Creates higher education sites in inner and outer London, giving access to those students in boroughs on the peripheries more opportunities to study closer to home. |
| Civic | Highlights local institutional engagement in external industry, education, health and environmental sustainability. |
| COO/CFO | Having a strong financial and operational structural backbone is important in allowing socio-ecological ventures and pushing forward industry and innovation. |
| Enterprise | Supports industry and innovation, as well as economic growth to promote economic sustainability. |
| Equality, Diversity and Inclusion | Identifies ways to reduce inequalities such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, disability and religion and increase access to higher education to increase accessibility to educational opportunities. |
| International | Promotes the intercultural dynamics of the city with increased international presence, as well as indirectly supporting economic growth of origin countries once students return. |
| Mental Health and Wellbeing | Shares good institutional practice for mental health and wellbeing programmes and recognises the importance of wellbeing for students during their time in higher education. |
| Operations | Responds to operational transitions such as the move to net-zero infrastructure. |
| Policy | Aligns institutional policy with the global sustainable development agenda to support London’s transition. |
| Research Excellence | Improving research access, diversity and support from external stakeholders work to create quality education for all. |
| Strategic Planning and Data | Identifies both short-term and long-term challenges for institutions across London including socio-economic and environmental changes. |
| Sustainability | Primarily concerns the environmental sustainability practices of institutions to improve activism, research, teaching and operations. Subgroups such as the Sustainable Laboratories group work to tailor efforts to specific practices. |
| Teaching and Learning | Improves educational standards through changes to teaching styles and student experience, providing a higher quality of education. |
London Higher’s networks support the transition to a more inclusive, ecological and productive London. Read more in the next blog, on Monday 24 March 2025, about how our members are taking measures to generate sustainable change.
