{"id":43218,"date":"2021-02-15T08:27:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T07:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unric.org\/en\/?p=43218"},"modified":"2021-02-19T16:55:28","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:55:28","slug":"global-goals-teach-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unric.org\/en\/global-goals-teach-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Goals Teach In"},"content":{"rendered":"
For the fourth consecutive year, Students Organising for Sustainability UK\u00a0(SOS-UK) is organising its Global Goals Teach In campaign, designed to embed the lessons of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into classrooms and lecture theatres around the world. The Teach In, which takes place every year in February, is coordinated by SOS-UK. Set up by students and staff at the National Union of Students (NUS), the organisation was created in response to the climate emergency and ecological crisis. This year, 68% of lessons for the Teach In will be conducted online, through remote learning methods. Despite the disruption caused by the ongoing global pandemic, research by the organisation indicates that year on year, an increasing number of students in both schools and universities are interested in, and think that educational institutions should do more to teach about, sustainability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe education system is the root-cause of societal unsustainability,\u201d according to SOS-UK, with \u201cyoung people thinking that the climate emergency and ecological crisis is something for geographers and scientists. Much of what is taught reinforces unsustainable and unjust thinking and values,\u00a0whereas through our work we provide students with the opportunity to develop\u00a0the attributes\u00a0that lead to a more just and sustainable society.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sustainable development and global citizenship\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n SOS-UK advocates teaching about the SDGs, specifically SDG 4.7, which promotes better education for sustainable development and global citizenship. With this in mind, SOS-UK reached 25,026 students in 2020 through its Teach In, with 307 teaching staff in the UK as well as other countries including: Nigeria, India, Canada, Djibouti and Ireland. SOS-UK\u2019s Global Goals Teach In campaign revolves around encouraging educators to sign-up to teaching the SDGs as well as providing guidelines and resources to facilitate this across disciplines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSustainability is an all-encompassing topic and needs a multidisciplinary approach. We can trigger a conscious attempt to ignite a chain reaction of solutions to problems by ensuring that all students, regardless of their academic discipline, have access to education for sustainability,\u201d according to Kelo Nsukka, Mechanical Engineering student, University of Nigeria, and participant in SOS-UK\u2019s Global Goal Teach In.<\/p>\n Promoting sustainable development through education\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The research carried out by SOS-UK, primarily focussing on students in the UK, can be seen to demonstrate at least two important trends. The first trend shows that interest in sustainability in the UK is beginning to increase, going from 57% in 2017-2018 to 65% in 2019-2020. The second trend reveals that only 22% of students in their final two years of schooling in the UK had heard of the SDGs as of 2018. The same piece of research showed that 86% of school students in their final two years think educational institutions should be doing more to help the environment, with 68% saying they are interested in learning more about the environment. Interest in sustainable development in UK higher education students who were polled from 2019-2020 is significantly higher. SOS-UK research showed that\u00a091% of these students said they agree their place of study should actively incorporate and promote sustainable development, with 83% saying they would like to see sustainable development actively incorporated and promoted through all courses.<\/p>\n “Understanding sustainability is more important now than ever, and universities play a key role in ensuring our young people are educated on the matter. It shouldn’t just be taught to students studying related courses. Sustainability is linked to everything we do, and Keele has a responsibility to ensure all our students and staff understand their role in sustainability. The SDGs are a useful and accessible way of breaking it down to embed it in our behaviour and create a sustainable future for all,” according to Keele University Students Union, UK.<\/p>\n Teach the future\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n