What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)?

Created by the United Nations in 2015, the SDG’s are a collection of 17 different global goals each with a set of targets and guidelines which aim to achieve true environmental, economic and social sustainable development worldwide.

The 17 Goals are:

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-Being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Production and Consumption
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life On Land
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
17. Partnership for the Goals

Why are they important?

The Goals help to show the breadth of issues that restrict sustainable growth and how the concept of sustainability relates to people in all walks of life and career paths, not just those interested in the environment.

The Goals are used by politicians and companies worldwide to guide targets and objectives. Recently the targets in UK Government’s new Resources and Waste Strategy showed many similarities to some of the key SDG targets. 

The institutions in the East Midlands Universities Waste Consortium (EMUWC) are increasingly seeing the benefit of the SDG’s and looking to embed them into their own teaching and learning to create future thinking graduates. The universities who are part of the EMUWC are; the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, Loughborough University and the University of Leicester (Enva Partnership with EMUWC).

Enva aims to support the universities with embedding the SDG’s into their curriculums by offering academic courses the expert opinion of industry professionals who work on sustainability initiatives. This might come in the form of talking with staff and students about;

• Reducing and redistributing food wastage which relates to Zero Hunger (2),  
• The circular economy concept and the lifecycle of materials which relates to Responsible Production and Consumption (12), 
• Emphasising the strengths of the EMUWC working together to combat sustainability issues which relates to Partnership for the Goals (17).

If you are interested in learning more about how Enva can support with embedding the SDG’s please email us on: East.MidlandsUniversities@enva.com