Internationalisation in higher education has long focused on mobility and partnership agreements, often prioritising institutional gains over societal impact. Now, more universities are aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for global and local benefit.
This shift is explored in a recent book, Global Goals, Global Education, which highlights how universities are leveraging the SDGs to build impact-driven partnerships beyond rankings.
To examine this evolving approach, University World News spoke to the book’s editors, a contributing author from a university in the Global South, a representative of the United Nations, and a city planner in the Global North.
‘Shared vision’
The 17 SDGs, unanimously adopted in 2015 by all 193 UN member states, reflect a global commitment to addressing pressing challenges such as poverty, inequality and climate change. The SDGs provide universities with a shared vision and measurable targets, helping them align research, teaching and outreach with global challenges,” Jayashri Wyatt, chief of education outreach in the UN’s Department of Global Communications, told University World News from New York.
She highlighted the role of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), a body established to mobilise higher education in advancing the UN’s values and principles.
“There’s a natural alignment between what universities aim to achieve and the UN’s mission – both work in service of humanity,” Wyatt explained.
Since its launch in 2010, UNAI has grown to more than 1,700 higher education institutions in over 150 countries. Joining is free, and members’ sole responsibility is to demonstrate support for UNAI principles and the SDGs.
International collaboration through the SDGs
Universities in the UNAI network collaborate through SDG-focused workshops, training sessions and capacity-building initiatives, enabling them to exchange best practices, develop joint projects and form new partnerships. Interaction between universities is particularly evident in UNAI’s 17 SDG hubs – one for each of the global goals.
“The strategic value of the UNAI network lies in the transformative approaches of its members, particularly the UNAI SDG Hub Chairs, including Mount Kenya University and the University of California, Davis,” Wyatt said.
Case study in the Global South
Mount Kenya University (MKU) exemplifies how the SDGs can serve as a catalyst for both internationalisation and local transformation. The university’s main campus is in Thika, near Nairobi, with another 14 sites across Kenya as well as a presence in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Somalia.
Since joining UNAI in 2018, MKU has chaired two UNAI hubs – first on SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) until 2024, and now on SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure).
“We work with international partners to expand our impact,” Professor Mwangi Peter Wanderi, director of linkages and partnerships at MKU, told University World News from Sweden, where he was attending an academic meeting.
He co-authored a chapter on strategies for integrating the SDGs into university goals and priorities in Global Goals, Global Education, which was published in 2024 by NAFSA, the Association of International Educators based in Washington in the United States.
Examples of how MKU is pursuing internationalisation via the SDGs include the following:
• Last year, MKU conducted a joint workshop with Japan’s Nagaoka University of Technology to mark the International Day of Forests and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The university previously chaired the SDG 9 Hub, a role now fulfilled by MKU, and their collaboration has allowed for an exchange of best practices.
• Also in 2024, MKU participated in a panel with Kristu Jayanti College of India, which was then chair of SDG Hub 1 (No poverty), at a sustainable development conference hosted by Majmaah University in Saudi Arabia.
• MKU collaborates with De Montfort University (DMU) in the United Kingdom on co-teaching online courses, particularly to incorporate African perspectives. DMU previously held the UNAI SDG 16 Hub chair (Peace, justice and strong institutions), and now serves as chair for SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities).
• MKU faculty and students have delivered presentations on their SDG initiatives at the University of the West of Scotland, the Tanzania Institute of Accountancy, and INES Ruhengeri Institute of Applied Sciences in Rwanda, as well as in online discussions on sustainable development hosted by Florida International University in the US.
In a demonstration of how higher education institutions are leveraging the internationalisation opportunities presented by the SDGs, MKU introduced Estonia’s University of Tartu to the UNAI programme, leading to its membership. The two universities have been collaborating via the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme.
Town and gown
Wanderi said MKU will be using its term as UNAI Hub chair for SDG 9 to collaborate with other hubs for greater impact. It will also link up with industry to foster long-term economic growth.
The university is advancing global entrepreneurship in collaboration with South Africa’s University of Venda, Nigeria’s Godfrey Okoye University, and Germany’s Leuphana University. They are participating in the STEP-S project, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD.
MKU is also catalysing economic development in the communities where its campuses are based. Examples include:
• Training young entrepreneurs, particularly women, through its Graduate Enterprise Academy.
• Providing assistive devices for visually impaired students, in partnership with Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa.
• Environmental initiatives, such as student-led tree planting and waste management projects.
In Thika, MKU’s public-private partnerships have strengthened services and infrastructure through collaborations with Thika Level 5 Hospital, Kiambu County Public Library, the Kenya Police Service, Thika High School and Kiambu County Huduma Centre.
Case study in the Global North
On the other side of the world, in the United States, the University of California (UC), Davis serves as another example of how universities can leverage the SDGs to connect global priorities with local action.
The university worked with the Californian capital of Sacramento in conducting a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) to evaluate city policies against the SDGs.
“Collaborating with the UC Davis team has broadened our perspective on VLRs conducted by other cities in the US and globally,” Vic Randall, senior planner for Sacramento, told University World News.
In its VLR, Sacramento mentions that it joined other US cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, in completing a VLR to align local policies with the SDGs.
Randall added: “While our policy work is primarily rooted in local, regional and statewide relationships, the city also maintains international partnerships. Our VLR process laid a strong foundation for strategically expanding these global connections and integrating them into our SDG-aligned initiatives.”
Sacramento’s Sister City programme spans the globe, with partnerships in Asia (Philippines, Japan, China and South Korea), Europe (Switzerland, Moldova and Ukraine), the Middle East (Palestine and Israel), and Latin America (Nicaragua and Mexico).
“Having an academic institution as a partner has been ideal and mutually beneficial. The partnership demonstrated how academic expertise can complement local governance,” Randall said.
He highlighted the value added by UC Davis “student interns who learnt from the process while supporting our VLR preparation”.
‘Through an SDG lens’
Leading the UC Davis side of this partnership is Jolynn Shoemaker, the university’s director of global engagements.
“We have developed mechanisms to strengthen university-community-international connections through the lens of the SDGs,” she told University World News in an online interview.
An initiative that immerses students in the UN’s 2030 Agenda is UC Davis’s SDG Internship, which involves students in outreach events, classroom presentations, blog storytelling and voluntary reviews.
UC Davis is also fostering collaboration with universities in different countries through the SDGs. Examples include:
• With EARTH University in Costa Rica, UC Davis has been appointed co-chair for the UNAI SDG Hub 2 (Zero hunger).
The two universities also co-lead the SDG 2 Zero Hunger Consortium, an initiative within the University Global Coalition that also includes the University of São Paulo in Brazil, Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, the African Research Universities Alliance Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems (ARUA-SFS) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and McGill University in Canada.
• UC Davis has established a grant programme to support faculty activities that intentionally advance the SDGs, and has provided joint grants to support research on SDG-related topics with international partners – the University of Sydney in Australia, the University of Chile, as well as Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico.
Key steps for universities to leverage the SDGs
Shoemaker and her co-editor of Global Goals, Global Education, Joanna Regulska, vice provost and dean of global affairs at UC Davis, stress that universities must act intentionally, with senior leadership buy-in, to fully leverage SDG opportunities.