CEDI Seminar on HE & Sustainable Development Goals with Dr Wendy Purcell
Published: 17 June 2022
CEDI recently invited participants to join their latest free online seminar in the 'Sustainability in Learning and Teaching' series.
Centre for Educational Development and Innovation - Seminar
Higher Education, Sustainability & the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
CEDI hosted another successful and thought provoking seminar this May from an esteemed Harvard reserach scholar, on how those working in Higher Education can help achieve (and can benefit from) the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, first outlined in 2015 and refined in 2019, within its '2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'. The intention of the 17 goals is to enable the international community to build a more sustainable global economy and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Speaker: Dr Wendy M. Purcell PhD FRSA
Abstract
Universities per se and higher education in general are essential to catalyze and action the transformative change needed for sustainability and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability can be adopted as a driver of change within higher education institutions (HEIs), as they react and respond to influencing factors outside the academy. HEIs engagement with sustainability can also influence, effect and amplify change beyond the institution, working with and through others.
Different local and national contexts, institutional archetypes and academic missions influence the pursuit of sustainability in and by HEIs. Sustainability-led transformation may take place at the level of the institution (executive/administrative), organization, culture, place-based (anchor) and students. Exploring a manifesto for change and a call to action, the session will explore how HEIs are playing an important role in creating a world where no one is left behind, inviting universities and colleges to accelerate and scale their efforts in support of a just transition and the pursuit of sustainability.
About the Speaker
Dr Wendy Purcell is an Academic Research Scholar with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University (2016–date). Her purpose lies in transforming lives through education and research in pursuit of social equity, the knowledge economy and sustainable development. She leads research on global leadership and governance for sustainable transformation in higher education and in various business sectors. She directs Harvard’s Sustainable Development Solutions Group and is Lead Faculty of ENVR-118c Pursuing Sustainability in the Travel & Tourism Sector. Wendy is an Emeritus Professor (Biomedicine) and was President Vice-Chancellor of a UK university (2007-2015), taking it to the top 1% of world universities and number #1 ‘green’ UK university. She is a Council Member of the United Nations University, Governing Board Member European University EELISA and Member of the American Association of Universities and Colleges. Wendy has authored over 100-publications, is an academic editor and author; she is busy writing books on Sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals and the role of higher education in advancing a world where no one is left behind.
First published: 17 June 2022