HESI says science and research role is critical for SDGs

Academics and researchers attending a Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) Global Forum meeting on 21 July heard how innovation and research are helping governments and societies to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A session on “Research and Innovation: Advancing science-based solutions for the SDGs” learned how science-based solutions through product prototypes and tools, as well as higher education studies “can drive policy and market transformation towards more sustainable practices”, said a HESI note.

Moderated by Bosen Lily Liu, head of partnership and UN liaison at the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education, the meeting debated how successful higher education science-based solutions have been in prompting progress, specifically on SDGs 3 (Good health and wellbeing), 5 (Gender equality), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and 14 (Life below water).

Experts debated how sustainability research has prompted: the adoption of strategies promoting policy transformation; what role emerging technologies, including AI, may play in enhancing sustainability research; how to advance sustainability innovation through South-South emerging market research partnerships; and ‘Triangular Cooperation’, where developed countries and multilateral institutions work with emerging market countries.

Sustainability through research

Liu hailed how these activities are delivering “advanced sustainability through research” based on “concrete science-based solutions”.

For instance, Dr Sarah Kandil, a sustainability expert at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), recalled a project at a recent UNESCO Greening with Science, Technology and Innovation Bootcamp, where a team developed a new prototype for protective footwear, using materials that can be sourced in developing countries.

At present, such gear usually uses specialist steel, aluminium or alloys that are tough to source in emerging market regions and hence are imported at significant expense. The alternative is to “compromise the safety of our workers, which is not acceptable,” said Kandil.

The bootcamp developed a prototype with “all the safety features to comply with the manufacturing standards but at the same time is 100% locally sourced”, with materials largely sourced from industrial waste and byproducts from emerging market manufacturers, boosting availability and reducing cost, she said. She explained later to University World News that she could not yet share the details of the materials used, as a patent application is pending.

Ragini Malik, trust funds and programmes officer at the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), told the HESI meeting how the UNOSSC, with the UN-affiliated International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), has helped young women scientists from least developed countries undertake scientific research and innovation and research labs in India and South Africa.

Resulting fellowships delivered research focusing on anti-malarial drugs saving lives in southern Asia while undertaking cancer genomic research. She stressed the value of such South-South partnerships in boosting progress towards the SDGs.

David Steingard, associate director of the Pedro Arrupe Center for Business Ethics and associate professor in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, United States, stressed his work with HESI’s AI and Research and Development Implementation Team (AIRD) working group, which is part of HESI’s Futures of Higher Education and Artificial Intelligence Action Group.

Steingard told University World News later how this work was “at the intersection of responsible AI, sustainable development, and higher education transformation”. A key initiative is its ongoing development of an AIxSDGs Insight Evaluator, offering users insights about their AI work, and offering comparable best practices to their AI innovation solution applications.

Once completed, it will be web-based and built onto its own platform, so there is no need for an OpenAI or Microsoft Co-pilot subscription: “You will get evaluative feedback to say you are meeting these standards and maybe not these,” he noted. “It can assess text, websites, research papers, policy documents and strategic plans, to solve water issues, for example.” A version is expected soon.

Principles for Responsible Management Education

Meredith Storey, senior manager at the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) at the UN Global Compact, highlighted how PRME has developed higher education curricula focused on real-world issues, interdisciplinary perspectives, and experiential learning “that prepare students to engage with sustainability challenges not as abstract concepts, but as urgent and solvable realities”.

Users can download resources, such as syllabi, lesson plans, and presentations.

Storey also stressed how PRME, working with Ivey Publishing, of Western University in Canada, has launched Sustainability Case Writing Awards, offering prizes for high quality educational resources designed to orient business education towards sustainability.

While HESI encourages researchers to do more sustainability-focused work, the PRME can offer practical next steps for academics seeking “research connections that are more forward facing and less journal impact facing”, said Storey.

That includes running case-writing workshops to help get business solutions on innovation recognised and published around the world and elevating stories of good research and action, she stressed.

Extensive marine life research

An earlier HESI session had heard how extensive marine life research was being utilised in Saudi Arabia to save Red Sea coral reefs, under threat from pollution, helping further progress towards SDG 14 on life under water, and simultaneously boosting success in achieving other SDGs.

Ana Margarida Costa, professor of practice of sustainability at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, north of Jeddah, said the project aimed to restore 100 reefs: “It’s a huge undertaking because it involves advanced ecological engineering, AI tools, digital twins, and restoration,” she told the HESI forum.

The project is linked to plans to develop sustainable aquaculture, for instance through coastal algae farming, “to reduce pressure on wild fish stocks and improve food security in arid regions like Saudi Arabia, so instead of planting crops on land to use as feed, we’re now using aquaculture as a resource...reducing dependence on imported crops like soy and corn that rely on a lot of water, which is critical in this particular part of the globe”.

This helps achieve SDG 2 on zero hunger, SDG 6 on access to clean water and sanitation, SDG 12 on responsible production and consumption, and SDG 17 on partnerships, given that the university has been working with business, industry and the government to roll out this project.

Summing up the session, Bosen Lily Liu stressed the importance of sustainability-orientateed scientific solutions being locally sourced and hence context driven, supporting the inclusion of diverse groups when designing projects.