Flying the flag for sustainable development

The top of the UCL Quad building with a UN SDG flag flying and blue skies in the
The top of the UCL Quad building with a UN SDG flag flying and blue skies in the background
Next week, UCL is flying a flag to raise awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the urgent need to achieve them.

On Wednesday 25 September, you’ll be seeing a different flag above the Portico in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, are the core of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by all’UN Member States in 2015, they provide a framework for the world’s ongoing economic growth, while protecting the environment and addressing societal inequalities. The UN aims to achieve the Goals by 2030.

The Goals range from ’No Poverty and ’Zero Hunger’ to ’Gender Equality’ and ’Quality Education.

UCL joins hundreds of organisations around the globe which are flying the SDG flag and mobilising stakeholders for the 2030 agenda.

To maximise its impact on the Goals, UCL established the UCL SDGs Initiative in 2020-21. Simon Knowles, who leads the Initiative said: "Thousands of our staff and students are already helping to address the Goals through their research, teaching and learning, and student societies and volunteering activities.

"Through the Initiative we are helping to stimulate and facilitate even more SDGs-related activities across UCL."

There are hundreds of projects at UCL addressing the SDGs, including, to name a few, a multidisciplinary collaboration between UCL and European partners has explored how to make the low-carbon transition "just and politically robust" and developed a toolkit to support policymakers.

There’s also the UCL student-led volunteering project, in collaboration with the charity, Engineering Without Borders, which is encouraging more schoolchildren to aspire to engineering careers and to think sustainably. Not forgetting the UCL degree module that is empowering students across disciplines to explore how cities and other urban environments can be adapted through nature-based solutions to address the impacts of climate change.

September 2024 marks nine years since the world agreed on the SDGs. Flying the flag coincides with the UN’s annual SDGs Summit, which it is using to highlight the lack of progress towards the Goals and urging the world to redouble its efforts.

Simon added: "Universities like UCL need to keep playing their part by working in collaboration with academic, community and industry partners across the globe."

The SDG Flag Campaign started in The Netherlands in 2020 and has grown to see hundreds of businesses, government departments, civil society organisations and schools raise an SDG flag each September to mark the adoption of the SDGs.
  • University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (0) 20 7679 2000