Reflections on the Integration of the SDG in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The higher education after the pandemic has put the entire university education system to test, bringing to light the need to build a genuinely sustainable academic system composed of administrative, pedagogical, and governance processes with a social and environmental scope and oriented to the training of resilient professionals, with the ability to manage a sustainable future. Seen from a management perspective, the actors of this system have begun to work focusing on rebuilding the postpandemic world into a sustainable planet for the continuity of humanity. Regarding students, the most affected individuals by the health crisis, UNESCO indicates that the impact of the temporary cessation of on-site activities has affected them in various dimensions in terms of student stability, bringing with it more significant evidence of crises due to social, emotional, cultural, and familiar problems, among others. In that sense, the change of means of interaction in student environments represents a negative turning point in the future of professionals who are now receiving education. This allows us to reflect on the high risks involved in achieving the acquisition of not only technical and specific skills and competencies of the professional specialties but also social, ethical, and citizenship skills that take much greater relevance, especially in this context.

Citation

Estrada-Merino, A. and Alvarez-Risco, A. (2023), "Reflections on the Integration of the SDG in Higher Education Institutions", Alvarez-Risco, A., Rosen, M.A. and Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S. (Ed.) Sustainable Management in COVID-19 Times (Advanced Series in Management, Vol. 30), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 265-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1877-636120230000030036