Resources for Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad

Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad Guidelines

These guidelines serve to direct the education abroad sector toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability by connecting the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (henceforth referred to as the SDGs). The SDGs have received widespread recognition as a critical pathway to assuring the long-term maintenance and enhancement of human well-being in light of finite planetary resources.

Click on the button to download free resources and view upcoming sustainability workshops.

Take Action for Climate Justice: 15 Actions to Catalyze Climate Justice through Education Abroad – New in 2023!

Climate Justice is a civil and human rights-based approach to climate action that centers the disproportionate burdens of climate change on the most vulnerable and those least responsible for its impacts, with specific attention to how systems of injustice exacerbate these disparities.

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Additional Resources to Support Climate Justice

Financial Resources to Support Climate Justice

Sustainable Education Abroad: Striving for Change

Scholars and practitioners from around the globe come together in this volume to identify the role global student mobility plays in climate impact and identify promising practices that can be implemented to make change.

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Best Practices From The Field

Learning and Development Opportunities

The Forum on Education Abroad proposes a series of workshops in support of our mission to “cultivate educators who champion high quality education abroad experiences that ignite curiosity, impact lives, and contribute to a better world,” based on our guidelines for Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad.

Valuing & Applying the UN SDGs in Education Abroad

Description: This workshop provides an overview on how to incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the development and delivery of education abroad programs, and introduces participants to the guidelines for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad. Guided by exercises and informed by active discussion, participants will explore strategies for addressing the global challenges of realizing a more sustainable future for all.

Participants will:

Understand the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their connections to various aspects of education abroad.
Be able to use the guidelines for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad to guide decision-making around education abroad.
Propose specific ways of integrating the UN SDGs into new or existing education abroad programs.

Climate Action: Education Abroad for a Healthy Planet

Description: Urgent action is needed to combat climate change and its impacts. What does that mean for education abroad? With a focus on the Administrative Framework section of the Guidelines for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad and Goal 13, Climate Action, this workshop will address how to integrate climate change measures into all aspects of education abroad programming, educate stakeholders on climate change mitigation, and set goals across institutions and organizations.

Participants will:

Understand SDG13 and its related targets and indicators.
Be able to articulate connections between SDG 13 and other SDGs, and how it contributes to “peace and prosperity for people and the planet through partnerships.”
Propose specific ways their education abroad programs could contribute to SDG 13, including:

Integrating climate change measures into policies, strategies and planning
Improving education, awareness-raising and institutional/organizational capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction

Identifying accessible changes that can be made to education abroad programs in the short term to combat climate change.

Using SDG 4 to Advance Learning for Sustainable Development in Education Abroad

Description: While institutional priorities regarding the 17 SDGs may differ, as international educators, we should all be working towards Goal 4, which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Join us for in-depth exploration of Goal 4, and how education abroad can promote global citizenship education and education for sustainable development.

Participants will:

Understand SDG target 4.7 and its associated indicators.
Be able to articulate connections between SDG 4, the other SDGs, global learning experiences, and how they contribute to “peace and prosperity for people and the planet.”
Propose specific ways that their education abroad programs could contribute to SDG Target 4.7 by incorporating education abroad for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, into education abroad:

Policies and procedures
Curricula and co-curricula
Faculty learning and development
Student learning assessment

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Award for Advancing the SDGs through Education Abroad

The Forum’s Award for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad honors member institutions and organizations whose education abroad programs promote economic, environmental, and social sustainability. By recognizing members who have made significant progress towards the SDGs, The Forum hopes to inspire the field as a whole to contribute to a more sustainable future for all. Award recipients will be acknowledged at The Forum’s hybrid Annual Conference.

Learn more and submit a nomination here.

The Forum is a proud signatory of the CANIE Accord!

Submit a Resource

This collection of resources is intended to support education abroad professionals to advance Sustainable Education Abroad, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and best practices in the field. The Forum welcomes submissions of resources for consideration.

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Resources: Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad