The SDGs in the Classroom Toolkit
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SDGs Course Checklists, Mapping Tools and Syllabi

Course Checklists and the SDGs

  • The Anglia Ruskin University has covered sustainability in every course. Review the list of books, instructor resource guides, journal articles, websites, newspapers that can help instructors introduce sustainability into curriculum. 
  • The University of Calgary has created an Online Course Checklist. When designing online assessments common considerations such as aligning assessments with course learning outcomes, providing clear criteria for students, and protecting academic integrity need to be made. Review the guide before your online course is opened to students, as reminders to you throughout the semester, and as a review at the end of the course.
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador's Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning has created a Course Design Checklist.

Mapping Tools and the SDGs

  • Linked SDGs is a demo app that automatically extracts key concepts related to sustainable development from text documents and links them to the most relevant sustainable development goals, targets, indicators and series. Teachers and students can upload a document related to Sustainable Development Goals or paste its URL in order to analyse it (PDF, DOC, DOCX, HTML - max 50K words).
  • European Commission SDG Mapper is a tool which helps to find out how a document or multiple documents relate to the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs. Simply upload the documents in the SDG Mapper on the European Commission's website and run the tool to identify relevant SDGs in the text. Explore which SDGs are more prevalent than others, along with their associated targets and indicators.
  • University College Cork has developed Excel-based mapping tools that educators and students can use to self-evaluate modules and courses, helping them assess how extensively the SDGs are being taught in a class.
    • Mapping Your Module
      • View the Mapping Your Module video and download the Mapping Your Module Tool (Excel). Your curriculum can be mapped to specific SDGs and SDG Targets using the interactive tool. You might learn of innate connections with the SDGs which you can surface and signpost so that your students recognize connections between their learning and larger societal issues.  This tool is also designed as a reflexive guide for further integration of SDGs into your curriculum e.g. assessments, learning outcomes and action-oriented pedagogies. 
    • Mapping Your Courses
      • Download the Mapping Your Course tool (Excel). A course or program can also be mapped to specific SDGs and SDG Targets using the interactive tool. Program coordinators and their teams can develop treatment of the SDGs as a common thread through their course of study with each module emphasizing SDGs and SDG Targets in a cohesive manner.
    • Students Mapping Their Modules
      • Download the Students Mapping Your Module tool (Excel). Students can map their module to the SDGs using the interactive tool. This would have the dual function of understanding their grasp of the SDGs while also gaining insight into their perspective on module content. Students could work individually or in groups and the scoring protocol can be modified.
    • Mapping Your Research to the SDGS
      • Download the Mapping Your Research tool (Excel). This SDG mapping technique may also help you identify direct linkages between your research and SDG Targets/Indicators. Once linkages are identified, you may see opportunities to discuss your own research in the context of your lectures. This strategy could also help students develop a disciplinary understanding of the research process which could provide a framework for their own inquiry-based learning activities.
  • OSDG is an open source initiative that aims to integrate various existing attempts to classify research according to Sustainable Development Goals, and to make this process open, transparent and user-friendly. Teachers and students can type or paste any text segment of at least 50 words (e.g. research abstract, publication excerpt) and the tool will assign SDG labels to the input.

Example Syllabi and Course Outlines and the SDGs

  • The American University in Rome has a program titled Food Studies: Policies for sustainable production and consumption. Read the course description.
  • The Council on Foreign Relations has World101 Lessons that align with the SDGs. Read the overview of lessons. View the  syllabus for 'An Introduction to Global Issues' lesson.