In consulting about our Aberdeen 2040 strategy, our academic and student community highlighted the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework that should inform our academic and operational sustainability activities.
We are committed to working with the SDGs to help us articulate the positive sustainability impacts of our research and teaching, and to help us prioritise improvements in operational practice.
- Annual Report
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Our first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Annual Report was published in autumn 2021. It showcased research, curriculum, community, and operational initiatives and reflected the breadth of activity happening across the University of Aberdeen with a positive impact on one or more of the SDGs. We intend to report annually on our progress and to work to find new ways to embed the SDGs in everything that we do.
- Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
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We entered the inaugural Times Higher Education Impact Rankings in 2019 and have participated actively since. We welcome the increased awareness these rankings have given to the UN SDGs across the global HE sector.
In the 2024 edition we ranked among the top 50 universities in the world for our support of the Sustainable Development Goals:
- From 1,963 institutions ranked globally, we placed 48th in the world and 10th in the UK
- We ranked 3rd in the UK for Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9)
- Overall, we were in the top quartile for 16 of the 17 SDGs globally, including Quality Education, Climate Action, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities; and Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG Accord
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As part of the formal launch of our Aberdeen 2040 strategy, we signed the global SDG Accord (external site).
In June 2020, we submitted our first annual SDG Accord Report. That exercise saw us collate examples of activity across all 17 SDGS for the first time, and served as the template for the development of our own stand-along annual SDG Reports - first published in late 2021.
- Courses & Programmes
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The University of Aberdeen offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and programmes that relate to sustainability and to activities designed to address the Sustainable Development Goals. These include:
Undergraduate Courses
- AC4034: Accountability and Sustainability
- CM5052: Renewables
- EC3530: Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment
- EC59C8: Issues in Energy Transition
- EK3303: Population Ecology
- GG1512: The UN Sustainable Development Goals: Transforming Our World
- GG2509: Environment and Society
- GG3057: Land and Marine Conservation
- GG5072: Sustainability Transitions - Challenges and Opportunities
- GG5557: Governance and Political Economy of Sustainability
- GG5571: Partnerships for Sustainability
- GL4535: Geoscience and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- GL5564: Sustainable Deep Space Exploration and Planetary Protection
- LS501H: Low Carbon Energy Transition: Renewable Energy Law
- LS5068: The Politics of Human Rights
- PL3304: Ecosystem Processes
- QB4007: Accounting and Sustainability
- RN5506: Sustainable Diets and Global Food Systems
- SX1011: Sustainability - Sixth Century Course
- SX1022: Arts for a More Sustainable Planet
- SX1521: Sustainable International Development
- ZO3812: Applied Marine Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture
- ZO4540: Sustainable Management of Marine Resources
- ZO4811: Sustainable Aquaculture
- ZO5516: Marine Environmental Impact Assessment
For a full listing of courses relating to sustainability and for courses mapping on to our strategic “sustainability” theme, type the word “sustainable” into the search bar here https://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/courses/
Postgraduate Degree Programmes
Biological Sciences
- Ecology and Conservation (MSc)
- Environmental Management (MSc)
- Environmental Science (MSc)
- Marine Conservation (MSc)
- Soil Science (MSc)
Business, Law and Social Science
Partnerships for the Goals - SDG17
We work with national government and regional nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to work towards policy development that addresses the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). We participate in cross-sectoral dialogue and collaborate internationally to gather and measure data for the SDGs . Through our work, we develop international best practice for tackling the SGDs and collaborate with NGOs in student volunteering, research and education.
You can find more information on these topics in the documents below: