UNSW Business School SDGs

UNSW Business School has established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Committee to develop, coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and communicate the Business School’s engagement with the SDGs.

SDGs in Action

BUS SDG Committee

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UNSW Business School's Commitment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

“Our 2025 Vision is to tackle real-world problems through partnerships that bring together our students, staff, alumni and the community, aligning our efforts with UNSW’s expertise and research strengths, Australia’s aspirations and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”

Professor Nitika Garg, Chair, UNSW Business School SDG Committee

Have Your Say?

We invite UNSW Business School staff and students to participate in this UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) survey.

Your response to this short survey will help us understand which SDGs and targets you are passionate about and what you would like to see prioritised by the Business School.

For any questions or comments, please contact BUS SDG: bussdg@unsw.edu.au

Survey Link

SDG in Action

UNSW's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides a platform for our faculty to integrate sustainable thinking across our curriculum, education platforms, academic research, and external engagement activations. Click the link to find out more.

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Sustainability Matters

Explore UNSW's contributions to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, designed to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, such as ending poverty and hunger, climate change, the reduction of inequalities and more.

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In line with UNSW’s Strategic Priority for Social Impact, UNSW Sydney has embedded the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all United Nations States in 2015, in its 2025 Strategy, under Theme 3, Sustainable Development.

The UNSW Business School established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Committee to develop, coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and communicate the Business School’s engagement with the SDGs.

UNSW ranked 5th in the world and first in Australia

According to the 2022 QS World University Rankings: Sustainability

UNSW ranked 5th in the world for Social Impact

According to the 2023 QS World University Sustainability Rankings

UNSW ranked 18th in the world for SDG commitment

According to the 2022 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings

2023 Highlights

The Business School Sustainable Development Goals Committee implement organisational change to enable UNSW to be an exemplar in achieving the SDGs. The committee plays a key role in driving this change and supports the University to achieve its 2025 strategic priorities and the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) in all we do.

The committee is responsible for championing, co-facilitating and capturing activities to support the SDGs to make informed decisions, make recommendations, and work in collaboration with the Faculty Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the UNSW SDG Steering Committee.

A few highlights of what we achieved in 2023 are listed below:

Education

Presented at the Education Initiative Workshop for Education Focussed Faculty, February 2023
Raised awareness of SDGs alignment within teaching educational material and academic research papers

Operations & Governance

Created and distributed Sustainable practices posters for waste management throughout the Business School
Engaged in ongoing conversations with UNSW Business School teams as to how best to implement more sustainable practices

Research

Established a simple tagging process for academics to identify SDG affiliations within their published work
Established the SDG Research Impact Award for UNSW Business School Academics based on published work
Participated in the RACE (Reliable Affordable Clean Energy) for 2030 Engagement session
Funded PhD grants for 2022 SDG winner and approved funds for PhD grants for 2023 winners

Faculty and Student Engagements

On 15 February, UNSW Business School Student Ambassadors held a stall at the UNSW Business School Community Kick-Off T1 2023, to educate incoming students about our commitment to the SDG and gave them to opportunity to have their say by completing our survey. After completing the survey, the students had the opportunity to take an Native Ginger plant, supplied by IndigiGrow.

UNSW Business School SDG Committee, World Oceans Day edible cup, 8 June 2023,

On 8 June, the UNSW Business School SDG Committee supported World Oceans Day, by asking faculty and students to be more sustainable by having their morning coffee/tea in an edible cup. This event was run in collaboration with Estate Management and open to UNSW students and staff, to increase awareness about plastic waste.

On 13 September, UNSW Business School Student Ambassadors held a stall at the UNSW Business School Community Kick-Off T3 2023. We again promoted the Business School commitment to the SDGs and asked students to contribute and have their by completing our survey. After completing the survey, the students had the opportunity to take an Oval-leaf Mint Bush plant, supplied by IndigiGrow, and/or an edible cup.

On 27 September, MBA and HDR Business School Student Volunteers helped the UNSW Landscaping team plant 1,200 plants alongside the Red Centre. Thank you to SDG Student Rep Giovanni Janitra for organising the students, Grounds Manager Mark Clark and BUS SDG Chair Professor Nitika Garg for organising the plants, and to the 11 students who came to campus on their "class-free day" to participate and volunteer their time.

On 18 October, in partnership with the SMaRT Center, the UNSW Business School SDG Committee hosted 25+ students in a competition to create the best SDG-inspired wearable item from a 3D pen and filament made from recycled e-waste. This hands-on activity unveiled the incredible journey of e-waste transformation and the students got to witness firsthand how e-waste gets reincarnated into beautiful and innovative products.

On 14 November, the UNSW Business School SDG Committee and volunteers packed over 30 boxes of donated clothes for Upparel, a sustainable recycling company, equating to a staggering 320KGs of clothes. These boxes will be sorted by Upparel and either donated to charities, homeless shelters and/or other locations where people are in need with the remainder to be 100% recycled as part of Upparel's "no landfill" policy.

UNSW Business School SDG and EDI Committees and volunteers packed over 78 bags for our "It's in the Bag" Campaign in partnership with Share the Dignity Australia

On 5 December, the UNSW Business School SDG and EDI Committees and volunteers packed over 78 bags for our "It's in the Bag" Campaign in partnership with Share the Dignity Australia. These bags, a mix of Adult Women, Teenager, and Mum n Bub, were donated to the SLDH Aboriginal Chronic Care Program, in Redfern.

Sustainable Development Goals Videos

Many UNSW Business School educators, leaders and students share their expertise across the SDGs relevant to their research and teaching portfolios.

William Syddal, Head of Environmental Sustainability at UNSW, said, "Our students and staff are our catalysts for a sustainable future and SDG principals can be used to engage students in contemporary sustainability issues. By integrating 'SDG thinking' across UNSW educational programs, we hope to equip our future leaders to contribute to a more sustainable world."