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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jenny Davidson, Dr Angela MazzettiORCiD
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Embedding sustainability within higher education remains a complex and uneven endeavour. Although many institutions have made high-level commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), translating these ambitions into engaging classroom practice can be difficult—particularly for educators who do not explicitly teach sustainability-related subjects (Sterling, 2010; Thomas, 2016). To address this gap, Newcastle University Business School (NUBS) has partnered with NETpositive Futures to develop an interactive SDG Action-Planning Tool that provides a structured, data-driven and adaptable way to engage all students in sustainability learning (Ryan and Tilbury, 2013).The software offers a guided digital process designed to help students explore their personal values, select SDGs that resonate with their interests, and create a tailored plan for action. Built around three stages—reflection, action and review—it prompts learners to set achievable goals, record progress, and evaluate the broader impact of their choices. The interface provides examples of activities aligned to each SDG and generates a personalised report capturing outcomes and reflections. Behind the scenes, educators can access anonymised dashboards that summarise collective data, revealing which themes are most relevant to students and how their actions support institutional priorities.Crucially, the tool was designed for non-specialist educators who want to incorporate sustainability into their modules without major redesign or specialist training. It can be embedded flexibly—as a formative reflective exercise, an assessment element, or an employability activity—making it suitable for disciplines as diverse as business, health, computing, and the creative arts (Wals, 2020). By framing sustainability through a values-based rather than content-heavy lens, the tool encourages students to connect global issues to their everyday choices, professional aspirations and community contexts (Biesta, 2022).Since its introduction, more than 300 students at NUBS have engaged with the platform. Many have created meaningful and measurable actions, and student feedback indicates increased confidence in taking sustainability-related action and a clearer understanding of how their studies relate to societal challenges. Educators report that the tool stimulates reflection, supports dialogue on ethics and responsibility, and generates tangible evidence of engagement with the SDGs—useful for accreditation, quality assurance and institutional reportingThe presentation will share practical insights emerging from this pilot phase, including:How co-design with educators and students has informed the tool’s development and usability;Approaches to integrating digital reflection activities into existing curricula with minimal workload impact;Strategies for using dashboard data to enhance teaching, student engagement, and sustainability reporting;Lessons learned from facilitating interdisciplinary conversations about values, agency, and social responsibility.Ultimately, this work demonstrates that digital tools can humanise sustainability education rather than reduce it to compliance. By creating structured reflective spaces in which students link personal motivation with professional practice, the SDG Action-Planning Tool empowers educators—regardless of discipline—to nurture sustainability literacy and agency. It translates the global goals into achievable, context-specific actions and provides evidence that small-scale reflection can lead to systemic cultural change within institutions (Wals, 2020).ReferencesBiesta, G. (2022) World-centred education: A view for the present. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003171172.Ryan, A. and Leach, L. (2022) ‘Leading institutional change for sustainability in higher education’, Teaching in Higher Education, 27(5–6), pp. 827–842. doi:10.1080/13562517.2022.2039969.Ryan, A. and Tilbury, D. (2013) Flexible pedagogies: New pedagogical ideas. York: Higher Education Academy.Sterling, S. (2010) ‘Learning for resilience, or the resilient learner?’, Higher Education Policy, 23(4), pp. 475–492. doi:10.1057/hep.2010.4.Thomas, I. (2016) ‘Challenges for implementation of education for sustainable development in higher education institutions’, Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(2), pp. 213–231. doi:10.1177/0973408216661442.Wals, A.E.J. (2020) ‘Sustainability in higher education in the context of the UN SDGs: learning from the past, present and future’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 21(2), pp. 385–398. doi:10.1108/IJSHE-11-2018-0204.
Author(s): Davidson J, Mazzetti AS, Miles SL
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: 20th Annual International Research in Distance Education Conference (RIDE 2026)
Year of Conference: 2026
Online publication date: 11/03/2026
Acceptance date: 15/01/2026
URL: https://www.london.ac.uk/centre-online-distance-education/events/ride-2026-reflecting-innovating-developing-envisioning-future
