Call for Contributions - Beyond 2030: what role for higher education in the new global agenda?

Background

In 2015, the United Nations agreed Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), putting in place a global framework of action for the next 15 years. With only five years left, few believe that the goals will be achieved, and some aspects of the ecological and social crisis are worsening. Furthermore, there are debates about the architecture and conceptualisation of the agenda, with calls for a new understanding of development to replace it in 2030.

The time is ripe for deep reflection and open imagination on the global development agenda. As spaces for education, research and public engagement, universities have a particularly important role in this debate, yet have been peripheral actors in decision making in the past. While higher education is widely recognised as playing a driving role in achieving the SDGs, significant transformations in the sector are required to fulfil that potential.

In light of the above backdrop, the After 2030 project was launched in January 2023, a collaboration between the University of Toronto and University College London led by Elizabeth Buckner and Tristan McCowan. The project explores possibilities for the replacement for the SDGs, the ways in which higher education is framed within the agenda and the roles universities might play in reformulating it. The project has promoted a series of debates and dialogues, most recently at the CIES conference in Chicago.

Proposed publication

With only five years to go until the end of the SDG era, it is vital that a vigorous, critical and well-informed debate is promoted on the key issues. This proposed publication aims to make a crucial contribution to these debates at the intersection of academia and policy making.

NORRAG Policy Insights is a unique outlet debating complex issues of education in the international arena. It presents a series of policy briefs around a common theme, providing concise and engaging treatments accessible to the general reader, practitioners and policy-makers. These briefs are brought together as a single volume and published open access for maximum impact. Each contribution is of 700-800 words, written in an accessible style, with visual aids, tables and figures encouraged.

The proposed publication aims to provide critical scrutiny of the current global development agenda and its framing of education, with a view to reimagining the post-2030 settlement. Submissions will be sought from researchers and practitioners in the field working on different aspects of the topic: we aim to maximise diversity of voices in terms of sectors, geography, positionality and orientations. Contributions can address various aspects of the topic, focusing variously on progress towards the SDGs, critiques of the current agenda, proposals for a new agenda, analysis of the decision-making process and higher education’s place within it. We are planning to include a total of 15-20 submissions, along with a framing piece written by the editors Tristan McCowan and Elizabeth Buckner.

Following the thematic groups from the Chicago CIES meeting, some suggested themes are as follows:

• Rethinking targets / metrics / indicators
• Indigenous and marginalised knowledges / worldviews
• Religion and culture in the SDGs
• Contested meanings of sustainable development
• Marketisation, greenwashing and sustainability branding
• Localization of SDGs, community engagement and co-production
• (Absence of) SDG engagement with racism and coloniality
• Learning, curriculum and the SDGs
• The role of the HE sector in UN post-2030 processes

In addition to the topics listed above, authors are welcome to suggest other topics relevant to the overall theme of the post-2030 agenda.

Process and timeline

Prospective authors will be invited to send an expression of interest to Elizabeth Buckner elizabeth.buckner@utoronto.ca or Tristan McCowan t.mccowan@ucl.ac.uk comprising the following:

• Title
• Author/s and affiliation/s
• Brief summary (around 150 words)

The timeline will be as follows:

• Expressions of interes:15th July
• Selection of contributions: 30th July
• Draft contributions due: 30th September
• Feedback on drafts: 15th October
• Revised versions due: 15th November
• NORRAG Editorial Board review: 15th December
• Final copy: 30th January