Do Sustainable Development Goals provide common goals and a common language for UK-Asia research partnerships?

The adoption of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 represents both challenges and opportunities for universities in East Asia and the UK. The SDGs are a roadmap to the year 2030 that not only invites, but also requires universities to work in transnational and transdisciplinary partnerships for research and joint knowledge creation in the pursuit of all goals.

However, the 17 SDGs are not all viewed equally across countries and world regions. Having studied Asia-UK research partnerships, the PEER project team contends that SDGs seem to play a part in the process of ‘governance by goal setting’ and many universities align their activities with the SDGs, even sign the SDG Accord or participate in the annual THE impact rankings. Nevertheless, there is a significant gap in knowledge and evidence of whether the SDGs provide common goals and a common language for all partners involved.

At the seminar, the PEER research team will share findings synthesised across several case studies about how SDGs are understood by funding agencies, policy makers, university leaders and researchers in UK-East Asia research partnerships.