The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: a setting for Professional and Research skills

Abstract

This paper considers the use of the United Nations global goals to provide a framework for the teaching of professional and related skills. The main example and case study considered in this paper is from computing; however, much of the approach and many of the issues are applicable to a wide range of subjects, especially in science. Alongside the specific skills attached to sustainability, the paper also considers the broader development of some of the investigative and analytical skills that underpin university research and reflect the need for a research informed curriculum, and the so-called teaching-research nexus. The paper also considers other aspects of the context for graduate skills, including accreditation requirements and employers’ expectations; such expectations of graduates frequently include the requirement that students are able to understand and demonstrate a range of non-technical specific issues, topics and skills and issues. This paper describes the use of global challenges to motivate the delivery and engagement with a case study.