Towards the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: The African Space-Education Ecosystem for Sustainability and the Role of Educational Technologies

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encapsulate the collective desire of the world to eliminate the worst miseries of poverty and to set itself on a sustainable growth path. This chapter considers the origin of sustainable development in global discourse, and unpacks its education-related goals and targets. The specific focus is placed on tertiary education and it is argued that the SDGs depend on both regional and national strategies to succeed. Related questions of educational quality, and the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), are considered. The progress of the education-related SDGs is investigated, especially in relation to Internet and mobile phone penetration in Africa, and tertiary enrolment rates. ICTs, and specifically e-learning, are discussed as a means of helping the challenges related to the massification of the tertiary education sector in Africa. The way in which space supports education is considered as only one pillar of what in reality is an interrelated symbiotic relationship, which feeds back into producing space-related skills to advance the African space sector. Recommendations in light of space, education, and sustainable e-learning are discussed, and the importance of recognising the value of space in achieving the SDGs is emphasised.