Description/achievement of initiative
The University of South Florida has identified the need to formalize a central hub for SDG-related work at the university. From initial planning conducted by USF’s Patel College of Sustainability, an action plan was developed to establish the SDG Action Alliance. The mission of the Alliance is to align the university’s operations, governance and community with the objectives of the UN SDGs. The role of the Alliance is to capture and distribute SDG-related work in order to build new partnerships, access new funding streams, and promote the university as a leader in global awareness and responsible research.
Implementation methodologies
Methodologies developed by the taskforce, coordinator, and subsequent Action Alliance steering committee will take the form of a mission, vision, and goals tableau, as well as other supporting procedures for implementing SDG work at USF and for reporting activities. Interdepartmental programming is planned to include resources and support from Student Affairs, USF World, Student Green Energy Fund, Student Government, and other strategic partners in order to reach the greatest audience for participation. The Action Alliance will help to promote SDG work such as global citizens education, environmental studies, and projects which involve sustainability and green energy in curricular and extracurricular capacities. Workshops and technical trainings will be hosted through the Action Alliance which focus on integrating the SDGs into curriculum, university policies and decisions, financing and procurement, campus services, facilities, and other institutional structures and vehicles.
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
As a showcase of SDG-related work at USF, the SDG Action Alliance will promote the awareness of ongoing projects to a broad network of stakeholders at the university, within the region, and beyond via media and reporting platforms. In addition, one prominent goal of the Action Alliance is to generate streams of funding that are available to conduct SDG-related work; therefore, the steering committee will actively maintain a database of resources which include funding for research and programming. Trainings and technical certifications related to SDG work will also be promoted. The Action Alliance will prioritize support for SDG work among student research by encouraging SDG-related curricula that is experiential and interdisciplinary.
Coordination mechanisms/governance structure
In order to establish the SDG Action Alliance at USF, a task force and coordinator will first be established among stakeholders who hold an active interest in drafting the procedures and implementation plan for the initiative. Students from USF’s Patel College of Global Sustainability were tasked with researching existing UN SDG Partnerships, as well as identifying ongoing SDG work already being conducted at USF, in order to draft best practices and management strategies centered around a formalized hub, now known as the USF SDG Action Alliance. Plans for the Action Alliance shall be enacted in the form of a steering committee comprised of students, staff, and faculty from across the campus. Initially, the Action Alliance will be housed under the Patel College and in partnership with the Office of Sustainability. Centralized efforts will be made to streamline data collection and project ideation using the Action Alliance and resources from the USF community. Other coordination of SDG work will involve regular meetings with top administrators at the university and an annual retreat for stakeholders.
Partner(s)
University of South Florida (Patel College of Global Sustainability, Office of Sustainability, Global Citizen's Project, Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, USF World, Gus A. Stavros Center)
Progress reports
Goal 2
2.3 - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
2.4 - By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
Goal 4
4.4 - By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.7 - By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
Goal 6
6.1 - By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.2 - By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.b - Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
Goal 7
7.1 - By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
7.2 - By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
7.3 - By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
7.a - By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology
Goal 8
8.4 - Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead
8.9 - By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
8.10 - Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all
Goal 11
11.3 - By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
11.4 - Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage
11.6 - By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
Goal 12
12.2 - By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
12.3 - By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
12.5 - By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
12.6 - Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
12.7 - Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
12.b - Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
Goal 13
13.2 - Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.3 - Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
Goal 14
14.1 - By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.2 - By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
Goal 15
15.1 - By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
Goal 17
17.7 - Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
Systemic Issues - Policy and Institutional coherence
17.14 - Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.17 - Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
Data, monitoring and accountability
August 2020
