The York University SDGs-in-the-Classroom Toolkit, designed to assist the interdisciplinary infusion of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in academic curriculums, recently earned a prestigious spot as an international finalist for the Green Gown Awards, which recognize exceptional sustainability initiatives. It serves as culmination of the pioneering journey to create it.
The seed of the SDG toolkit began in 2021 with Provostial Fellow and Professor Cheryl van Daalen-Smith. She wanted to create shared practices to promote and enable the infusion of all 17 SDGs into classrooms across York campuses and disciplines.
A community of practice was formed with over 60 educators and the decision was made that a toolkit could be a useful communal resource. Tracy Bhoola, a SDGs project coordinator and manager in the Graduate Supervisory Support Hub and former ESL instructor, as well as doctoral student and research assistant Nitima Bhatia, were enlisted to create a comprehensive online tool that would help faculty across York better integrate SDGs into learning environments through discussions, lessons or curriculums.
But what should that toolkit look like?
Bhoola and Bhatia first turned to faculty, creating a survey asking participants what they would want out of the SDG toolkit, how they would use it, and what would make it most user-friendly.
“We wanted to know how we can make things easier and simpler for everybody so that they can access it,” says Bhatia.
The survey provided two guiding principles: faculty wanted relevant resources to be accessible in three clicks or less, and that they be organized by discipline and individual SDG.
“That forced us to make sure we were organized and ask, ‘Could we get people what they wanted,’” says Bhoola.
The pair began researching what toolkits may already exist at other academic institutions to gain inspiration from how they were organized. They found nothing comparable to what they had in mind for York. As for possible resources to include in the toolkits, most were only applicable to elementary education – not college or university.
It fell then to Bhatia and Bhoola to be something of pioneers, investing uncountable hours to not only find existing resources and materials, but then adapt them for the university level curriculums. Along the way they leveraged their unique experiences and perspectives as teacher and student to aid the project, assessing resources based on how they might use them.
The pair also continued to draw on faculty feedback, not just from the survey but ongoing collaborations. “They needed to be involved because if people are asked questions and are involved in each step of the process, they’re invested more,” Bhoola says.
After six months of work, the SDGs-in-the-Classroom Toolkit launched in June 2022, featuring lesson plans, case studies, classroom support materials, reports, course design guidance and more.
Since its launch, the toolkit has been accessed by educators and students from over 50 countries, expanding its pool of collaborators along the way. Within Canada, for example, George Brown College reached out to partner on expanding the toolkit’s experiential education section, the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business added to the business section, and the University of British Columbia contributed to the wellness section. International institutions have reached out to provide content as well.
“It’s nice to have that collaboration and build on that community, so it’s not just the York community – it’s beyond,” says Bhoola.
The external collaborations following the toolkit’s launch have been important too in contributing to one of the team’s major ongoing goals. “It’s not just that we got these resources and we created this toolkit and that’s it,” says Bhatia. “We wanted it to be a living and breathing thing.”
As the toolkit moves forward and evolves, that’s something Bhoola and Bhatia want to remind internal collaborators too, urging faculty to continue sharing how they’re using the toolkit, what resources they like and if there’s something missing that they would like to see.
As Bhatia and Bhoola reflect on the year since the tool launched – and the recent Green Gown Awards finalist nomination – they feel grateful for the engagement. “It validates our efforts, and the hours upon hours that we’ve put into it,” says Bhoola.
It also gives them a push, says Bhatia. “It keeps inspiring us, giving us the motivation and encouragement to keep going.” Bhoola agrees: “It reinforces our commitment towards the SDGs and our toolkit.”
That commitment remains strong, especially as both are very cognizant of the stakes and potential impact the SDGs can have.
“If we can help bring those to them, or put them into the classroom, that’s what’s going to drive the change in the future,” says Bhoola. “We need to make sure that we’re constantly there for teachers and students so that they can right the future.”