Seminar on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Positioning UP Libraries for the UN 2030 Agenda

Posted on September 01, 2018

As we strive to be a 21st century academic library, we need to position ourselves to support the institutions research agenda linked to SDGs.  In light of this, the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty Library hosted a seminar with the objective to create awareness of the role of the library in supporting faculty’s research, teaching and learning programmes linked to the 17 SDGs https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs. The seminar was presented in two parts.  Part 1 of the seminar, held on the 18th September was presented by Prof. Rocky Ralebipi-Simela, the National Librarian and CEO of the National Library of South Africa.  Her presentation was entitled: Strategic collaborations: libraries contributing towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Part 2 of the seminar was held on the 26th September and presented by Prof. Willem Fourie, an associate Professor at the University of Pretoria and programme coordinator of the South African SDG Hub http://sasdghub.org/people/. With the assistance of the library marketing unit, a campus wide online invitation was sent out and the response and attendance by staff and students were quite impressive.

There were a number of highlights and lessons learnt from the presentations.  It was quite evident from the speakers’ discussions that SDGs are interlinked and that in order to realise these goals, collaboration is the key.  The University of Pretoria has a number of research projects currently underway that are linked to the 17 goals.  The library has a role to play in supporting research but can also actualise the attainment of these goals by responding to the poverty and hunger (SDG 1&2) experienced by some  UP students.  The library can also make a difference in the lives of unemployed but qualified and experienced librarians (SDG 8) by engaging them to contribute to and benefit from short term projects undertaken by UP Libraries. 

It was interesting to hear about the survey conducted by Prof. Fourie on a number of academic institutions’ repositories country wide. The investigation was aimed at highlighting and reflecting on institutional research linked to the 17 SDGs. Results from this survey showed  that some of the research archived in institutional repositories is linked to SDGs and that UP has the most publications with this finding.  It is exciting for the library to be collaborating with the South African SDG Hub on testing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that analyses research to identify publications that are linked to SDG related keywords.

In conclusion, as information professionals, being aware of the SDGs,  positions us to offer necessary support to researchers and provides us with the knowledge to find opportunities within and outside the institution for active participation in achieving these goals 365 days of the year.

- Author EMS Team (Brenda, Ephie, Clara, Vaydin & Danie)

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