The University of Pretoria (UP) is proud to host the South African chapter of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Officially launched during a hybrid event at UP’s Future Africa Campus earlier this year, this national network will be housed in the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute on the Hatfield Campus.

The global initiative was established in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General to promote integrated approaches to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change through education, research, policy analysis and global cooperation. The aim of SDSN South Africa – one of 35 national networks across the world – is to mobilise and support South African universities and other leading research institutions to promote the SDGs in South Africa, as well as the country’s contribution to the SDGs globally.

The important role of partnerships such as these in increasing the impact of universities in solving global challenges was emphasised by Prof Tawana Kupe, Chair of SDSN South Africa, at the launch of the network. He urged for cohesion and collaboration between academics, the public sector and the private sector to achieve the SDGs.

“The focus areas and work streams of our network will take shape as we increase collaboration and synergy between our member institutions,” says Network Manager, Dr Yolande Steenkamp, “but three initial focus areas include leadership as a catalyst to achieve the SDGs, digital transformation in higher education, and sustainable food systems in South Africa and across the continent.” 

The interest in leadership for sustainable development is a unique aspect of SDSN South Africa, and stems from the fact that the network is hosted in the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute, with leadership in sustainability as one of its research pillars.

In its endeavour to achieve the network’s global objectives, SDSN South Africa will partner with other networks in Africa to mobilise its members and leverage their strengths to help realise the SDGs through education, awareness and engagement, and finding solutions using a transdisciplinary approach. It will also focus on those SDGs that are particularly relevant to the African continent, such as job creation, sustainable work, poverty and education. “We realise the importance of harnessing the interlinkages between the SDGs,” Steenkamp observed. “Through the localisation of the SDGs, we would like to encourage addressing individual global challenges by means of various interactions.”

Although the network is still in its establishment phase, Steenkamp envisages that the first projects will focus on leadership development, embedding the SDGs in education curricula, food security and entrepreneurship. Its focus will be on establishing multi- and transdisciplinary research and community engagement teams with a shared understanding of sustainable development. One of its first activities will be the participation of its members in a panel discussion at the Sustainability Research and Innovation (SRI) Congress, to be hosted at Future Africa in June 2022. The panel will consider how responsible sustainability leaders and practitioners may be shaped through higher education through multidisciplinary and transformative learning approaches.