Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are a global initiative to address humanity's most urgent challenges.

Launched in September 2015, the SDGs lay out a bold vision for tackling critical economic, social, and environmental issues by 2030. These 17 goals provide a blueprint for collaboration among nations, organisations, and individuals to create a fairer, more prosperous, and sustainable world.

In recent years, the SDGs have also become a key reporting tool for tracking progress toward sustainability. In 2019, Times Higher Education introduced the Impact Rankings as part of its annual university rankings, prompting many research institutions to report on their contributions to the SDGs. You can learn more about the SDGs and the 2030 agenda here.

FAQs

Get help

United Nations - SDGs

Fast facts about SDGs

Benefits of showcasing how your research aligns to the SDGs:

Highlight how your research is making real-world impact by:

Contributing directly towards addressing critical issues facing humanity.
Supporting policymakers, governments, and organisations with decision-making, policy formulation, and practical solutions to global challenges.

Foster greater collaboration opportunities:

SDGs are inherently interdisciplinary (touching on economics, social sciences, environmental studies, health, and more) presenting opportunities to collaborate across disciplines.
SDGs are a global agenda. Engaging with others supporting this agenda, or aligning your own research to the agenda, may lead to international collaboration opportunities.

Gain access to alternative funding opportunities:

Some funding agencies and organisations prioritise research projects that align with the SDGs. Aligning your research with these goals can provide alternative sources of funding and resources to support your work.

Enhanced visibility and recognition:

Research that addresses the SDGs often receives greater attention and recognition from the academic community and the public. It can lead to invitations to speak at conferences, collaborate with experts in the field, and contribute to high-impact journals, increasing your academic and professional visibility.
The SDGs provide a framework for measuring and tracking progress toward sustainable development. When your research aligns with these goals, you have a clear framework for assessing the impact of your work and demonstrating its contribution to global sustainability efforts.

What are the 17 SDGs?

To end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

To ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning

To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

To ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all

To ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy for all

To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

To build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation

To reduce inequalities within and among countries

To make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

To take urgent action to tackle climate change and its impact

To conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans, seas and marine resources

To sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

To promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

To revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Frequently asked questions

How are SDGs assigned to research outputs and profiles?

Publications imported from Scopus into ResearchNow will display SDGs assigned by Scopus. Scopus uses text-mining algorithms to tag publications with relevant SDGs by analysing content such as the title, abstract, keywords, and sometimes even the full text. This process identifies keywords, themes, and phrases that align with specific SDGs, linking research across various fields to both direct and indirect SDG contributions. These tags then appear on each publication's Scopus entry. Once an output is claimed, validated, and published on the Research @Flinders portal, the associated SDGs are displayed alongside the publication, reflecting how your research is categorised in the broader academic community. Starting in early 2025, SDGs will also be shown on researcher profiles, as well as College, Research Centre, or Institute pages, with options for further curation.

How are SDGs identified in SciVal?

SciVal is an analytical benchmarking tool that represents the external Scopus data source. In SciVal, SDGs are identified using a similar method to Scopus, involving automated text-mining algorithms. These algorithms analyse the content of research outputs, including titles, abstracts, keywords, and other metadata, to identify themes, keywords, and phrases that align with specific SDGs.

SciVal provides users with the ability to explore and assess research activity in relation to the SDGs, offering insights into which areas of research are contributing to sustainable development. This data is used in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings. In SciVal there are 3 sets of SDGs:

one set created using the search queries for the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings - these are static and no longer receiving new publications
one set using the queries and machine learning component used in the 2022 THE Impact Rankings
one set using the queries and machine learning component used in the 2023 THE Impact Rankings

SciVal have worked with a set of university partners to improve the mappings, with their input used to create and improve the 2022 and 2023 search queries. See detailed FAQs here.

How can I make changes to the SDGs assigned to my outputs?

Once an output has been validated, changes cannot be made to any assigned SDGs via the ResearchNow editor. If you have any concerns with the SDGs associated with validated publications, please submit a ServiceOne request to the Library.

While it is possible to manually assign your preferred SDGs to your outputs, we strongly discourage this practice, as we aim to maintain consistency with industry-wide classifications for all outputs.

Need further information or help?

Contact the Library Research Engagement team for
support with Sustainable Development Goals.

Library research query

Benefits of showcasing how your research aligns to the SDGs:

Highlight how your research is making real-world impact by:

Foster greater collaboration opportunities:

Gain access to alternative funding opportunities:

Enhanced visibility and recognition:

What are the 17 SDGs?

To end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

To ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning

To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

To ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all

To ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy for all

To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

To build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation

To reduce inequalities within and among countries

To make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

To take urgent action to tackle climate change and its impact

To conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans, seas and marine resources

To sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

To promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

To revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Frequently asked questions

Need further information or help?

Follow Flinders

FOREVER FEARLESS

Benefits of showcasing how your research aligns to the SDGs:

Highlight how your research is making real-world impact by:

Foster greater collaboration opportunities:

Gain access to alternative funding opportunities:

Enhanced visibility and recognition:

What are the 17 SDGs?

To end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

To ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning

To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

To ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all

To ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy for all

To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

To build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation

To reduce inequalities within and among countries

To make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

To take urgent action to tackle climate change and its impact

To conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans, seas and marine resources

To sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

To promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

To revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Frequently asked questions

Need further information or help?

Follow Flinders

FOREVER FEARLESS

This website uses cookies