On 19 and 20 May 2022, King’s College London hosted the first Circle U. National Conference, 'Teaching and living leadership for addressing Sustainable Development Goals – the role of universities'.

The conference brought together Circle U. member universities, partner universities, embassy representatives and higher education stakeholders from the UK and beyond, to discuss and reaffirm the fundamental role that universities play in delivering the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President (Global Engagement) at King's, opened the conference by underlining the vision and mission of the Circle U. Alliance “to be an inclusive, research intensive and interdisciplinary European University” where “students, staff and partners from civil society, businesses and the public sector collaborate jointly to develop competencies and solutions for keeping Europe and our planet healthy, peaceful, democratic and prosperous” and the relevance of the conference in this context.

In his keynote speech, Robert Skinner, Deputy Director and Chief of Partnerships and Global Engagement in the United Nations Department of Global Communications, emphasised the importance of universities as “fundamental collaborators and partners in fostering the SDGs.” He also shared insights about the UN’s SDGs in Academia series, which highlights the activities of United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) members in connection with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Chaired by Professor Bobby Duffy (Director of the Policy Institute at King’s) the first panel discussed 'Leadership and Democratic Societies', and how this topic relates to the role of universities in achieving the SDGs. Professor Duffy was joined by Professor Tshilidzi Marwala (Vice-Chancellor of University of Johannesburg), Professor Mette Halskov Hansen (Vice-Rector for Climate & the Environment and Cross-Disciplinarity at University of Oslo) and Professor Sandra R. G. Almeida (President of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), for a discussion which included the importance of knowledge to leadership, the need for universities to set an example of democratic leadership which engages and includes all those within their organisations, and the need to consider their connection to society in a changing world.

For the second panel, Professor José Celso Freire Junior (Associate Provost for International Affairs at UNESP) was joined by Hamza Lone (Vice President Education at KCLSU, 2021-22), Dr Robyn Klingler-Vidra (Reader in International Political Economy at King’s), Dr Tim Flink (Scientific Advisor to the Federal Parliament of Germany) and Professor Joseph Wong (Vice-President International at University of Toronto) for a discussion entitled 'How impactful can universities be in achieving the SDGs?'

The panel considered a range of topics, including the role universities have in serving society and educating leaders, the importance of involving and empowering students in the co-creation of solutions, the importance of including affected communities in measuring the impact of activities designed to address the SDGs, the dichotomy between competition in research and collaboration to address the SDGs, and the importance of reciprocal, equitable and relevant partnerships between the Global North and the Global South.

Day two of the conference brought together attendees from King’s and across the Circle U. Alliance for three interactive workshops on Creativity and Culture, Education and Sustainability, and Global Health in the Curriculum. All three workshops considered how these topics can be embedded within and across our curriculums and institutions.

King's College London has a long and proud history of serving the needs and aspirations of society. We are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a university, and we use them as a framework for reporting on our social impact. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals approved by the 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) which aim to transform the world by 2030.