In the second edition of its report on actions towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, CRUE (Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities) reflects on its commitment to the SDGs through implementation of dedicated conferences, debate sessions, workshops, and other initiatives. The Annual Report 2019 summarizes and analyses activities of the CRUE network and different working groups at Spanish Universities, discussing how they fostered the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at national and international levels.
CRUE launched a questionnaire in June 2020 for a report aiming to reflect on and give visibility to sustainability alliances, commitments, and actions carried out throughout 2019 by the different CRUE Commissions with the explicit objective of contributing to fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of the SDGs.
The 2nd Edition of the Report on CRUE actions towards the 2030 Agenda has now been elaborated, on the one hand to identify CRUE initiatives aligned with fulfilment of the SDGs and, on the other to reflect on CRUE’s commitment to achievement of the SDGs by implementing dedicated conferences, debate sessions, workshops and other initiatives either organized by CRUE or attended or co-organized by its members during 2019.
The Annual Report includes indicators and quantifies impacts, taking into account studies, reports, analyses, and shared good practices implemented by the different working groups in relation to the SDGs. It summarizes and analyses activities of the CRUE network and different working groups at Spanish Universities, showing how they fostered the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at national and international level.
The Spanish universities and CRUE follow these principles to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:
- Transversal integration of the principles, values and objectives of sustainable development into missions, policies, and activities in Spanish universities and CRUE.
- Commitment by the inclusion of skills and capacities related to sustainable and inclusive development, necessary for the construction of global citizenship beyond specific training actions for the whole university community (students, teaching, research, and administration staff).
- Sharing of knowledge and expertise that encourage sustainable development, but also generate new experiences to improve the 2030 Agenda and its objectives.
- Capitalizing of efforts and resources to offer unique and open spaces at Spanish universities to test innovative ideas and to promote collective reflection and co-production of knowledge by addressing the challenges of the 2030 Agenda, in the context of the different characteristics, cultures, and environments of each institution.
- Strengthening of the universities' link with other societal agents like public administrations, companies, and other institutions in order to foster common values and to create a rich culture of collaboration and alliances at different scales: at international research network level or at cooperation level for the visibility and inclusion of minority groups.
- Awareness fostered by a public and open debate on sustainable development, the 2030 Agenda, and its own governance in the national and international context.
- Commitment by the Spanish universities to report on their impacts and results on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of teaching, research, and knowledge transfer.