Bournemouth University's Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 – out now

The 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are a blueprint for creating a more sustainable future, addressing the greatest challenges facing humanity and our environment.

Bournemouth University's commitment to the goals spans across every department of the university, including embedding these practices into our professional services, enriching our teaching with sustainability education, and exploring new ways to achieve these goals through our research. BU has now released a report sharing its work towards this commitment.

In the report, BU share case studies, data and real-life examples from students, members of staff and the wider BU community of how its work contributes to achieving each of the goals. The report also includes the standings given by the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings in 2022 for BU's performance against each SDG. Overall, BU achieved 42nd in the world, from more than 1,400 universities across 106 different countries/regions, in the THE Impact rankings. This report shows the work that goes into these results and reflects the commitment of BU's students and staff to making a positive impact on the world.

Following the release of the SDG report, we wanted to highlight some of the excellent work of our colleagues. In the area of ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, we ranked 4th in the world in THE impact rankings. This is thanks to work by colleagues such as the CareersBU team who encourage students like Micah to develop their interest in social justice through placements. Micah’s university placement allowed him to explore his conviction to work for an organisation with a social purpose and he returned to make the most of university opportunities to build his experience. Micah now proudly works for Tony’s Chocoloney, a brand with a strong mission statement to tackle modern slavery in the chocolate industry.

He said: “It was important for me to join a company which aligned with my own values, and to work for a business which wants to make a positive impact on the world.”

With excellent work from students like Micah to improve the lives of those affected by slavery, we really are helping people to live better, for longer as a BU community – achieving some excellent results relating to Our BU Story. If you are interested in reading about some of the other areas of sustainable development that we pride ourselves on, you can read the report here.