1. Resources
  2. Global Engagement Toolkit
  3. Developing Globally Engaged Curriculum
  4. Transforming Your Curriculum Through the SDGs

Transforming Your Curriculum Through the SDGs

This transformative approach supports the development of learning outcomes that center the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It encourages the intentional and meaningful integration of the SDGs into course design, rather than treating them as add-ons. 

The SDGs address the world’s most pressing challenges and provide students with opportunities for meaningful, authentic learning. Incorporating the SDGs can transform courses to focus on complex, “wicked” problems, enabling students to apply their learning in real-world contexts. Additionally, the SDGs offer pedagogical inspiration and guidance to help educators design learning experiences that are both impactful and aligned with global priorities. 

Through the structured guidance below, you will be equipped to embed global sustainability into your course effectively. 

Step 1: Explore the SDGs

1.1 What are SDGs?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The 17 SDGs are interconnected—they recognize that progress in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development requires a balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Learn More 鶹վ the SDGs

1.2 Select SDG(s) to Focus On

Now that you’ve explored the 17 SDGs, it’s time to select the goal or goals you would like to focus on. Use the first section of the Developing SDGs-Informed Curriculum worksheet (Word, 76KB) to help you visualize and clarify your choices.  

 

Step 2: Develop SDGs-Informed Learning Outcomes using a Holistic Framework 

This approach is grounded in a holistic framework designed to support the creation of learning outcomes that reflect the multidimensional nature of the SDGs. The framework features six interconnected dimensions that guide the design of learning goals and experiences through authentic engagement with the SDGs and their real-world implications.

2.1 Explore the Holistic Framework

Take a deeper dive into each dimension of the holistic framework. As you explore, consider which dimension(s) most closely align with your course goals and objectives and how they can support the meaningful and authentic integration of global sustainability into your curriculum.

Holistic Framework for Learning Outcomes

2.2 Select Dimension(s) to Focus On

Before developing your learning outcomes, identify the dimension(s) you would like to focus on and use the guiding questions and suggested verbs to help frame the process. You may also refer back to the individual SDGs to help shape your outcomes with a specific focus.

Foundational Knowledge

  1. To address one or more SDGs, what content (e.g., formulae, concepts, principles, theories, etc.) is important for students to understand and build upon? 
  2. What ideas and/or knowledge should students construct through their learning? 
  3. How can students be encouraged to question what counts as knowledge and examine whose perspectives are privileged or marginalized? 
  4. What are the opportunities for students to unlearn their biases and challenge assumptions about what is considered normative or universal both in the subject/discipline and in the learning process itself? 

construct, describe, define, discuss, explain, express, identify, illustrate, indicate, list, match, name, outline, paraphrase, recite, recognize, recall, state

Caring

  1. To address one or more SDGs, what changes would you like to see in students’ attitudes, beliefs, and/or worldviews? 
  2. How would you help students:   
    • reflect on their social role, responsibility, and ethics within the subject, discipline, or profession?   
    • develop mutual respect, trust, and reciprocity? 
    • appreciate and value diversity in individuals, perspectives, cultures and worldviews? 

analyze assess, change, choose, create compare, critique, develop, discover, explain, explore, evaluate, examine, identify, illustrate, interpret, justify, modify, negotiate, recognize, reflect, renew, revise

Human Dimension

  1. To address one or more SDGs, what should students learn about themselves, including:  
    • their positionality in learning ? 
    • their personal bias and privilege? 
  2. What should students learn about others, such as instructors, TAs, peers, the university, and local and global communities? 
  3. What should students learn about effectively collaborating with others? 
  4. What new values, visions, and perspectives would you hope students gain? 

analyze assess, change, choose, create compare, critique, develop, discover, explain, explore, evaluate, examine, identify, illustrate, interpret, justify, modify, negotiate, recognize, reflect, renew, revise

Integration

  1. To address one or more SDGs, what connections should students make between ideas and knowledge: 
    • within the course? 
    • between this course and others, both within and outside the discipline? 
    • between the course content and their personal, social, professional, and other realms of life? 
  2. What diverse knowledges and/or ways of knowing should students engage with? 

analyze, attach, associate, blend, collect, combine, compare, connect, contrast, coordinate, describe, differentiate, distinguish, establish, evaluate, explain, explore, identify, integrate, intermix, link, illustrate, paraphrase, question, relate, select, summarize 

Competence (Learning How to Learn)

  1. To address one or more SDGs, what essential skills and competencies within the subject and/or discipline should students need to develop and practice? 
  2. What ways of thinking specific to the subject and/or discipline should students develop and practise? 
    • critical thinking: analyzing and evaluating 
    • creative thinking: imagining and creating 
    • practical thinking: making decisions and solve problems 
    • other ways of thinking 

analyze, argue, assess, communicate, debate, develop (skills, agency, etc.), debate, develop, discuss, document, formulate, identify needs, identify resources, inquire, frame questions, practise, research, set a goal, schedule 

Application

  1. How can students meaningfully apply or demonstrate skills, competencies, and ways of thinking developed in the course to equitably tackle one or more SDGs? 
  2. What projects or tasks should students manage or undertake to demonstrate their learning? 

address, apply, analyze, assess, calculate, complete, construct, create, communicate, demonstrate, design, develop, employ, estimate, evaluate, examine, generate, implement, interpret, manage, plan (make a plan/ make action plans), propose, produce, promote, propose, resolve, solve 

2.3 Develop SDGs-Informed Learning Outcomes

The next step is to move from identifying focus areas—such as specific SDGs and framework dimensions—to crafting clear,  measurable learning outcomes that align with your course goals and objectives. Use the second section of the Developing SDGs-Informed Curriculum worksheet (Word, 76KB) to support your efforts. 

Step 3: Align the Course Components   

Now that you have developed SDGs-informed learning outcomes, the important next step is to ensure alignment across your course—linking your assessment to those outcomes, designing meaningful learning activities, and selecting engaging topics that reflect the goals you’ve chosen.   

Use the third and fourth sections of the Developing SDGs-Informed Curriculum worksheet (Word, 76KB) to guide you through each step of the process. 

 

 lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Developing Global Engaged Curriculum. Centre for Teaching and Learning, Queen’s University