About Partnership for the Goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.
Our work on Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals
We work towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals, to create a better and fairer world.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015 by all United Nations member states. It provides a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Find out more about our work across all the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Research
Institutional research themes
The University’s vision is to be recognised across the world as a university that addresses the needs of society through innovative interdisciplinary research. Our work is already making a positive impact on people’s health, education and wellbeing, and work is underway to do even more through research that is embodied within three major themes: Cultures, Communities and Society; Global Security and Resilience; and Living Well.
Forth Environmental Resilience Array (Forth-ERA)
The Forth Environmental Resilience Array (Forth-ERA) is the first of its kind - a digital observatory of the Firth of Forth's catchment. The project uses near and real-time data flows from sensors, satellites and models to provide a one-stop-shop for environmental data. This enables the Forth catchment’s diverse organisations, from heavy industry to national parks, to take data-led, evidence-based decisions and plan for a sustainable and just transition to a net zero future.
The project helps Scottish Water implement innovative cost-cutting solutions to monitor drinking water quality by providing access to real time data flow and provides early warning information to SEPA, Scotland's principal environmental regulator, on floods and drought in areas at risk of coastal, river and flash flooding.
Forth-ERA is a multi-million-pound investment programme through Scotland’s International Environment Centre, funded as part of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal.
Hydro Nation
Bringing Scotland’s water sector together to drive us to net zero and beyond. The Scotland Hydro Nation Chair, hosted by the University of Stirling, is leading the collaboration needed to deliver sustainable water management in Scotland.
The project is working across the Scottish water sector and its supply chain to eliminate emissions from infrastructure development and waste water processing, promote our natural environment and manage our processes better, allowing us to recover resource including energy to contribute to a greener, more circular economy.
The initiative is a partnership involving Scottish Water and the Scottish Funding Council.
Learning and teaching
Wicked Problems/Sustainable Solutions
Wicked Problems/Sustainable Solutions is a first-year module available to students across the University. It takes an innovative, interdisciplinary learning approach to introduce students to perspectives on sustainability and the climate crisis, using the United Nations SDGs as openings to wider exploration.
Contributions from academic staff in all five University faculties, who are engaged in research to find solutions to some of the most ‘wicked’ problems that affect us globally, underpin seminar-based learning. Students use hands-on practical outdoor experience, app-driven modelling, social and multimedia communications, and debate and dialogue, to explore and address the nature of this ‘wickedness’.
Through understanding of political processes and activism, the role of (mis)informative communication, education-enabled opportunity, conflicts between traditional resource management and new methods of achieving food security, ethical business practices, and how to achieve transitions to a low carbon future that is just and equitable for all, we are equipping future graduates from any discipline with the skills to tackle the challenges ahead.
History and heritage of Stirling at 900 years
This Massive Open online course, available through FutureLearn, offers learners the chance to gain an expansive understanding of one of Scotland’s most important and beloved cities. Starting at Stirling’s origins, students learn about the city’s tumultuous beginnings as noble power struggles developed and battles were fought, specifically about Stirling’s iconic leaders, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Students then discover the Reformation and Radical Era during Stirling’s early modern period and explore Stirling’s place during the Jacobite Risings.
Partnership with Singapore Institute of Management
Stirling Management School has a partnership with the Singapore Institute of Management, which began when SMS launched a BA Retail Marketing degree delivered there, one of the first of its kind in Singapore. We now provide undergraduate programmes in Marketing, Retail Marketing and Marketing and Sports Studies (co-delivered with the Stirling School of Health Sciences and Sport), and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities runs a BA Digital Media.
This is a strong partnership that provides an anchor in southeast Asia for Stirling, in support of faculty and institutional ambitions to be internationally recognised.
Responsible management education and commitment to SDGs
Stirling Management School’s status as an advanced signatory of the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), and focus on improving sustainability as an organisation, is supported by active engagement in wider University commitments such as signing the COP26 Global Climate Letter and signing the GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative).
University operations
Partner knowledge exchange sessions
The University hosted a series of knowledge exchange sessions as University partner-led events, established to propose the sharing of best practices in the international teaching space.
Eight different institutions were represented:
- University of Stirling
- Singapore Institute of Management
- Planet One Ras Al Khaimah, Muscat College
- British University Vietnam
- University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
- Chengdu University Stirling College
- Budapest Business School.
Three themes underpinned the Knowledge Exchange pilots – “Connect, Share, Cooperate”. In feedback received after the events, 80% of all respondents agreed they would like to see other International Partner Knowledge Exchange Sessions take place in the future.
SDG Accord
The University is a signatory of the international SDG Accord as part of our ongoing commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
Sustainability Plan 2022-2028
The University’s Sustainability Plan 2022-28 details actions we are taking to deliver a net zero carbon university by 2040, and to address the many environmental and sustainability challenges. The plan provides an overview of an ambitious sustainability agenda, its key objectives and interim milestones.
Festival of Research
The Festival of Research has been running since 2017 as an annual series of events committed to stimulating discussion around topics of interest to the researcher community and a platform to showcase research and future plans, celebrate successes and facilitate networking opportunities.
Race to Zero
The University is a signatory of the Race To Zero campaign run by EAUC, Second Nature and the UN Environment Programme. Race to Zero is a global campaign to rally leadership and action in the education sector.
Civic engagement
Forth Valley NHS Partnership
The Forth Valley University College NHS Partnership is the first formal regional partnership between a health board, university and college in Scotland. It is an ambitious collaboration between University of Stirling, Forth Valley College and NHS Forth Valley which aims to improve patient care and treatment for communities across the region for years to come. Building on a longstanding relationship between the three institutions, it has four priority areas: Research, Innovation, Learning, Careers.
The partnership will deliver transformational change to the health and social care of the area through the delivery of new learning and development opportunities for students and staff and become a nerve centre for world-class research and innovation developed to directly respond to the needs of local people.
SEPA Sustainable Growth Agreement
In partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Sustainable Growth Agreement will demonstrate through practical solutions how to maximise environmental, social and economic opportunities to enable and help deliver a just transition to net zero. It will create solutions that are easily scalable and replicable for Scotland and beyond. It will be done by working collaboratively to develop and empower world class scientific and professional expertise, use cutting edge technologies and attract and encourage innovation in meeting both local environmental challenges and global climate extremes and biodiversity collapse. The University of Stirling, through Scotland’s International Environment Centre, works alongside SEPA to deliver One Planet Prosperity through innovative regulatory approaches.
Learning for Sustainability in Initial Teacher Education
Since August 2023, Professor Lizzie Rushton has served as lead for Learning for Sustainability (LfS) for the Scottish Council of Deans of Education including leadership of a new national working group. Consistent with the Scottish Government’s Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-2030, a key priority has been to create a single national approach to support LfS within Initial Teacher Education (ITE) (Action 24).
Through Professor Rushton’s leadership, the national working group has involved over thirty people. This has included teacher educators from each of the eleven HEIs in Scotland which have ITE programme as well as experts from the General Teaching Council Scotland, Learning for Sustainability Scotland and Education Scotland. Through a process of co-creation which has involved five workshops, a research-informed national framework for LfS in ITE has been developed.
The research which underpins this national framework includes expertise of academics based at Stirling, including Professor Lizzie Rushton, Professor Mark Priestley and Professor Greg Mannion. The framework is now in the first phase of guiding the education of student teachers across Scotland and providing school-based mentors and university-based teacher educators with vital support to realise the LfS as an entitlement for all children and young people.
Stirling Management School Impact Strategy
Stirling Management School is focused on two fundamental ambitions for positive societal impact: meeting high standards of sustainability and responsibility as an anchor institution; and supporting the region to increase health and prosperity.
The focus is derived from a commitment to sustainability and responsible business and this is threaded through research, teaching and business engagement and has supported significant achievements including embedding responsible business, sustainability and an entrepreneurial mindset in the curriculum; widening participation, ensuring courses are accessible to all eligible learners; influencing government policy in areas such as entrepreneurial university campuses and greener, healthier and fairer town centres; working productively with organisations such as Zero Waste Scotland and Food Standards Scotland; and impacting regional businesses through the Help to Grow: Management (H2GM) programme and other targeted support.