Report outlines universities’ links outside sector on development

Universities across the world are collaborating with actors outside the higher education sector to accelerate progress towards the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new report from Times Higher Education outlines.

The report, Beyond the Sector: How university partnerships are accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, uses data from THE’s unique Impact Ranking dataset, which assesses how universities are performing against each of the 17 SDGs.

The report looks at country- and continent-wide data to analyse regional trends, including financial assistance provided to local start-ups; events for local farmers and food producers; collaboration with health institutions; and collaboration with industry, government and start-ups on energy efficiency.

Some key findings are:

• Universities are more likely to offer material and logistical support, such as incubator schemes, for local start-ups, than financial support (93 per cent compared with 75 per cent globally). The difference is largest in South America
• In Asia, there is wide variety in the provision of food security knowledge and collaboration with local farmers and food producers
• There is more national and global collaboration on health than on water security.

rosa.ellis@timeshighereducation.com

Download the report for free