Empowering Students, Advancing Sustainability: UN SDG Faculty Spotlight
The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are a call for action and global partnership. These goals provide a blueprint for “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” They tackle challenges like improving health and wellbeing, building sustainable communities, and fostering social and ecological resilience.
During UN SDG Action and Awareness Week, higher education institutions promote awareness of the SDGs and inspire faculty, staff, and students to further the goals on campus. At the Center for Teaching and Learning, we encourage faculty to design or redesign their courses with sustainability in mind.
Pamela Pollet and Jenny Houlroyd are two faculty members who have done just that. As Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation grant recipients, they received financial support to redesign a Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) course using the SDGs. Their work, along with the work of the other grant recipients, advances Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan to connect globally and amplify impact through education, research, and service.
From Idea to Action
Pamela Pollet
Jenny Houlroyd
Pollet and Houlroyd’s course began with an idea. “Chemicals and chemical hazards are well understood within the laboratory or research environment,” said Pollet. “However, these chemicals have also become more and more a part of our everyday lives. We realized that a lot of people do not have that same knowledge [as researchers] of how to use chemicals.” Pollet noted that this can be dangerous, as many people are now exposed to hazardous chemicals without the skills to identify them. “We’re seeing more Poison Control Center calls about acute chemical exposures than about drug-induced overdoses. There are chemical exposures at home, in occupation settings – we’re seeing examples of people who have not been trained to recognize and protect themselves from chemical hazards.”
Pollet and Houlroyd are working to bridge this gap. To do so, they’re using the SDGs to inform course projects.
Quality Education
The course emphasizes three SDGs overall: SDG# 4, Quality Education; SDG#10, Reduce Inequalities; and SDG #16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. “The goal of these projects is to introduce students to the real world – to have connection and impact to the real world. The students are participating in roundtables, they’re going out into the community, they’re seeing the impact chemical exposure can have on vulnerable communities,” said Pollet.
Students have worked on a variety of practical applications and resources over their time in the course. One project involves developing a user-friendly app to help mitigate chemical hazards. The app allows users to record specific scenarios – for example, spilling a can of paint – and determine if the situation is hazardous using scientifically-rigorous modelling. If it is, the app then may offer options for how to approach the risk. The app will also allow users to scan product barcodes on items like household cleaners to see any chemical hazards associated with the ingredients; when appropriate, the app may be a resource for less hazardous alternatives. This project also supports SDG #3, Health and Well-being, and SDG #12, Responsible Consumption and Production.
VIP students
Two other projects explore chemical exposures in the workplace, examining the rise of silicosis among workers who cut engineered stone and the risk of nanoparticle exposure in seamstresses. “We want to encourage students to consider the life cycle of a chemical, from the mining of the element to exposures during the manufacturing process to the final product,” said Houlroyd. Students working on these projects are creating awareness documents that can be deployed across the state; their work supports SDG #8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, along with SDGs #3 and #12.
Students address SDG #2, Zero Hunger, as they explore Atrazine pesticide. This pesticide is currently banned in Europe but unregulated in the U.S.; classmates are exploring the use of Atrazine in the U.S. with a focus in Georgia. “They’re seeing the impact chemical exposure can have on vulnerable communities,” said Pollet.
Houlroyd hopes the class will have a long-term impact on students even after the projects have ended. “I want the students, who may end up innovating a new product or material in the future, to incorporate a broad thought process as to how what they create may have adverse consequences to workers, the environment, and the community. Integrating the sustainable development goals helps provide a framework to post these very important public health questions.”
An Interdisciplinary Approach
As a VIP course, Pollet and Houlroyd’s class has students from a variety of disciplines such as public policy, chemistry, computer science, and chemical and biomolecular engineering. Students from different departments work on projects together, leveraging their unique skillsets to find innovative solutions. Pollet and Houlroyd themselves bring multiple perspectives to the course; Pollet serves as faculty, while Houlroyd is community-facing as an Industrial Hygienist with Tech’s Safety, Health, and Environmental Services Program.
Pollet noted that she and Houlroyd try to bring as much real-world exposure to the course as possible. Students have heard from guest speakers such as an investigative journalist at Georgia Public Broadcasting, an editor from a chemical health and safety journal, lawyers involved in relevant cases, occupational health physicians, and workers from the CDC, OSHA, and EPA. “When students are able to hear from a treating physician what the impact of silicosis is on a patient’s life, a small research project examining how to improve educational outreach to stone fabricators becomes more meaningful,” said Houlroyd.
Start Small
Pollet encourages other Georgia Tech faculty to incorporate sustainability teaching into their work, using their skills to improve society, public health, working conditions, and more. Her advice to faculty? Start small.
“It can be very overwhelming. There are a lot of goals and metrics. Just start with one project. When I started to redesign [the course], I tried to look at each project and match it with some of the UN goals and their targets. That’s where we can make a difference. My recommendation is to start small, and each semester make an improvement. Reflect on what you want your impact to be.” Pamela notes that her goal is for students to become effective and sustainable leaders.
Next Steps
Georgia Tech faculty interested in transforming their teaching using the SDGs are encouraged to apply for the next round of Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation grants; register here for an information session. The grants are supported by the Sustainability Education and Curriculum Committee, Georgia Tech’s Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the SDGs, CTL, and the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education. Faculty are also encouraged to join Pollet in the Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the UN SDGs, a space for faculty to present works in progress, get peer feedback, share resources, and develop strategies to engage more faculty and students in sustainability education. Contact Rebecca Watts Hull, CTL’s assistant director for Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives, for more information.
