Top Action Tips

for Graduate Researchers and Students

  • Pick an SDG.

    Look at all 17 SDGs and identify which of them fits with your research. Use the SDG as a launching point for finding articles, authors and partners.

  • Work backwards.

    Use your research ideas to interlink them to one or more SDG. Build on that. The sustainable development goals are all interconnected so find ways to branch off to other SDGs as you expand your research. Pivot to a systems-thinking perspective. Go big!

  • Create a roadmap.

    Whether you’re honing research questions or compiling a list of topics to discuss with campus stakeholders, it is essential that you think ahead about what you want to know, who and why you’re asking, and what you want your ask to be concerning the interconnected SDGs.

  • Get offline.

    Be sure to seek out other students interested in the SDGs. Join your campus’ chapter of the SDG Students Program or find research partners with The 50 Percent or build a local community of SDG-oriented people on campus.

  • Find the institutions.

    Does your campus even have a sustainability office or institute. Few colleges and universities should be ignorant of the benefits of having an Office of Sustainability. Check with your Provost and see how your institution supports the SDGs or is addressing energy efficiency in your buildings, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction, and even planting trees in your local quad.

  • Feed your stakeholders.

    Who has recently published SDG-related material? Start with your Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee or the equivalent campus group. Who is already engaged in the work? Is there a graduate assistantship or teaching assistantship available for a specific professor? These are all places to start your search for faculty stakeholders in the SDGs.

  • Circulate with librarians.

    Familiarize yourself with your research library. Is there an option in your library’s database to search for books, articles or journals that publish on any one or more of the 17 SDGs? Is there a faculty or staff-member knowledgeable enough to point you to the right location in the stacks? Can you find examples of other graduate student research projects or doctoral dissertations in the repository that address the SDGs? If possible, consider your doctoral research as a three-article dissertation with topics relevant to practitioners and aim to publish in journals that accept researcher-to-practitioner perspectives. When in doubt, go to the library!

    See: Connecting researchers and practitioners.

  • Get hands-on.

    Connect with other activists, practitioners and scholars. Apply for paid fellowships like the Global Sustainability Scholars Program or GSS Fellows program. Volunteer as a SDSN Youth 2022 Local Pathways Fellow, Global Voices SDG Youth Fellow, or as an SDG Publishers Compact Fellow. You could even convince your university to join other fellowship programs that allow you to advance the SDGs in partnership with larger organizations and societal goals.

  • Host a collaborative '17 Rooms' event.

    The Rockefeller Foundation and the Brookings Institution created an open-source concept to help organizations identify partnerships and practical steps to accelerate progress on the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For example, 17 Rooms-U at Mason.

  • Lace up your shoes and go.

    You don’t need permission. Just start at the top of this list and work your way down until you not only have one or more SDGs you like, but you’re working with others to research, write, and publish-and maybe even get paid while you do it! Sure, there are some stakeholders who might want to have a say if you go the institutional route, but the important thing is to just begin. This list isn’t exhaustive. We know you’ll expand it through your own efforts!