Integrating UNSDGs Within the School Curriculum

 Successful steps towards fostering Active Global Citizenship among young learners 

As sustainability gains more prominence in today’s world than ever before, multiple strategies are emerging to help schools and educators inspire students to understand that their learning and community action contribute to progress in the global goals set out by the UN. Integrating the SDGs into the school curriculum makes these goals both real and achievable, as the youth thinks of new ideas and solutions that can be scaled- up across nations and regions of the world.

At Choithram School, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, major steps have been taken to foster active global citizenship amongst their young learners.

Arguably, it is the responsibility of the school to foster active global citizenship amongst the young learners by empowering them with global competence education. In Choithram School, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India this is achieved by integrating UN Sustainable Development Goals within the curriculum to enable students to examine local issues and contribute to sustainable development by ‘thinking globally and acting locally’.

 Here are some of their top interventions to integrate UNSDGs into their school curriculum: 

1. Interdisciplinary projects, problem-based learning and morning assembly presentations focusing on one SDG, assist students to think critically, envisage an issue at the local level and take steps to combat the problem.
2. Engaging students in collaborative projects with overseas schools gives them a window to explore SDGs in their own community and make comparisons with their peers from other countries.
3. Club activities help students carry out community outreach projects by implementing solutions to challenges identified in SDGs. Students create awareness about safeguarding our planet, utilizing water judiciously, equality for all, and maintaining personal and community hygiene.
4. While exploring SDG13 Climate Action, students set up a business enterprise, come closer to the environment, and community and nurture their 21st-century skills. They have also been participating in the ‘Climate Action’ project, a global project launched by Take Action Global (TAG), an education nonprofit based in the USA from the year 2017. The project helps students to learn about the climate crisis in authentic ways and disseminate solutions through an online platform.
5. SDG4 Quality Education helps them run a campus company in the school, and organize Entrepreneurial Summit and TEDx events for students of the community, building their entrepreneurial competencies.
6. Organizing Choithram Model United Nations and participating in other Model United Nations assists them to deliberate on international challenges searching for peaceful solutions and contributing to SDG16 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
7. Atal Tinkering Lab in the school aids students of the community to explore SDG9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, tinker with the latest technologies, build prototypes like drones and become resilient and creative.

Our approach helps our students, teachers, principals, staff, parents, and community members integrate the SDGs into our school culture, teaching and learning, facilities, operations, and community partnerships. Integrating UNSGDs within the curriculum, thus, enables Choitharam students to come closer to the community by implementing solutions to challenges identified in these SDGs.