Westminster inspires partnership, leadership and change with third Annual SDGs All-Colleague Workshop

This year’s workshop, which took place on 16 June, explored the role of partnership, leadership and change as integral to the SDGs, with discussions building upon themes of previous years including 2023’s SDGs Beyond Acronyms and 2024’s Sustainable Development Goals as a Vehicle for Impacting Lives. 

The day began with a welcome address from the organisers, an interdisciplinary team of Westminster colleagues including Professor Dibyesh Anand, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Employability and Co-Chair of the University’s SDG Coordinating Group, Morgan Lirette, Sustainable Development Advisor, Dr Pooja Basnett from the School of Life Sciences, Dr Ro Spankie from the School of Architecture + Cities, Dr Randhir Auluck from the School of Organisations, Economy and Society, and Virginia Cheung, Energy Officer at the University.  

SDG Coordinating Group

Professor Anand kicked off the day’s events in conversation with Professor Peter Bonfield, Vice Chancellor and President of the University, exploring what is next for the SDGs in a contested world. Audience members then had the chance to ask questions in an interactive Q&A session, setting the tone for the day’s focus on partnership and leadership.  

Throughout the day, colleagues and students delivered presentations to showcase the important work they do throughout their teaching, research and co-creative projects to contribute to SDGs, both within Westminster and around the world.  

The presentations were interspersed by a variety of breakout sessions, which allowed participants to come together in small groups to focus on a range of sustainability-related issues. This included a session on Partnerships for the SDGs chaired by Dr Spankie, a session on Youth Engagement and Leadership in SDGs chaired by Dr Basnett and a final session on SDGs and Their Barriers at Westminster chaired by Dr Auluck.  

To conclude the day, participants reflected upon their takeaways from the presentations and discussion sessions and explored how to work together going forward to contribute to the SDGs. Attendees then enjoyed a networking reception to further discuss the day’s events.  

Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.  This includes the University’s Being Westminster institutional strategy, which highlights sustainable development as a key priority.  

About the workshop Morgan Lirette said: “The event is always a joyful one, but this year we were particularly proud to have so many students in the room presenting their work. This included presentations from students on the Community Organising University-wide Electives, the Cavendish Living Lab, Gene Editors of the Future and the Students as Co-Creators project titled Embedding SDGs in the Curriculum. Our conversations are infinitely enriched when students are involved, and the organisers thank the students for their time and participation.”

She added: “Many thanks to our colleagues presenting and organising, and a very big thank you to our student helpers who make the day run so smoothly! They were Success Ajayi, Antoni Fernandez Canellas, John Herrera, Fatuma Mohamed Hirsi and Laima Tokhi.”

Professor Anand said: “Sustainable Development is one of the three key strategic priorities for our university; the other two are wellbeing and inclusion. In fact, the workshop touched all three priorities as we discussed examples from different disciplines and professions where SDGs have been useful frameworks for conducting authentic education, impactful research and knowledge exchange and inclusive global engagement. It was heartening to see so many individuals and teams come together to share and challenge ideas and learn from each other. We are keen to build on this and have an even bigger workshop next year.”

Find out more about the University of Westminster’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.