Inspire. Change. Together. Innovative approaches and partnerships to strengthen the cooperation between universities and the United Nations to implement the SDGs 

The myriad of challenges facing the world today require different responses than previously undertaken. The conventional approach has been to address these issues separately in our respective spheres of influence, as universities, as governments and as international organizations. However, it has become clear that working in silos is not helping us to address the multifaceted challenges we are facing around the globe. Tackling these issues requires cooperation in new and innovative partnerships. It is in this context that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under its Education for Justice initiative (E4J), has understood and embraced the vital role of higher education and – together with UNESCO - is reaching out to academics in order to support them in empowering the next generation to address today’s challenges and to achieve the SDGs.

This session will focus on existing and new initiatives by the UN to strengthen cooperation with universities and will invite participants to share their thoughts on what needs to be done to strengthen these fruitful partnerships. The panellists for this session will discuss what is needed to build bridges between academia, the United Nations and policymakers to develop holistic and comprehensive ways to reach and address multiple SDGs such as SDG 4 on education, SDG16 on promoting peace, justice and strong institutions and SDG 17 forging partnerships for the goals.