Last Update : December 1, 2024
The Foundation: Amrita’s Vision for SDG Education
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has established a foundational commitment to meaningful education around the Sustainable Development Goals that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries and reaches all students regardless of their major or academic pathway. This commitment is deeply rooted in the university’s dual vision of “Education for Life and Education for Living,” aligned with the compassion-driven ethos articulated by Chancellor Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. The university recognizes that as a leading institution of higher learning, it bears the responsibility to equip current and future leaders with the knowledge, skills, values, and agency necessary to contribute meaningfully to achieving the SDGs by 2030.
Over the past decade, Amrita has implemented a systematic and comprehensive approach to integrating SDG education across its 4,000+ courses spread across 300+ programs, resulting in the creation of over 400,000 sustainability champions who have graduated from the institution. This achievement reflects not merely the addition of courses, but rather a fundamental transformation in how the university approaches teaching, learning, research, and community engagement. The university’s leadership was first articulated internationally when Chancellor Amma addressed the United Nations Academic Impact Conference on Technology for Sustainable Development in New York in 2015, establishing Amrita’s global commitment to using academic excellence to serve society’s most vulnerable populations.
The SDG framework comprises seventeen interconnected global goals established by the United Nations as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity. Amrita’s educational commitment ensures that all students understand the full spectrum of these goals and their interrelationships.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals include: No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15), Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).
The foundation of Amrita’s SDG educational commitment rests on mandatory sustainability courses that ensure all students, regardless of their discipline, engage with SDG concepts and frameworks. Rather than isolating sustainability education within specialized programs, the university has embedded these essential learning areas as mandatory credits within designated semesters across diverse academic disciplines including Engineering, Social Sciences, Business, Biotechnology, and Medicine. This approach ensures that every student who graduates from Amrita has received formal instruction in foundational sustainable development concepts, SDG literacy, and applied sustainability.
The mandatory course structure includes three primary educational components. First, foundational courses in sustainable development provide students with essential theoretical frameworks for understanding global sustainability challenges and the interconnections between economic, social, and environmental systems. Second, SDG Literacy courses specifically equip students with comprehensive knowledge of all seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, their targets, indicators, and implementation mechanisms. Third, applied sustainability courses translate theoretical knowledge into practical skills, enabling students to identify, analyze, and propose solutions to real-world sustainability challenges within their disciplinary contexts.
This comprehensive curricular approach ensures that graduating students from all programs possess baseline SDG knowledge and understanding, creating a culture of sustainability awareness that permeates the entire institution. The diversity of disciplinary contexts in which SDGs are taught enables each student to appreciate how sustainable development is relevant to their specific field while also recognizing the interconnected nature of global sustainability challenges.
Beyond mandatory courses, Amrita has established the Amrita School for Sustainable Futures (ASF), a specialized academic entity that serves as both an advanced center for SDG education and a laboratory for pedagogical innovation in sustainability teaching. The School has introduced core sustainability courses such as “Conceptual Foundations of Sustainable Development” and “Perspectives on Sustainable Development,” which provide essential theoretical foundations while simultaneously guiding students to apply their knowledge in community-oriented projects.
The curriculum across the School for Sustainable Futures increasingly reflects a deep commitment to sustainability, as all course syllabi are explicitly oriented toward practical, community-focused applications of sustainable development principles. This student-centered, problem-based approach transforms abstract sustainability concepts into tangible, meaningful learning experiences where students engage with real communities and real challenges. The School recently launched its first certificate course on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and capacity building, demonstrating the institution’s commitment to emerging sustainability challenges.
The university recognized the importance of advanced training in sustainable development by establishing a PhD in Sustainable Development under the E4Life framework. This doctoral program, which offers over 100 fully funded scholarships, attracts scholars committed to research that generates knowledge and solutions for sustainable development challenges. The program has been recognized at the prestigious International Green Gown Awards for its work in transforming rural communities across India, highlighting the practical impact of research conducted within an explicitly SDG-focused framework.
Perhaps the most distinctive and impactful component of Amrita’s SDG education commitment is the Live-in-Labs® program, an experiential learning initiative that has fundamentally transformed how the university conceptualizes and delivers education for sustainable development. Launched by Chancellor Amma in 2013, Live-in-Labs® immerses students from bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in rural communities across India, where they live alongside community members, understand local challenges firsthand, and collaboratively design and implement sustainable solutions tailored to community needs.
This program is structured around multidisciplinary courses that enable progressive deepening of student engagement. Live-in-Labs® I introduces foundational concepts and guides students in developing sustainable models through observation and initial community dialogue. Live-in-Labs® II supports students in co-designing community interventions based on their deeper understanding of local contexts. Live-in-Labs® III advances student leadership by emphasizing the implementation of these solutions within rural settings, delivering tangible societal impact. Throughout this progression, students engage in immersive fieldwork, traveling to Amrita’s adopted villages across India to work directly with communities, experiencing rural life firsthand, understanding community challenges deeply, and implementing models that foster long-term positive change.
The scale of Live-in-Labs® is extraordinary. Since its inception in 2013, the program has reached more than one million beneficiaries across 25 states in India, with students from more than 30 institutions worldwide participating. Collectively, students and faculty have accumulated over 400,000 hours of field work dedicated to sustainable development in rural communities. This immense commitment reflects a philosophy that undergraduate and graduate education must go beyond classroom walls to engage with real-world complexity and develop in students a deep sense of responsibility toward vulnerable and marginalized populations.
In recognition of this transformative approach, Amrita was awarded the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership in 2024. Additionally, the university received the International Green Gown Award 2024 in the Benefitting Society category for the Live-in-Labs initiative, alongside recognition in three additional categories for its comprehensive sustainability efforts. These international recognitions validate the effectiveness of experiential learning as a pedagogical approach for developing SDG-focused competencies and fostering a commitment to sustainable development. Judges remarked that the students gain essential skills for the future by tackling real-world problems firsthand, and that Live-in-Labs® shows participants are not just looking for solutions, but really trying to understand what the issues are in the first place.
Amrita’s commitment to meaningful SDG education extends beyond curriculum content to encompass pedagogical approaches that foster genuine critical engagement with sustainability challenges. The university recognizes that transforming students’ understanding and behavior requires more than information transfer; it demands pedagogical methods that engage students emotionally, intellectually, and practically with sustainability issues.
The university employs problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry-based approaches that ground sustainability concepts in real-world examples and challenges. These pedagogical strategies help students see the relevance and urgency of SDG implementation while developing the analytical and creative skills necessary to propose evidence-based solutions. Faculty members across disciplines are encouraged to develop course assignments and projects that connect disciplinary content to specific SDGs, enabling students to appreciate how their field of study contributes to or is impacted by sustainable development.
Importantly, Amrita has implemented institutional structures to support faculty in this pedagogical transformation. The university provides professional development opportunities for educators focused on embedding SDG concepts and sustainability literacy into their teaching, recognizing that faculty development is essential for the success of student learning. This institutional investment in faculty capacity reflects an understanding that meaningful SDG education requires not just revised course content, but transformed teaching practices and educator commitment.
Beyond formal curriculum, Amrita creates multiple pathways for students to develop agency and responsibility around sustainability. The university recognizes that education for sustainable development must cultivate in students a sense of their own capacity to contribute to positive change, moving beyond passive learning to active engagement with sustainability challenges.
The university has launched community-based initiatives that engage students as active participants in sustainability action. For example, the “Wave of Change: Water for a Sustainable Future” initiative, launched on World Water Day 2024, demonstrates how Amrita integrates student engagement with community partnerships around a specific sustainability challenge. This month-long initiative, conducted in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation and Development, was designed to empower communities to become proactive stewards of their water resources, with trained “water champions” identified from within communities and equipped with knowledge to lead their peers toward sustainable water practices. Similar awareness sessions and training programs are planned across 108 communities in India, providing students with concrete opportunities to engage with implementation of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
The “Wave of Change” initiative was launched in Kallikkadu, Alapuzha, Kerala, with the participation of Vice President of Alappuzha Municipality and Ward Members, alongside faculty and PhD scholars from Amrita’s School for Sustainable Futures. The initiative is designed to identify and train water champions within communities who serve as ambassadors for change, empowering fellow community members to adopt water-wise practices and ensure the long-term sustainability of water resources.
The Student Sustainable Initiative Project framework, as documented in sustainability education literature, demonstrates that higher education institutions can effectively increase student awareness and engagement with SDGs through multiple coordinated mechanisms: hosting sustainability talks across campus, implementing student-tailored, people-centered design thinking projects, providing students with practical skills to identify and solve real societal issues, fostering industry partnerships, and cultivating a campus-wide culture of environmental and social responsibility. Amrita has adopted many of these approaches, recognizing that meaningful SDG education requires creating multiple touchpoints where students encounter sustainability challenges and opportunities for constructive engagement.
The effectiveness of Amrita’s commitment to SDG-focused education is reflected in its rankings within the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024. The university achieved an overall ranking of 81st globally and No. 1 in India, with particularly strong performances in specific SDG categories. Notably, Amrita secured Rank 3 globally in SDG 4 (Quality Education), demonstrating that its educational initiatives are recognized as among the most impactful globally. The university also achieved Rank 7 in SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), Rank 22 in SDG 5 (Gender Equality), Rank 62 in SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), Rank 87 in SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), Rank 87 in SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and notable placements in SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
These rankings provide external validation that Amrita’s approach to integrating SDGs throughout its educational mission is generating measurable institutional impact. The concentration of Amrita’s strengths in quality education (SDG 4) reflects the university’s deliberate investment in embedding sustainability throughout its teaching and learning ecosystem. The 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings saw the participation of 2,152 higher education institutions from 125 countries/regions, culminating in an exhaustive assessment of universities’ contributions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and their commitment to sustainability across key areas such as research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.
A comprehensive commitment to SDG education requires systematic assessment of student learning outcomes and SDG-related competencies. Educational research in 2024 identifies key frameworks for monitoring SDG 4.7 implementation—mainstreaming of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in policies, curricula, and student assessment. Amrita has begun implementing assessment approaches that measure not only student knowledge of SDGs but also their attitudes, behaviors, and sense of agency regarding sustainable development.
Universities implementing comprehensive SDG literacy assessment have found that baseline measurements provide essential data for curriculum improvement. For example, institutions conducting SDG literacy surveys have identified areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, using these insights to develop tailored strategies for curriculum development, extracurricular activities, and partnerships. This data-driven approach to SDG education enables institutions to continuously improve their efforts and ensure that SDG education reaches all students with appropriate depth and relevance.
Amrita’s commitment to meaningful SDG education across all students reflects international best practice principles identified in 2024 scholarship. Research demonstrates that effective institutional integration of SDG education requires: establishing overall strategic direction and graduate attributes aligned with sustainability, mapping the curriculum to identify strengths and gaps, conducting baseline surveys of staff and student sustainability literacy, developing interdisciplinary programs, upskilling and supporting academics in education for sustainable development, fostering genuine community engagement, and ensuring that institutional practice reflects stated commitments through comprehensive operational sustainability.
The university also recognizes that meaningful SDG education must be accessible and relevant to all students. Rather than relegating sustainability learning to specialized programs accessible only to students particularly interested in environmental topics, Amrita has made SDG literacy a fundamental component of every student’s educational experience. This inclusive approach ensures that future engineers, business leaders, social workers, healthcare professionals, and academics across all disciplines graduate with understanding of how their work connects to global sustainability challenges and with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to SDG achievement.
Amrita recognizes that achieving the SDGs requires collaboration across multiple sectors and with diverse stakeholders. The university has developed extensive partnerships with government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and communities to provide students with authentic opportunities to engage with complex sustainability challenges. The university’s participation in the multi-country “SDG Global Conversation” hosted by Indiana University Indianapolis in November 2024 exemplified Amrita’s commitment to international collaboration and knowledge-sharing around community-engaged approaches to sustainable development.
Amrita showcased its groundbreaking initiatives and transformative progress in sustainability at the prestigious Times Higher Education’s Global Sustainable Development Congress (GSDC) 2024 held in Bangkok from June 13-15, 2024. Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh, Provost of Amrita, highlighted the institution’s comprehensive framework and shared compelling case studies exemplifying the university’s strides toward becoming a global leader in sustainability efforts. She emphasized that “At Amrita, our commitment to sustainability is woven into the fabric of our institution. We aim not only to educate but also to actively engage in projects that address real-world challenges, fostering sustainable development on a global scale.”
The university has also partnered with nearly 290 funded projects, 23 in-house projects, and nearly 100 student projects focused on advancing SDG 4 (Quality Education) and related goals. These partnerships and projects provide students with authentic, meaningful contexts in which to apply their SDG knowledge and develop practical competencies for contributing to sustainable development.
Recognizing that meaningful student learning requires capable and committed educators, Amrita has made faculty development a central priority within its SDG education commitment. The university provides professional development opportunities designed to enhance faculty members’ understanding of SDG frameworks, their ability to integrate SDG content into diverse disciplinary contexts, and their pedagogical approaches to foster genuine critical engagement with sustainability.
Research from 2024 demonstrates that faculty professional development programs significantly enhance educators’ knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in teaching sustainability. Programs that combine content knowledge with pedagogical innovation prove most effective in supporting faculty to transform their courses and engage students meaningfully with sustainability challenges. Amrita’s investment in this faculty development infrastructure reflects a sophisticated understanding that transforming student learning requires transformed teaching practices and ongoing professional growth among educators.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has established itself as a leader in meaningful education around the Sustainable Development Goals through a comprehensive, multifaceted institutional commitment that integrates SDG education throughout the student experience. From mandatory sustainability courses embedded in every disciplinary program, to specialized academic pathways through the School for Sustainable Futures, to transformative experiential learning through Live-in-Labs®, the university has created multiple powerful opportunities for students to develop SDG literacy, competencies, and agency.
This commitment is neither superficial nor peripheral to the university’s educational mission; rather, it represents a fundamental reorientation of how Amrita conceives of excellent education. By ensuring that all students graduate with understanding of the SDGs, with practical skills for contributing to sustainable development, and with a sense of responsibility toward vulnerable and marginalized populations, Amrita is preparing graduates who will emerge as leaders in the global movement toward a sustainable, equitable, and just future.
The international recognition received by Amrita’s SDG education initiatives—including the Times Higher Education Asia Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership and the International Green Gown Award 2024—validates the effectiveness of this approach. Yet the most profound measure of success lies in the 400,000+ sustainability champions who have graduated from Amrita and in the one million beneficiaries who have been engaged through Live-in-Labs® and related initiatives. Amrita is also the only university in India to feature in the Top 100 Global Impact Rankings for Sustainable Development Goals, demonstrating the transformative power of commitment to excellence in SDG education. These numbers represent not merely institutional achievements, but transformed lives and communities moving toward sustainable development.
As the world faces accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, and widening inequality, Amrita’s commitment to meaningful SDG education for all students represents an essential contribution to building the knowledge, skills, and ethical orientation necessary for humanity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. By making SDG education central to undergraduate and graduate education across all disciplines, Amrita exemplifies how universities can fulfill their vital role as institutions of learning and service in the twenty-first century.