SDG Impact Rankings 2021: Congratulations Arizona State and IUPUI!

Collaboratory is proud to announce that two of its members, Arizona State University and IUPUI, have ranked in the top two spots nationally for the Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings.

The Impact Rankings capture universities’ impact on society based on institutions’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.  The Impact Rankings explore the impact that a university can make, specifically by looking at themes of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 2021 Impact Rankings represent the third edition and the overall ranking includes 1,115 universities from 94 countries/regions.  

SDGs and Higher Education Community Engagement

Higher education is uniquely positioned to respond to the SDGs, particularly through the work faculty, staff, and students conduct alongside community partners to address pressing needs and respond to evolving challenges.  By understanding community-university partnerships in the context of the SDGs, institutions can respond at the local level with clear evidence of how their existing work already supports the 17 global goals. 

For the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, institutions across the globe submit data on as many SDGs as they are able.  Any institution that provides data on SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) and at least three other SDGs is included in the overall ranking.  Each SDG has a series of metrics that are used to evaluate the performance of the institution on that SDG, through balanced comparisons across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

In support of their applications, Arizona State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis leveraged Collaboratory data to illustrate how their campus-community partnerships are addressing the SDGs.  Learn more about Arizona State’s and IUPUI’s efforts toward the SDGs.