The Universidad Europea has joined in on the global campaign by #COMPANIES4SDGs that aims to impart knowledge of Sustainable Development Goals among the university community. In addition to teaching students, faculty, alumni and employees about SDGs, the initiative aims to promote sustainable habits and corporate volunteering in order for the participants to become involved in contributing to the overall challenges posed by SDGs.
In 2015 the United Nations agreed its 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and 2016 saw the publication of 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the next 15 years. These focus on universal humanitarian achievements, such as the environment, social justice and the eradication of poverty with the support and involvement of governments, civil society, the private sector and the UN.
In 2017, the aim is to involve companies in achieving SDGs over a period of a year. To this end, starting with Volunteering and Strategy, and with the support of the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Pact, as well as with the backing of the IMPACT 2030 global initiative, #COMPANIES4SDGs has been launched to foster the carrying out of Corporate Volunteering activities in line with each month’s SDGs.
The campaign has so far succeeded in involving 26 companies from 20 countries, as well as raising awareness among 70,000 people. The Universidad Europea, together with companies such as Iberdrola, Telefónica, Samsung and Campofrío, among others, thus undertakes to promote sustainable habits within the university community, thereby allowing a contribution to be made through volunteering to the fulfillment of SDGs. At the end of the year, all results from the activities carried out by the employees of the participating companies and of the initiative as a whole will be presented as part of the UN’s IMPACT2030 Summit, to be held in New York in September 2018.