Education for the SDGs

McMaster University produces educational programs around the SDGs available to a range of audiences across the university as well as learning opportunities that are relevant and applicable to the student population.  

Academic Sustainability Programs Office

McMaster University provides all our students with the opportunity to take part in interdisciplinary, student-led, community-based, experiential learning focused on sustainability and the SDGs. The Academic Sustainability Programs Office is the central resource for many of these innovative programs offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. More than 70 courses from faculties across campus are offered as part of McMaster’s Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability. The Sustainable Future Program features a suite of undergraduate courses; the student-led projects outlined in the program’s annual report — which tackle everything from waste management practices to promoting a bike buddy program — are tagged with the SDGs they connect with the most. 

Programs provided by the Academic Sustainability Programs Office: 

Sustainable Future Program (SUSTAIN): McMaster’s Sustainable Futures Program is a suite of eight undergraduate courses focused on sustainability, open to students from all faculties. These courses engage students in meaningful, experiential research and foster opportunities to place local action within a global context. More than 800 students from all faculties have enrolled in this program to date. The three newest courses offered include: Advocating for Sustainability, Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals, and Intersectionality and Sustainable Development.

Students are encouraged to think up these bold ideas and are taught how to put them into action through a McMaster SUSTAIN course exploring the SDGs. For instance, a cohort of students brought a community fridge to McMaster’s campus after pitching the idea to a panel of university decision-makers. Making food available to peers experiencing food insecurity was identified by the students as advancing SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger) and 3 (Good Health and Well-being).

The Sustainability Internship Program: Undergraduate students develop and implement a real-world sustainability project and receive course credit from their home faculty upon successful completion. 

Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability: Students choose from a list of sustainability courses from faculties across campus and tailor a minor to complement their undergraduate degree and education. 

Graduate/Undergraduate Collaboration in Experiential Learning: Graduate students work in collaboration with undergraduates to develop and implement a real-world sustainability project and receive academic recognition upon successful completion. 

Community Engagement: An opportunity for enrolled students to work with members of the McMaster and broader communities to tackle a real-world sustainability project. 

Business school offers sustainability courses

McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business offers courses related to sustainability that include the MBA course Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility and the undergraduate finance course Sustainable and Social Finance. 

McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars Program

The McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars Program demonstrates McMaster University’s commitment to educating and inspiring students to focus on creating sustainable change in the world. The program offers a made-at-McMaster innovation on the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Scholars Program. 

While a number of programs internationally focus only on engineering-specific goals, the McMaster version has students look for problems that address the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from eradicating poverty to working on climate action to improving water quality to advancing health and well-being. While hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, students from all faculties can participate in the McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars Program. 

McMaster’s Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition

The Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University is home to the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition. 

The Master of Arts in Globalization is a unique interdisciplinary program that provides students with the opportunity to think creatively and critically about cultural, political, social, and economic globalizing processes and their effects on the human condition. It is designed to provide students with transferable skills to pursue careers in global corporations, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. 

The Interdisciplinary Minor in Globalization Studies gives students the opportunity to explore the complex idea of globalization from a multidisciplinary perspective, through courses in the Faculties of Social Sciences, Humanities, Health Sciences, and Science. 

Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships

The McMaster Health Forum is a recipient of one of 20 Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship programs, which run from 2018 to 2021. The award gives talented students in the Commonwealth the opportunity to gain a master’s degree while developing new skills, experiencing life in another country, and building their global networks. 

Queen Elizabeth Scholars are committed to creating change in their communities and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The scholarships are fully funded and supported by numerous Commonwealth governments. 

Master of Science in Global Health

The Master of Science in Global Health program is a transdisciplinary program offered by McMaster University’s Global Health Office (GHO), which prepares graduates for careers in a globalized world. Together with our growing network of global partner institutions, we are working in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

For example, the summer term of the program culminates in an international symposium in Manipal, India, which gives students the opportunity to tackle the SDGs. 

Over the past 10 years, the GHO formed many partnerships with institutions and governments in developing countries — for example, advancing the education of women health professionals in Pakistan, improving the health of vulnerable people in Indonesia, and working to improve access to higher education in underserved communities in the High North regions of Canada and Norway. 

A new doctoral program in global health

In October 2019, McMaster University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Maastricht University toward the establishment of a new doctoral program in global health with a cotutelle agreement, highlighting our continued commitment to SDG 17. 

Since launching in 2010, McMaster’s award-winning Master of Science in Global Health program has seen enrolment triple and institutional partnerships expand to include seven universities across six continents. Together, these partners form a higher education consortium working in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Helping to build the first medical school in Namibia

A team of faculty members from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University are lending their expertise at the University of Namibia School of Medicine, where they serve as guest instructors and have helped develop the curriculum for the school, as part of McMaster’s commitment to advancing health and well-being in Africa. 

International health collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda

Through McMaster University’s Department of Medicine International Health Program, residents work with Makerere University in Uganda to aid in the care of vulnerable populations, provide access to training in clinical research, and develop research collaborations. 

McMaster Global

McMaster Global is an annual university-wide showcase of global engagement activities that support the university’s commitment to globalization. A wide range of free activities, events, and workshops are on offer during the two-week event. The events are searchable and categorized by the SDGs which they reflect, helping to foster awareness about the UN SDG goals throughout the university community.  

McMaster Health Forum

The McMaster Health Forum has trained 2,000 health- and social-system leaders, researchers, students and citizens around the world to strengthen health and social systems based on best-available evidence through its free, searchable databases. Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence are the most comprehensive access points for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders seeking evidence on a wide range of issues, underpinned by the SDGs. 

The sites are accessed by 13,500 registered users globally. The resource is also used across the university community to support education around the SDGs — contributing content to the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, featured in an undergraduate Bachelor of Health Sciences course, and used as part of our Queen Elizabeth Scholarships in Strengthening Health and Social Systems. 

Additionally, the development and ongoing maintenance of the database presents unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate research assistants working at the McMaster Health Forum’s Impact Lab to develop and refine their skills in policy analysis and evidence synthesis related to the SDGs. 

McMaster Health Forum’s 10-year anniversary report. 

Raising awareness of the SDGs and promoting leading research practices

McMaster‘s Global Health Office received funding in March 2020 from the Government of Canada for a communications initiative designed to raise awareness across the university about the SDGs and the various ways in which McMaster is committed to tackling these goals. 

The project involves creating a website focusing on McMaster’s SDG-related activities, including a “toolkit” component to promote leading practices for aligning research with the SDGs.  

U21 Rise competition

In January 2020, Lianna Genovese, a McMaster University biomedical and mechanical engineering student, won a Universitas 21 RISE Award for her project, Guided Hands, a device that allows people with limited hand mobility to write, paint, and use a tablet. 

RISE (“Real Impact on Society and Environment”) is U21’s newest student opportunity, which showcases student-led projects based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. McMaster encourages students to participate and provides advice through the Global Health Office. 

McMaster student represents Canada at Commonwealth Futures program

In December 2019, Ahmednur Ali, a research assistant at McMaster Health Forum’s Impact Lab, attended the three-day symposium, Commonwealth Futures: Youth Perspectives, as the Canadian delegate. “Having come to Canada as a refugee from Somalia, I jumped at the chance to attend this unique opportunity to meet with other young, driven, future leaders from across the world,” says Ali, who is pursing a PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University. 

Outdoor Leadership Living Learning Community

In residence at McMaster University, students can apply to be part of our Outdoor Leadership Living Learning Community, where they learn about local and global sustainability goals. As part of this experience, students meet McMaster faculty and staff members in a variety of disciplines and discuss sustainability and outdoor education within McMaster’s natural surroundings. 

Students also have the opportunity to understand local and global sustainability and conservation issues, and explore career options related to conservation, sustainability, and outdoor leadership education. Established in 2017, Outdoor Leadership has had more than 200 students participate to date. 

Student podcast series with a focus on the SDGs

McMaster University Global Health student Shania Bhopa has launched a new student-led podcast series, The Global Health Collective—With a Local Edge in November 2020. 

With a focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the first season, the podcast is hosted by Bhopa and supported by McMaster’s Master of Science in Global Health program. 

Like the graduate Global Health program, the podcast aims to highlight the transdisciplinary nature of global health and the importance of collaboration in tackling the biggest challenges facing our communities and our planet. 

Global Health Annual Review published by McMaster University’s Global Health Office

The Global Health Annual Review is an open-access, student-run journal that showcases global health scholarship influenced by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The journal encourages students, alumni, and faculty to submit research that targets the SDGs, which is then shared with the community. From water and sanitation in Ghana to Canada’s COVID-19 response in marginalized communities, the articles demonstrate the diversity of global health research. 

UN SDG Awareness Week

McMaster University’s Global Health Office and our Master of Science in Global Health program spearhead partnerships and initiatives that prioritize our commitment to targeting the SDGs. 

As an active member of the Universitas 21 Health Sciences Group’s UN Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, McMaster University connects with member universities globally to share knowledge and best practices on the SDGs and encourage student-led activities such as the UN SDG Awareness Week. 

Chanchlani Global Health Research Award and Lecture

Each year, McMaster University’s Global Health Office hosts the Chanchlani Global Health Research Award and Lecture, which was created in 2012 to recognize leading scholars in the area of global health. In 2018, Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones delivered a lecture that explored the ways in which racism contributes to health disparities, targeting SDGs 3 and 10.