Implementing un Sustainability Development Goals through Engagement within University Communities of Practice

In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) which are interpreted as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. For the university sector, including other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), there is an increasing expectation to implement the UN SDGs, not only into wider operations, but also specifically into course delivery. By widening participation through improved societal and community engagement it is argued that the role of the university will have greater impact in how sustainable knowledge is produced for and with society (Gibbons et al 1994). Achieving sustainability as a goal requires us to consider how we improve collaborative engagements with various stakeholders (Bartunek 2011, Van de Ven 2007) and within communities of practice (CoP). Changing university activities to achieve this is an inherently complex activity. To effectively do so universities must engage purposefully, to a far greater extent than ever before, with a complex array of communities and their input and co-operation (Wenger-Traynor 2020) is needed to integrate the SDGs into everyday activities. This paper introduces a knowledge management (KM) approach for improving sustainable engagement with a specific focus on increasing engagement with and within student engineering communities of practice. We consider how the significant pivotal change from dominant classroom delivery to a new normal of virtual delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic will impact on collaborative engagements within a CoP of engineering students and staff. As a way forward principles for maintaining student engagement, while meeting the UN SDGs, are outlined. We identify, in the principles, some organisational characteristics and attributes that inform pedagogy to be considered when designing KM processes and systems for sustainable student engagement. We conclude that in order to successfully support the CoPs the university will need to allocate resources to facilitate building a holistic picture of the university's knowledge ecosystem and address any contradictions identified. The university will also have to encourage the mutual development of interrelated CoPs and provide university support to develop share practices for effective CoP networking. Exposing staff-student communities to broader curricula will also help to exploit existing hidden social networks within the university and support integrating the UN SDGs into the university's operations and course delivery.