Education for the SDGs: Building Sustainability Literacy

Villa College views the integration of sustainability education as a fundamental and institutional commitment, moving beyond simply offering specific courses.

Integrating Sustainability through a Connected Curriculum Framework

Villa College has institutionalized its commitment to sustainability education through the adoption of the Connected Curriculum Framework (CCF) in 2024, aligning this effort closely with the College’s Strategic Plan 2023-2027 and the principles of SDG 4.7. The CCF serves as the definitive institutional approach to teaching and learning, built on nine core dimensions of good practice for programme design. Critically, Sustainability is the first and foundational dimension of this framework, mandating that all curricula integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and require students to engage in action-oriented, problem-based learning connected to sustainable development practices within the wider community.

Full Curriculum Mapping and Institutional Commitment: To ensure institution-wide compliance, a comprehensive curriculum mapping process was executed in 2024. This established that 100% of all 218 academic programmes are explicitly mapped to the SDGs (full curriculum), confirming that sustainability is fully integrated across the entire university. Key alignments beyond the universal SDG 4 (Quality Education) include SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Two-Phased Curricular Integration: The CCF implements sustainability education through a two-phased approach to guarantee all students, regardless of their major, achieve fundamental sustainability literacy:

Sustainability Course Mapping

1. Core College-wide Sustainability Modules (Mandatory Integration):

Since 2023, Villa College has required all undergraduate students to complete a compulsory module on sustainability. This module provides a thorough exploration of global and local sustainability practices, with a critical focus on the unique challenges and solutions pertinent to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like the Maldives. Key topics covered include:

Climate Resilience and Climate Change
Renewable Energy
Sustainable Economic Development and the Blue Economy

2. Program-Specific Integration (Disciplinary Depth):

In addition to the core module, faculties embed relevant SDG themes directly within their existing disciplinary content, ensuring students gain practical, sector-specific application knowledge:

Business and IT Programmes: Align with SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production) by exploring innovation, digital entrepreneurship, sustainable business models, ethical tech systems, and responsible production and consumption.

Psychology Programmes: Support SDG 3 (Good Health & Well-Being) by incorporating mental health promotion, emotional intelligence, and neurodiversity awareness. Practical application is reinforced through community events like 'Eventful Evening' and guest talks.

Law and Shariah Programmes: Connect to SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions) through modules focusing on human rights, legal aid access, justice reform, equity in legal systems, and Shariah responses to poverty and marginalization.

Nursing and Health Sciences Programmes: Advance SDG 3 (Good Health & Well-Being) and SDG 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation) via integrated community outreach, preventive health education, and first aid training, often involving island-based health camps and collaborations with VCare.

Education Programmes: Support SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality) by focusing on inclusive teaching, gender-responsive pedagogy, and lifelong learning, with students creating context-sensitive lesson plans and participating in inclusive classroom simulations.

Hospitality and Tourism Programmes: Align with SDG 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) by promoting sustainable tourism, eco-friendly resort operations, and community-based tourism models, often utilizing collaborative field visits and resort audits.

Engineering Programmes: Emphasize SDG 7 (Affordable & Clean Energy) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) through sustainable design, renewable energy systems, energy-efficient technologies, and infrastructure development. Students engage in hands-on projects, such as building solar-powered systems, alongside engineering ethics modules addressing environmental and societal impact.

Community Engagement and Problem-Based Learning:

Villa College continues to emphasize real-world relevance through the widespread adoption of community-based learning (CBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogies. These efforts ensure that student learning is contextual, participatory, and situated in community problem-solving—hallmarks of a truly meaningful education.

FHS Community Outreach Projects: Nursing students, in collaboration with VCare, demonstrated a direct commitment to public health by leading community health outreach activities in Ga. Villingili. They delivered critical health screening services, including BMI, blood sugar, and reproductive health information, to over 180 community members. These service-learning experiences provide students with a deep understanding of health equity and active citizenship, directly advancing SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being).

Faculty of Law Projects: Students volunteered in legal aid clinics and participated in specialized training sessions alongside prominent NGOs, including PILC, Transparency Maldives, and Migrants Matter. This hands-on involvement promotes justice, inclusion, and access to legal services, strongly supporting the objectives of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions).

Psychology Exhibition 2024: Students organized an interactive public event that showcased interactive stalls on memory, perception, and emotion. This initiative was specifically aimed at improving public mental health awareness and linking academic learning directly with community impact and well-being.

Engineering Sustainability Projects: Engineering programmes feature robust sustainability projects related to energy efficiency, smart design, and climate adaptation. These culminating project exhibitions were opened to the public, relevant governmental bodies, and NGOs, providing a vital platform for students to present and validate their sustainable solutions with external stakeholders.

3S Water Project by Public Health Students: The Institute for Research and Innovation hosted a high-level seminar on sustainable water resource management in island contexts. This event featured crucial research led by Master of Public Health (MPH) students on integrated water and marine systems in the Maldives, highlighting the role of student research in informing national policy and practice.

Inclusion in Teaching and Learning across Disciplines: Villa College embraces inclusivity as a core principle of its educational philosophy, striving to ensure equal access, participation, and success for all learners, regardless of background, ability, gender, or socioeconomic status. This commitment is articulated in the College's 'policy on equality, diversity and inclusivity' and is deeply aligned with SDG 4 (Quality Education) (specifically targets 4.5 on eliminating gender disparities and 4.7 for education for sustainable development) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

The College implements this commitment through several key inclusive practices:

Flexible Entry Pathways: To support lifelong learning (SDG 4.3), the College offers multiple entry routes, including the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), foundation programmes, and the acceptance of alternative qualifications.

Diverse Learning Modes: Education is made accessible to working adults, parents, and learners from remote islands through options for face-to-face, blended, and online learning, actively promoting equity in higher education.

Inclusive Pedagogies: Faculty members are routinely trained in sophisticated inclusive teaching strategies, such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), differentiated instruction, and culturally responsive pedagogy, ensuring they can effectively cater to diverse student learning needs.

Support for Students with Disabilities: The Student Support Services Unit provides learners with special needs essential accommodations, including extended time in assessments, learning aids, and personalized academic mentoring. The College's website further provides an Accessibility Tools and Resources section offering specialized software, adaptive technologies, and guidance to enhance the learning experience for all students.

Reasonable Adjustment (RA): A formalized Reasonable Adjustment (RA) process, detailed in the College’s 'procedure on assessment and learning,' allows for necessary modifications to assessment delivery for students with verified disabilities and long-term medical conditions. Accommodations include alternative examination venues, auxiliary aids, extended time, breaks, and assistive technology hardware and software.

Mental Health and Well-being Services: VCare provides comprehensive mental health and well-being services, offering culturally sensitive counselling and support to staff and students from diverse backgrounds.

Gender Inclusivity and Equity: Villa College actively promotes female participation in STEM and leadership roles and ensures that curricula across all programmes include gender perspectives, directly supporting SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

Civic and Community-Based Learning: By incorporating community engagement projects and service learning, programmes encourage students to understand and address real-world inequalities, particularly those related to health, education, and legal access (SDG 1, 3, 10, 16).

Affordability and Scholarships: The College offers various financial mechanisms—including scholarships, fee waivers, and flexible payment plans—to make education more financially accessible, contributing directly to SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 4.1 (free, equitable education).

Works of Specific Centres and Research Initiatives:

In 2024, Villa College significantly expanded its research and innovation ecosystem, utilizing specialized centers and targeted grant schemes to align scholarly and entrepreneurial activities directly with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Institute for Research and Innovation (IRI): The IRI served as a hub for SDG-focused research by hosting the second International Conference on Social Research and Innovation (ICSRI). This event received over 53 papers addressing critical SDG-related themes, including water sustainability and disability inclusion in tourism. The IRI also managed numerous other research projects linked explicitly with the SDGs throughout the year.

VC Research Grant Scheme 2024: This institutional funding initiative provided essential resources to faculty, funding nine research projects that were all fully aligned with SDG-related themes and meaningful educational outcomes, ensuring scholarly output contributes to national development goals.

Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED) and VIgnite Incubation Lab: These centres empower students and community innovators through comprehensive entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and support for start-up launches. These efforts align strongly with SDG 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), fostering a culture of sustainable economic development.

VCare Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre: VCare operates as both a community service provider and a vital training platform. Psychology and Counselling students utilize the center to conduct supervised therapy sessions, thereby promoting emotional well-being and mental health literacy within the community and supporting SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being).

The Future Governance Mission: This dedicated mission promotes the SDGs by empowering individuals and communities through experiential learning, policy training, and collaborative governance initiatives. It actively builds capacity in critical areas such as climate resilience (SDG 3 & 15), inclusive democracy (SDG 10 & 16), innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), quality education (SDG 4), and global partnerships (SDG 17).

Public Education through MOOCs and Open Access Initiatives:

Villa College has made significant efforts to democratize SDG-related knowledge, leveraging technology and open-access formats to expand meaningful learning opportunities beyond the formal student body. These outreach initiatives directly support lifelong learning and the dissemination goals of SDG 4.7.

MOOC on Introduction to Sustainability: Launched in 2024, a publicly available, MOOC-style course on "Introduction to Sustainability" provides free access to foundational concepts in sustainable development, climate literacy, and ethical citizenship. This resource ensures essential sustainability knowledge is available to the wider Maldivian community.

Digital Literacy MOOCs: To support widespread digital competency, the College offers free, MOOC-style courses on "Fundamentals of Online Learning and Teaching" and "Basics of LMS (Moodle)" to the public.

Public Health and Well-being Education: Health and Psychology faculties actively reinforce the College’s public education mission by conducting open webinars and awareness campaigns during national events. This includes specialized public health webinars and exhibitions aimed at improving community well-being and mental health literacy.

Open Access Research: The College maintains open access policies for its academic journal, the International Journal of Social Research and Innovation (IJSRI), ensuring research findings—many of which are SDG-focused—are freely available to researchers, policymakers, and the general public.

The year 2024 marked a pivotal moment in Villa College’s commitment to embedding sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the foundational principle of its education system. This chapter demonstrates the College’s successful transition from ad-hoc integration to a systematic, institution-wide approach driven by the Connected Curriculum Framework (CCF). By mandating that 100% of all 206 academic programmes are mapped to the SDGs, the College has ensured that every student, regardless of their major, is equipped with the critical knowledge needed to address the challenges specific to the Maldives, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS).

Beyond curricular integration, the College reinforced its role as a key contributor to national human capital development through inclusive learning practices and robust community engagement. Initiatives like the widespread adoption of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), extensive community health outreach, and legal aid clinics have provided students with invaluable, real-world experience, translating academic theory into practical, impactful service. Furthermore, the expansion of MOOCs and open-access resources—including free digital literacy and sustainability courses—has democratized access to vital knowledge, extending the College's educational mission to the wider public and fostering a culture of lifelong learning across the nation.

Collectively, these efforts underscore Villa College’s dedication to fulfilling the mandate of SDG 4 (Quality Education), creating graduates who are not only professionally competent but also socially conscious, ethically responsible, and fully prepared to act as agents of sustainable change in the Maldives.