Raising awareness campaign on the SDGs

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) 

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) implemented a series of high-level academic engagements and seminars throughout 2025. NKUA contributed to the SDG4U campaign through a structured set of educational, research, and dissemination activities. These actions emphasized interdisciplinary dialogue, awareness-raising on sustainable development, and integration of SDG-related themes into academic and public events. Key activities included: 

1. Online Seminar as part of the European Sustainable Development Week 2025 (September 25–26 & 29, 2025)  

1. Participation in the organisation of The Ninth Sustainability Summit for SE Europe & the Mediterranean (October 3, 2025).  

1. Seeking a new balance amidst a derailed green transition  

1. (June 10, 2025). Scientific Event as part of the European Sustainable Development Week 2025.  

1. Co-organization of the event Sustainable Development and Democracy (November 21, 2025)  

1. Co-organization of the educational webinar Art and Sustainable Development (December 19, 2025), focusing on the integration of ESG principles and democratic governance into the sustainability discourse. The activities engaged diverse audiences and supported the broader objective of embedding sustainability principles within higher education and research practices. 

Overall, emphasis was placed on the economic and social SDGs as well on addressing all SDGs in a holistic way.  

 

Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences 

Panteion University’s activities under the SDG4U campaign focused on the intersection of social, political, and policy-oriented dimensions of sustainable development and education. Through seminars, public discussions, and educational initiatives, the university highlighted the societal implications of the SDGs and encouraged critical reflection among students and stakeholders. The university organized: 

1. Major Train the Trainers seminar (May 30, 2025)  

1. Online Seminars as part of the European Sustainable Development Week 2024 (October 7–8, 2024 & Sep 25-26, 2025 & Sep 29, 2025 & Oct 6, 2025)  

1. Event Sustainable Development and Democracy (November 21, 2025).  

1. Additionally, the university held the webinar Art and Sustainable Development (December 19, 2025).  

These actions supported informed engagement with sustainability challenges from a social sciences perspective, but also these activities served to highlight the critical interconnections between institutional frameworks and the social dimensions of the SDGs, with a focus on the socially-related SDGs. 

 

University College Cork (UCC) 

University College Cork (UCC) conducted an extensive campaign featuring diverse engagement formats throughout 2025. UCC participated in the SDG4U campaign through targeted events and outreach activities that reinforced its strong institutional profile in sustainability and SDG implementation. The actions supported knowledge exchange, student engagement, and public awareness, contributing to the project’s objectives of strengthening SDG-oriented practices across European higher education institutions. Notable initiatives included: 

1. Higher Education Authority (Ireland) ESD Webinar Series [07.03.2025] UCC Presentation to HEA’s (Ireland) ongoing seminar series regarding education for sustainable development (ESD) within HEIs on the island of Ireland (Republic & NI). The third section of UCC’s presentation showcased the development of the university’s SDG Toolkit and also disseminated the SDG4U Mapping Tool to the audience. https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/esd-spotlight-series/esd-spotlight-recordings/#UCC https://www.sdg4uproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SDG4U_NL2.pdf  SDG:4       150 attendees 

1. Green Week [31.03.2025-03.04.2025] Annual Programme of engagement events led by the student body with the university’s support. Variety of events directly concerend with climate action (COP28 Reflections) and biodiversity (guided nature walks) to social justice awareness and inter-university colloboration via the UNIC network of universities in postindustrial cities across Europe.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/sustainability-climate-action/news/green-week-2025-.html https://www.ucc.ie/en/unic/news/unic-sustainability-week-2025-unic-student-board-explore-sustainability-leadership-at-ucc.html  SDGs: All 200 attendees 

1. Digital Clean Up Day     [09.04.2025] First iteration of UCC’s Digital Clean Up Day. This is an awareness campaign that aims to promote one of the unievrsity’s core values, sustainability, by clearing up space on our servers and cloud storage. By reducing our energy demand for the cloud we reduce our insitution’s crbon footprint. Practical sessions and workshops informed the unievrsity community how to reach “Inbox Zero” and a guide to undertaking a Digital Declutter.  The initiative includes a call to action for people in teh university to pledge hours to declutter their digital environment.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/sustainability-climate-action/news/uccs-first-digital-cleanup-day.html SDG:13 1000 attendees 

1. Mock COP (03.11.25) In advance of COP30, taking place in Belém, Brazil, in mid-November, UCC organised a mock COP in UCC on Monday, Nov 3rd. The role-play activity simulates the international climate negotiations. Students and staff were invited to attend and participate.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/sustainability-climate-action/news/ucc-hosts-mock-cop30-students-and-staff-tackle-global-climate-negotiations-.html  SDG13 35 attendees 

1. Arts and Sustainability Event (08.12.25) Mapping Climate Change unites for the first time two innovative textile art projects from the US and Ireland that give visual and tangible presence to our warming world at a crucial moment of environmental precarity. https://www.ucc.ie/en/sustainability-climate-action/news/mapping-climate-change—free-exhibition-.html  SDG13 150 attendees 

1. Climate Action Week (13/10/25) Our annual event is dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action on climate change.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/sustainability-climate-action/news/schedule-for-climate-action-week-2025.html SDGs:All 500 attendees 

The UCC emphasized on policy and climate-related SDGs. 

 

University of Murcia (UMU) 

The University of Murcia (UMU) executed a robust local campaign characterized by environmental action and cultural integration. UMU implemented SDG4U-related activities that emphasized sustainability, education, and community engagement. The initiatives included academic events and dissemination actions designed to foster awareness of the SDGs and promote best practices in sustainable development within and beyond the university. These contributions aligned with UMU’s strategic focus on sustainability and inclusive education. Key events included: 

1. the Campus Cleanup Day (February 28, 2025);  

1. the Opening Ceremony for the SDG 15 Program (April 1, 2025); 

1. and a Visit to Sierra Espuña (April 30, 2025); 

1. Organized the activity SDG 17 in Action: Building Partnerships through Clothing Exchange (November 20–21, 2025); 

1. Organised the conference The Future After Agenda 2030 (November 21, 2025);  

1. Concert Alliances in Music for a Sustainable Future (November 25, 2025).  

1. Event with high school students (09/05/2025); 

1. CSR night organised by UMU university (11/06/2025); 

1. Fan Futura Fest (24-25/07/2025); 

1. 8th International Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning (Helsinki) (July 2025); 

1. Workshop “Intergenerational connections: young people, mentors, and the value of exchange.” 6/10/2025; 

1. Conference: “Protecting victims of gender-based violence” (16/10/2025); 

1. Round table “Weaving the Future: Protection, Justice, and Dignity for Migrants“, Conference: “Bombings in Murcia during the Civil War” (21/10/2025); 

1. Presentation at the 28th Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2025), Title of the communication: “No One Future Through Higher Education” (29/10/2025) 

1. Conference, New alliances to finance development cooperation (11/11/2025); 

1. Conference, Are we heading towards a world without rights? (18/11/2025);  

1. SDG 17 in action: Building partnerships between universities, secondary schools, and society through a clothing exchange (20-21/11/2025); 

1. Conference, The future after Agenda 2030 (21/11/2025)  

1. Concert. Alliances in music for a sustainable future (25/11/2025).  

Some publications have resulted from the UMU. Emphasis has been placed on policy related SDGs, on SDG 4, SDG 17 and on addressing all SDGs.  

The American College of Greece Research Centre (ACGRC) 

The American College of Greece combined scientific exploration with pedagogical training to promote the SDGs. ACG implemented a series of academic and outreach activities within the SDG4U campaign, focusing on the promotion of sustainability, scientific engagement, and awareness of the 17 SDGs. These activities included science events open to the public and students, participation in international scientific forums, and dissemination actions aligned with the project’s thematic priorities. The initiatives targeted students, academic staff, and the wider community, reinforcing the institution’s strong commitment to SDG-oriented education and societal impact.  

1. The start of the campaign   for the ACGRC was the Deree Science Day that took place on March 15, 2025. This was a big Event open to the public and addressed to scientists, university communities as well as families. It included Activities for families and kids, lab experiments, a series of scientific workshops and distinguished keynote speeches. It was initiated under the SDG4U project, it covered all SDGs with a small emphasis on the natural science-related SDGs and attracted 380 participants. 22 Faculty members and 51 student volunteers collaborated to materialise the Event. (Annex 6).  

1. ACG participated in the Research Expedition of CLIMPACT II, (April 1-7, 2025) on exploring atmospheric parameters over the sea that took place on board while sailing on the Aegean Sea. Activities of the Campus as a Living Lab project on Ozone measurements took place.  

1. Participation in the BioMed-AI summer school in Lyon France (May 26-28, 2025).  

1. Co-organisation and participation with 10 Faculty members in the “Train the Trainer Seminar” organized by Panteion University (May 30, 2025).  

1. ACG and the Center of Excellence in Sustainability (CoES) co-organized the Event on the occasion of World Environment Day and the World Ocean Day (June, 2, 2025)  

1. Event on the occasion of World Ocean Day – Catalysing Action for our Ocean and Climate (June 11, 2025).  

1. A Keynote presentation was delivered at the 2nd SHIFT-HUB International Online Brokerage Event in Health Innovation (June 20, 2025).  

1. As part of the Campus as a Living Lab Project a presentation was delivered for the World Ozone Day (Sept 17, 2025).  

1. ACG participated in the European Week of Sustainable Development 2025 (Sep 25, 2025 & Oct 6, 2025),  

1. Participation in The Economist’s 9th Sustainability Summit for South-East Europe & the Mediterranean (Oct 13-14, 2025)  

1. Participation in the Smart Blue Innovation Labs Pitching, as part of Blue TRAIN Labs 2025 by Verimpact, at the 5th Meeting of the Greek Innovation Hub for the Protection of the Marine Environment (Dec 16, 2026).  

1. ACG collaborated with the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the Arts and Sustainability Event (December 19, 2025), with a presentation on the student-driven project ‘The cinematic journey of water’. 

1. ACG organised and hosted the SDG4U Erasmus+ Training Seminar on “Engaging SDGs for Transformative Education and Enhanced Sustainability in Universities” (Nov 19, 2025), bringing faculty, staff and students together to advance SDG-centered teaching and learning. This was the final big event of the SDG4U project for the ACG, was organized by the CoES with SDG4U project partners. The seminar featured dedicated sessions for faculty and students and was delivered with in person participation and through asynchronous ways in order to enable representation from all partners and increase the overall participation. Overall, xxx persons participated in person and xxxx persons worked asynchronously. 

In more detail, the Seminar was divided in 2 sessions: 

1. The Faculty Sessionstarted with a presentation on the 17 UNSDGs and on the SDG4U project and the respective mapping tool, offered by the project partners ACGRC and NKUA.   

This session was aimed at assisting university faculty to incorporate the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and sub-targets into current and new curricula. More specifically, the faculty were prompted to rethink and redesign a course on their expertise by incorporating SDG-related targets. The aim is to assist students understand the relevance of a specific piece of knowledge to their lives; develop awareness about how we get impacted by the issue discussed; trigger emotions and feelings of caring; develop skills for action and ultimately design a new lesson plan. 

1. TheStudent Training Sessionstarted with a presentation on the 17 UNSDGs as in the Faculty session. It was followed by presentations of six ‘Campus as a living lab projects’, which are undertaken by students, were offered as follow: 

3 projects from ACGRC 

3 projects from UMU. 

The session continued with a student HACKATHON on challenges related to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and sub-targets. Students worked in groups of 3-4 persons, and developed an idea based on one of the 26 Challenges related to the 17 UNSDGs. The ideas had to be integrative, innovative, multidisciplinary and realistic, to follow the 3 basic principles of sustainability (environment, society, economy) and incorporate SDG sub-targets. A Jury formed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solution Network (UNSDSN) Greece, will decide on the 3 winning ideas/teams. 

All guidelines, templates and the Hackathon challenges developed are included as Annex 7.  

1. ACG also highlighted academic contributions through the 9th Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium (May 22–23, 2025) 

1. Presentation of SDG4U results at the 10th World Sustainability Forum. A good number of scientific publications have resulted from the ACG activities. 

ACGRC Events have a slight focus on the science related SDGs (SDG3, SDG6, SDG13, SDG14, SDG15) while SDG4 on Quality Education was the main focus of the big training event, on November 19, 2025. All SDGs were addressed directly or indirectly in the Campaign processes.

 

Common Events and Consortium Activities 

In addition to institution-specific activities, the SDG4U partners in order to ensure the broad dissemination of project results and to foster international collaboration jointly organized common events that promoted collaboration, knowledge sharing, and alignment across the consortium. These activities served as platforms for cross-institutional exchange, dissemination of project objectives, and reinforcement of shared commitments to SDG 4 and related sustainability goals. The common events strengthened the coherence and collective impact of the SDG4U campaign.  

Major milestones for the collective campaign were the: 

1. Train the Trainers Seminar (May 30, 2026, Athens-Greece) with the participation of all partners. The Greek partners participated in person, all other partners joined online.  
2. Training Seminar of the SDG4U Erasmus+ Project on “Engaging SDGs for Transformative Education and Enhanced Sustainability in Universities,” (Nov. 19, 2025) which addressed faculty, staff and students across the partner network to harmonize the application of the SDG mapping tool. With the participation of all partners. The Greek partners participated in person, all other partners joined online. The option to work asynchronously was also offered. 
3. Online Seminars as part of the European Sustainable Development Week September 2025, Within the framework of the European Sustainable Development Week 2025, a series of online seminars were organized by the Laboratory of Sociology of Education and Culture of Panteion University, the Laboratory of Political Economy of Sustainable Development of NKUA, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Greece, and the European research project SDG4U, in collaboration with the Postgraduate Program “Philosophy and Management” of NKUA, the CoES of ACG, the Department of Sociology of NKUA, the Laboratory of Sustainable Development and Circular Economy of the University of Piraeus, the SDSN Youth Greece, the Hellenic Association of Political Scientists (HAPSc), and the Hellenic Association of University Women.
4. Arts and Sustainability Event co-organised between the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences and the American College of Greece.