Abstract:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are one of the most recognized initiatives by all levels of society. It is a call to action to each and every one of the inhabitants of planet Earth, and has the support of the governments of all the signatory countries of the agreement encompassed in the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations (UN). Its main objective, through 17 specific objectives, is the achievement of a more sustainable, fair, equitable, and friendly world for its inhabitants in balance with its environment.

One of the social groups with the greatest potential in the development of these SDGs is that of young university students, both because of their corporate group impact on their personal and social facet, and because of their imminent arrival in the world of work where the actions derived from their professional life they can trigger a high impact on the sustainability of the environment and on the achievement of the SDGs in general.

Although every person can, in their day to day, consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, be collaborating with the achievement of the SDGs, it seems evident that the knowledge of each person about the SDGs is key to a higher level of achievement. Within the university environment, directly and indirectly, consciously and unconsciously, students constantly receive inputs regarding the SDGs, so it is not always easy to know what the real knowledge that students have about the SDGs, even if they are directly asked about it. In this study, a group of university students have been asked to answer a series of specific questions about certain SDGs, and at the same time they have been asked to indicate their level of general and global knowledge about the SDGs. Weighting the answers obtained on the specific details of certain SDGs and comparing this weighted result with the general perception of the students, it has been verified that the general perception that the students have about their own knowledge of the SDGs does not always coincide with reality.

With these results, it is concluded that any initiative with the aim of making students aware of what their real knowledge about the SDGs is, is key as a prior step to taking actions to increase the awareness and involvement of these students in achieving the SDGs.

Keywords:

SDG´s, Sustainable Development Goals, University Students, Engineering Students, Awareness, Perception, Agenda 2030, Real knowledge.