Abstract:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established in 2015 as part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure worldwide environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Since then, Higher Education has been playing a central role in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda by providing reliable knowledge, comprehensive skills, and research credentials.

Being aware of this responsibility, in 2015, the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) made its first declaration of intent to commit to sustainability and contribute to addressing the growing environmental problems as part of the UPV Strategic Plan 2015-2020.

The School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII) at UPV has initiated the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into its 13 degree programs as part of its Educational Improvement program. Additionally, an Institutional Commission has been established to assess contributions to the 2030 Agenda and foster interdisciplinary approaches to the SDGs by creating meaningful connections between education, best practices, and research.

Consequently, in 2022, a baseline data analysis was conducted among students in the Engineering School to assess the level of awareness achieved regarding Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. The results of the questionnaire surveys submitted to the ETSII students’ community showed that 30% of them agreed that the SDGs were important for their daily life, while 75% were convinced of their importance for their professional career.

Thereafter, the ETSII has continued to set out sustainable strategies, and SDGs have been integrated into the Study Plans of as many ETSII Degrees as possible and into the syllabus of the different courses by means of cross-functional actions, workshops, and lectures. Best practices have been specifically implemented to train the next generation of Engineering Professionals to commit to the SDGs, capable of comprehensively incorporating habits, behaviors, and decisions into their professional, personal, and social lives, with a positive impact on the sustainable development of society.

In this context, the present research study assesses the growth in awareness among students at the School of Industrial Engineering since the first implementation of these sensitization actions until now. To achieve that, a new questionnaire survey has been proposed to students from Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the Engineering School to measure the current state of their knowledge about the SDGs. A comparative analysis of the results achieved from the 2022 and 2025 questionnaire surveys was conducted to understand the evolution of students’ awareness and the adoption of sustainable development behaviors in their daily lives. Moreover, students’ perception of the current level of SDG integration across subjects in ETSII-UPV’s Official Degrees has been assessed to identify weaknesses, threats, strengths, and opportunities (SWOT). Furthermore, the still existing gaps in SDG application and comprehension have been addressed in order to validate the ongoing actions and envision novel pathways for promoting sustainable transitions among future student generations.

Keywords:

2030 Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, Higher Education, Engineering School, Students, Surveys.