Abstract:

The 2030 Agenda aims to set the world and its societies on a path for a better future by 2030, defining 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, and their 169 targets. The SDGs are a set of priorities that address humanity's most pressing challenges, including eradicating poverty and hunger, protecting the planet from environmental degradation, ensuring inclusive, equitable and quality education, ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages, ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls worldwide, reducing inequality within and between countries, promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, and promoting peace and good governance for all peoples, among others.

In the case of universities, the role as agents of change is evident, based on their three basic functions par excellence: training, research and knowledge transfer. The Universitat Politècnica de València is committed to training so that students, as they are trained in their respective specific and transversal competences, internalise the need to comply with the goals that enable the evaluation of the fulfilment of the SDGs. This work is carried out through the different activities of active methodologies applied by the teaching staff, as well as in a final assessment of the degree of compliance with SDGs in their respective final degree and master's projects.

However, education extends beyond academia, and as students transition into the professional world, business education is critical for the achievement of several of these SDGs. Some of the ways that companies can contribute are through training for equality (SDG5), quality education through training and employee development programmes (SDG4), decent work and economic growth through skills enhancement (SDG8) as well as reducing inequalities (SDG10).

Based on this context, this research defines the SDGs implementation programme in the mechanical engineering degree at the Escuela Politècnica Superior de Alcoy of the Universitat Politècnica de València and provides an overview of the SDGs implementation programme. Moreover, it offers an analysis of SDG4 and SDG5 within companies specialised in hydraulic engineering.

To do so, the methodology used is based on active methodological approaches that help students to tackle case studies by working in teams and/or individually, and undertake resolutions to the problems posed. Thus, they should seek for a technical solution while ensuring the most sustainable solution within their engineering competences. The educational programme also covers the final degree project, during which students have a dedicated section to reason and justify their contribution to the SDGs, reinforcing the importance of sustainability.

The main findings show that introducing and incorporating the work and evaluation of the SDGs into the curriculum of the mechanical engineering degree has enhanced students awareness of the imperative need to address solutions that are not only economically viable and technically efficient but also sustainable with the development of society in the economic, environmental, and social fields.

Keywords:

SDGs, companies, universities.