SDG Campus

Learning the Sustainable Development Goals through story, science, and everyday life.

The SDG Campus is a network of living laboratories stewarded by the Responsible Innovation Lab. Each site is a “world” where people can explore the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through coffee culture, corn, mobility, consent, community organizing, and more.

What Is the SDG Campus Educational Project?

Instead of treating the SDGs as abstract targets, the SDG Campus makes them concrete. Each Campus site focuses on a specific slice of life — cafés, kitchens, relationships, cars, or civic life — and connects that world back to the SDGs with checklists, stories, tools, and student-led projects.

The Campus is:

• Hosted by: Responsible Innovation Lab (RIL)
• Powered by: research, student teams, and responsible innovation frameworks
• Applied Concepts: INNOVATE Framework, What is Design Thinking?, ISO/IEC 42001:2023 – AI management systems, United Nations Sustainable Development
  • INNOVATE incorporates Responsible Innovation (where it all began), Principled Innovation, and Sustainable Innovation influenced by our academic work and their foundations.
  • The Power of Responsible Innovation: Shaping the Future with Science and Society | Graduate College
• Designed for: learners, educators, communities, and partners who want SDGs in plain language and real context

How the SDG Campus Works

1. Pick a world. Visit a Campus site that matches your life: coffee, corn, hemp, kitchens, consent, cars, or civic action.
2. Follow the SDG threads. Each site names the SDGs it touches and offers stories, audits, and “doable next steps.”
3. Apply it locally. Use our tools to audit your café, kitchen, block, relationship culture, or community group.
4. Share what you learn. Campus sites highlight community examples and partner projects doing it right.

Behind the scenes, RIL connects these worlds with data, ethics frameworks, and student teams working on responsible innovation.

SDG Campus Worlds

Powered by the Responsible Innovation Lab

The SDG Campus is backed by RIL’s research, student teams, and responsible innovation tools.

• NOVA Certification: a framework for responsible innovation and ethical AI.
• inNOVAte Collective: SDG-aligned projects connecting students, faculty, and community partners.
• HouseKey: concierge tools for food and housing access intersecting SDG 1 and SDG 11.
• Midlife College Certifications & PIIC programs: workforce pathways and micro-certificates that help people work on the goals, not just read about them.

How to Use the SDG Campus

For Educators

• Choose one Campus world as a case study for your class or program.
• Use the SDG-sorted tools on the Campus Worlds page to align assignments with specific goals.
• Partner with RIL on co-designed projects, micro-certificates, or campus activations.

For Learners & Communities

• Start with the world that feels closest to your daily life (coffee, corn, consent, cars, etc.).
• Trace the SDGs linked there and try one small behavior or policy change.
• Share your stories or findings for potential Campus highlights.

For Partners

• Embed pilots inside one or more Campus worlds (café audits, consent education programs, repair events, etc.).
• Support student teams and SDG-aligned experiments through sponsorships or internships.
• Co-author reports, toolkits, or certifications with RIL and SDG Campus sites.

Interested in partnering or bringing SDG Campus content to your organization or classroom?