Higher Education and SDG15 (Life on Land)

Despite growing awareness of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are insufficiently engaged in advancing ecosystem-based solutions. This book addresses that gap by providing evidence-based strategies, curricular innovations, and case studies that illustrate how HEIs can embed SDG15 into institutional priorities and practices.

A focused collection situating HEIs as catalysts for systemic sustainability change, the chapters explore how HEIs can advance delivery of SDG15 by tackling environmental degradation and deforestation and support land restoration and biodiversity conservation through teaching, research, and community partnerships. With contributions spanning continents and context - from ecological literacy in business education in Norway to reimagining agronomy curricula in Argentina, stakeholder collaboration in Switzerland, and biodiversity-focused research in Kenya - each chapter maps to SDG15 indicators and illustrates how HEIs are driving localized action with global impact.

Transcending siloed green initiatives, the book emphasizes institutional transformation through curriculum redesign, faculty development, and multi-actor collaboration. This book is important reading for scholars, university leaders, curriculum designers, and policy advocates interested in actionable strategies that link education to land-based sustainability challenges.

Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals is a series of 17 books that address each of the SDGs through the lens of higher education. Adopting a solutions-based approach, each book focuses on how higher education is advancing delivery of Agenda 2030. The series is edited by Wendy Purcell, Professor with Rutgers University and Academic Research Scholar with Harvard University; Emeritus Professor and University President Emerita.