Joint Article on University Communications around the SDGs

Researchers from the University of Kassel (Germany), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany), and the University of Stavanger (Norway) have jointly written an article on how universities across Germany communicate their contributions to the SDGs. 

By analyzing 100,000 press releases and 2 million scientific publications from 76 German institutions between the year 2000 and 2020, the researchers observed that institutions with a stronger international profile and larger STEM student populations tended to communicate more actively about the SDGs. The study also revealed a growing gap between universities’ sustainability communication and their actual SDG-related research output. While communication was once closely linked to research activity, universities are increasingly using the SDGs as part of broader strategic communication and branding efforts. The authors conclude that maintaining credibility requires ensuring that sustainability messaging remains closely aligned with genuine institutional action and impact.

Read the full article here