DE MONTFORT University has a series of programmes that help explain the key concepts of sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to its 20,000 students.
More than 220 courses have the SDGs and sustainability embedded within the curriculum as the university’s long-term strategic plan makes the principles a cross-cutting theme that impacts all aspects of DMU life.
Students with the SDGs and sustainability in their course have their ability to retain the key concepts evaluated through the normal academic process and assessments.
However, many other students volunteer for a series of programmes outside the core curriculum that look at the SDGs and sustainability.
These include official Carbon Literacy training; the Green Skills programme; the Climate Ambassadors volunteer network; the annual SDG Teach-In; the Responsible Future project; Green Impact; Student Switch Off; Student Eats; and the volunteer programme at the SDG Impact Hub and within the Sustainability department of the university.
Understanding of the key concepts
All these programmes and projects aim to embed the key concepts of the SDGs and sustainability in students who are not necessarily studying the principles on their course.
DMU's head of the SDG Impact Hub Dr Mark Charlton said: "We want all of our students to understand sustainability and the SDGs whether they are studying nursing, accountancy, law, journalism or film.
"We have a whole range of volunteer programmes and a mass of events each year that explose students to the SDGs and sustainability. It is also we have an understanding of how successful that works is through our evaluation processes."
One of the key measures for evaluating students' understanding of the key concepts is the independent Students Organizing for Sustainability (SOS-UK) and Higher Education Academy (HEA) Lifestyle survey.
The survey asks a range of questions from what skills and understandings have been covered by students in their courses, what students find to be the most beneficial ways of learning and what a student’s future career aspirations might be.
There are also questions surrounding sustainability and the SDGs during their course or place of study and their understanding of key concepts.
DMU has taken part in the survey for nine years and has attracted more than 100 responses on each occasion, which allows the university to track student engagement.
Because of this, the university has been able to make comparisons over the years and found that students do care about the SDGs and sustainability. In fact, in general they are feeling stronger towards the SDGs, sustainability and sustainable practices each year.
Evaluating students' understanding of principles
Fairtrade, trade justice, and ethical consumption have also been among the topics that students engaged with throughout their education at DMU.
A total of 40% of students surveyed in 2025 said that they had covered consumerism, global and ethical trade, with 39% saying they had covered social justice. This shows that students are aware of the issues that are being covered.
Each year, there is also a survey carried out within DMU to evaluate what students understand about the concepts of sustainability and the SDGs.
It is done with newly-arrived first-year students and third-year students to evaluate understanding of the concepts and knowledge of sustainability and the SDGs.
This also helps the university understanding the progress made during a student’s life at DMU and their level of exposure to the key concepts.
Get a further break down of the data here