Geoscience for Sustainability (GfS)

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. Achieving these ambitious goals requires interdisciplinary collaboration and expertise from various fields to develop effective solutions.

Join the effort to advance sustainable development through your work as an educator!

Educators have a prominent and pivotal role in the future of societies, economies, and the environment. By focusing their work on real-world topics that matter to individuals and communities, educators can empower those who learn from them to take meaningful action to solve problems. That action can be focused on topics such as those articulated in the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ten Key Ways to Engage

Click here to scroll to the end of this page for ten key ways to incorporate the SDGs into your teaching.

Incorporating the SDGs into K-5

AGI shares reccomendations for incorporating the SDGs into elementary education in an article submitted to NSTA' Science and Children journal.

K-8 Teachers: Attend the TLA

If you are a K-8 teacher, apply to attend AGI's annual Teaching and Learning Academy (TLA) where we explore the SDGs as they relate to earth science content.

Sustainability Ambassador

Join a network of educators and outreach specialists who are integrating the SDGs into their teaching. You'll gain access to resources and support to share your work at conferences.

AGI-Developed SDG Resources

For educators looking to integrate the SDGs into their teaching, AGI offers a variety of specially developed resources which include lesson plans, hands-on activities, projects and more! Bring real-world relevance to earth science concepts while inspiring your students to become stewards of our planet.

NGSS Connections

Explore which SDGs relate to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas.

ESD Kits

Learn about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and explore four extensive curricula packages focused on SDGs 6, 7, 12, and 13.

Case Study Lessons

Use examples of real-world work in the geosciences to integrate the SDGs and earth science concepts.

ESW on Sustainability

Look through resources from Earth Science Week's "Earth Science for a Sustainabile World" theme.

External SDG Resources

For educators seeking to enrich their curriculum with materials related to the SDGs, we have compiled a list of valuable external resources. These sites offer a wealth of educational content, activities, and lesson plans designed to help students understand and engage with the SDGs and for community action.

World's Largest Lesson

An educational initiative that offers free, creative resources to help teachers inspire students to engage with the SDGs through storytelling, art, and interactive activities.

Global Schools Program

A program that provides educators with curriculum guides, training, and support to integrate the SDGs into their teaching, empowering students to become active global citizens.

Global Goals - Take Action

A platform designed to mobilize individuals and communities to take concrete actions toward achieving the SDGs, offering practical tools and resources for meaningful engagement.

The Goals Project

A global collaborative project where classrooms connect to work on the SDGs together, fostering cross-cultural understanding and teamwork among students.

Science on Stage

A network that empowers teachers to integrate the SDGs into STEM education through innovative teaching materials and exchanges, focusing on practical classroom applications.

Science for Global Goals Project

The Smithsonian offers free community research guides that empower young people to use their communities as living laboratories to explore the science behind the SDGs.

Data Related to the SDGs

These platforms offer essential data-driven insights into the SDGs, empowering users with the tools and information needed to understand and contribute to global progress. Whether you’re tracking global trends or diving into localized data, these resources provide valuable, actionable insights to help advance the SDGs in your community and beyond.

SDG Global Progress

A platform providing an overview of global progress toward the SDGs, using visual data and interactive tools to track advancements and identify areas needing attention.

SDGs Today

A comprehensive resource offering real-time, location-based datasets on the SDGs, allowing users to explore up-to-date data on global and local progress.

For additional resources, please see Earth Observations for the SDGs (EO4SDGs) Curated Collection on Earth Observation Data and the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).

Select Publications about Geoscience and the SDGs

Ten Key Ways to Engage

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is collaborating with educators in the United States and beyond to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into both formal and informal education. Through this collaboration, we have identified several key points that you may find useful:

Define Your SDG Focus
After reviewing the SDGs for yourself, decide on one to three that you can introduce to learners and relate to the content that you teach. Later, you might add one or two more SDGs as they fit in naturally.

Celebrate Your Progress
Recognize and celebrate what you can do. It may not be possible for you to address all the SDGs.

Make Learning Relevant
Use the SDGs to show the relevance of what is being taught, rather than as separate content.

Leverage Real-World Examples
The Targets and Indicators can help clarify the intent of each SDG. Look at the Targets and Indicators for each SDG online and consider how those might translate into and connect with the work you do.

Build Administrator Support
Engage with your administrators so they know about your emphasis on the SDGs and how it supports your work.

Connect to the Community
Consider how the SDGs are relevant to the learners’ community. When possible, use specific challenges faced by your local community as examples to illustrate the importance of the SDGs you are addressing.

Inspire Student-Driven Change
Consider what action(s) might already be taking place in the learners’ community related to the SDGs you are addressing, as well as how learners might become involved. It may be possible for learners to put their own plans into action. Parent permission may be needed. Ask your administrators for guidance.

Celebrate Every Step Forward
Think of success in terms of incremental change. The United Nations and many other organizations promote the idea that progress on the SDGs will take place as small, successful steps, all of which are worth celebrating.

Strengthen Professional Networks
Consider developing a mutually supportive professional learning community around the SDGs with your co-workers, in your community, and/or at other levels—such as in professional societies to which you belong.

Encourage Collaborative Projects
Foster interdisciplinary projects that connect the SDGs with various subjects, such as art, history, and language arts, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of global issues. These connections may also facilitate making connections between specific SDGs.