On 21 April, Times Higher Education (THE) launched the THE Impact Rankings for 2021. The Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) joined the rankings for the first time and was ranked in Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) about “Clean water and sanitation,” SDG 14 in “Life below water,” and SDG 17 about “Partnerships for the goals.” In SDG 6, SUSTech was ranked 2nd in Mainland China and 65th globally.

This is the third THE Impact Rankings, with 1,240 institutions from 98 countries and regions participating in it. Unlike other THE rankings, which uses teaching, research, citations, and reputation as their evaluation metrics, the impact ranking uses 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations (UN) Member States in 2015, to provide a blueprint in addressing social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

A total of 520 institutions in the world participated in the SDG 6 ranking, where SUSTech achieved an overall score of 65.8/100. From the beginning of its campus planning and design, SUSTech has integrated the concept of green and sustainable development into the construction of its buildings and campus operations. Water-wise plants were selected for the landscape design, while campus buildings were granted the three-star environmentally-friendly grading for green building evaluation. The University also integrates the concepts of material resource recycling, water resource recycling, and energy recycling into the whole process of the architectural design.

SUSTech is educating the local community about sustainable water management, and regularly holds seminars on environmental protection, which are open to the public to attend. It also supports Low Impact Development (LID) water-saving techniques and conducts multi-level cooperation with local, regional, national, and global governments on water security issues.

For the SDG 14 (Life below water) ranking, SUSTech actively supports marine conservation and sustainable utilization activities. The University also participates in provincial and national key water pollution prevention and control projects for river basins, carries out water environment comprehensive treatment and ecological restoration practices. In addition, it monitors the health of the water ecosystem and contributes to underwater biological protection.

In terms of the SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals) ranking, SUSTech has established cooperative research relations with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UNESCO International Center for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI) to promote the sustainable development of both population and higher education. Meanwhile, SUSTech cooperates with the Shenzhen Institute of Sustainable Development (SISD) to support macro-level policymaking, provide government consultation, and offer local services in the process of sustainable development.

The THE Impact Rankings was first launched in 2019. Their rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.

Online links:
THE Impact Rankings 2021:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/impact/2021/overall

THE Impact Rankings Methodology:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/impact-rankings-2021-methodology