SDG - 17
Education for SDGs: University-Wide Commitment to Meaningful Education
Daffodil International University (DIU) demonstrates a deep and explicit commitment to providing meaningful education around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that is relevant and applicable to all students, regardless of their field of study. This commitment is institutionalized through mandatory skill development programs, global social business integration, and a focus on practical, industry-aligned micro-credentials.
A. DIU has been implementing the Environmental Sustainability Strategy that addresses commitment to meaningful education of all academic programs for all students:
B. DIU has also been implementing its overall Strategy Towards 2030:
The mission of the DIU’s overall Strategy Towards 2030 clearly addresses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Besides, clause number 5. Addresses Ensuring Institutional Sustainability
https://daffodilvarsity.edu.bd/photos/pdf/DIU-Strategy.pdf
Sustainability related academic courses at DIU: https://sustainability4d.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd/educations
1. Institutionalizing SDG Principles Across the Curriculum
DIU ensures that sustainability and global citizenship are foundational elements of every student's academic journey through university-wide policies and programs.
● Social Business Education for All: The Social Business Students' Forum (SBSF), operating across departments, actively promotes the Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus's '3 Zero Vision' (zero poverty, zero unemployment, zero net carbon emissions). Their participation in global events like the 15th Social Business Day 2025 and their efforts to introduce social business education into the mainstream curriculum ensure that students from all faculties (Business, Engineering, Arts, Health) engage with practical, SDG-aligned business models that address global challenges (SDG 1, 8, 13).
● University-Wide Soft Skills and Employability Training: DIU mandates the Employability 360 course and similar professional development programs, which focus on career planning, self-development, and navigating the modern job market. These programs, run by the Industrial Innovation Centre (IIC), DIU Micro credential Academy and HRDI, link student success directly to global standards and ethical workplace practices, supporting SDG 8 (Decent Work) and foundational skills for SDG 4 (Quality Education) across the board.
DIU Micro-Credentials Academy: https://www.facebook.com/DIUMicroCredentialsAcademy
Human Resource Development Institute: https://www.facebook.com/hrdi.ac
Industrial Innovation Centre - IIC, DIU: https://www.facebook.com/iic.diu
2. Industry-Driven Micro-Credentials for Future-Proof Skills
To ensure education is meaningful and future-proof, DIU embeds global industry standards and micro-credentials that equip all students with skills relevant to the digital economy, which is critical for achieving many SDGs (SDG 9).
● Global Tech Skill Certification: The university’s proactive approach to micro-credentials is demonstrated by the 443 students who successfully earned their AWS Cloud Fundamentals Certification. This initiative, along with support for Microsoft Fabric Training (in collaboration with HRDI and Data Crafters), provides technical skills necessary for the digital transformation that underpins sustainable solutions in health, finance, and agriculture—making the education directly applicable to innovation challenges in Bangladesh.
● Interdisciplinary Tech Exposure: The DIU Micro-Credentials Day 2025 and the showcase of over 100 micro-credentials courses highlight the breadth of high-demand skills available, ensuring that students from traditional fields can acquire competencies in areas like AI, IoT, and embedded systems, which are foundational for SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) applications like the smart irrigation system developed by the Agricultural Science and Engineering departments.
3. Fostering a Research and Innovation Mindset for Sustainability
DIU cultivates a research culture that encourages all students to develop sustainable solutions, linking academic learning directly to real-world SDG impact.
● University-Wide Research Platforms: Events like the DIU-DoR Poster Presentation 2025, which featured 106 research posters from all five faculties, provide a unified platform for students to present ideas and discuss their relevance. The Project Showcasing Competition 2024 awarded students specifically for their sustainable solutions to global challenges, ensuring the theme of sustainability is central to student innovation (SDG 13).
● Data and Digital Literacy for Accountability: Programs like the Data Journalism workshop (with TIB) and the seminar on 'Journalism in the Age of Mobile and Social Media' (JMC department, widely applicable) equip students with the digital and media literacy skills necessary to promote good governance and access to information, which are core tenets of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) and democratic processes.
● Global Academic and Research Excellence: DIU's faculty actively participate in global research forums, such as the World Anti-Bullying Forum 2025 in Norway and the World Conference on Tobacco Control 2025 in Dublin. Their research and subsequent teaching directly enrich the curriculum with globally validated best practices and knowledge on critical social and health issues, ensuring students are educated on current international challenges relevant to SDG 3, 4, and 16.
By institutionalizing micro-credentials, promoting social entrepreneurship, and making research excellence accessible across all five faculties, DIU demonstrates a robust, university-wide commitment to delivering meaningful SDG education applicable to every student’s future career and role as a global citizen.