Introduction from the Vice-Chancellor
Accelerating academic impact.
The University of Auckland has been appointed the official hub for SDG 4, Quality Education by the United Nations Academic Impact. The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) aligns tertiary institutions to contribute to realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
It was founded by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon in 2010. According to Ban Ki-moon, "The Academic Impact aims to generate a global movement of minds to promote a new culture of intellectual social responsibility. It is animated by a commitment to certain bedrock principles. Among them: freedom of inquiry, opinion and speech; educational opportunity for all; global citizenship; sustainability; and dialogue." Futhermore UNAI aims to support the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals focusing on the reciprocal relationship between education and sustainable development.
There are 1300 member institutions and 17 of them have been invited to become a hub for each of the SDGs.