SDGs as a net or wedge for climate action? An international study of students’ climate consciousness and awareness of SDGs

Purpose This study aims to investigate how university students perceive and prioritize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and whether their climate consciousness and views on climate responsibility align with their awareness and prioritization of the SDGs. The findings inform the consideration of two pedagogical approaches – leveraging the SDGs as either integrative “nets” or strategic “wedges” – to enhance engagement with SDG 13, Climate Action. Design/methodology/approach A cross-national survey (n = 388) was conducted among university students in Argentina, Denmark, Italy, Spain and the USA. Using a Likert scale and rankings, the survey assessed participants’ awareness and prioritization of the SDGs alongside inquiries into their perceptions of climate change and the people and institutions most responsible for addressing it. Findings Students recognize human-caused climate change and are concerned about its current and future impacts, yet a majority are unaware of the SDG frameworks and rank SDG 13 Climate action lower than other SDGs. They also have a moderate to low sense of personal responsibility and assign most responsibility to governments, wealthier nations and corporations. Research limitations/implications Our results reveal indicative patterns; however, the voluntary, university-specific sample limits generalizability. Future studies should expand the scope to other universities and may supplement the survey with qualitative methods such as project-based learning to explore the effectiveness of the wedge-based approach to SDG awareness. Practical implications By leveraging popular SDGs as “wedges” into broader sustainability issues, instructors can enhance SDG literacy, foster deeper engagement with climate topics and promote more effective, context-sensitive climate education. This approach could align pedagogy with student priorities while advancing meaningful integration of SDG 13 into higher education. Originality/value This study offers a globally relevant, data-driven framework that helps us consider two distinct pedagogical strategies to improve SDG literacy: presenting interlinked SDGs as nets that capture elements of SDG 13, or using highly valued goals (e.g. SDG 3 Good health and well-being) as wedges that offer deeper dives into specific SDGs that can later be linked to climate action.