SDG-Based Literacy in Architectural Higher Education: An ESD-Oriented Micro Case on Urban Waterfronts

This paper examines how architecture students identify, spatially interpret, and prioritise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within a course on urban waterfronts. Its pedagogical design was informed conceptually by UNESCO’s cognitive, socio-emotional, and action-oriented dimensions of ESD and its recommendation to use mapping-based activities. The study involved third-year architecture students and drew on student-produced analyses of SDG-based spatial mapping of selected international waterfront projects. The mixed-method research design combined: (i) systematic coding and descriptive frequency and intensity analysis of student products addressing all 17 SDGs; (ii) exploratory multimodal network mapping of project-mediated associations among SDGs, urban problems, and spatial strategies; and (iii) an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) survey completed by students to compare SDGs in relation to a prospective intervention in Istanbul waterfront. The findings show that the student products frequently combined multiple SDGs with spatial problems and strategies rather than presenting them solely as isolated categories. SDG 11 was the most consistently represented goal across the international cases. SDGs 2 and 5 emerged as the clearest potential blind spots, while SDGs 1, 7, and 16 also showed comparatively limited engagement. By contrast, the AHP results ranked SDG 13 first, followed by SDGs 11 and 3. This difference reflects the distinct contexts and analytical purposes of the two components: the product analysis examined SDG representation in international waterfront projects, whereas the AHP elicited prospective priorities for an Istanbul waterfront intervention. The study proposes an exploratory course-level framework for examining SDG literacy through spatial representation, and context-specific prioritisation, illustrating how ESD principles may be operationalised within an architecture course.