Everyone, everywhere, grapples with the 17 global challenges. They are as local as they are global, and countries, cities, businesses, and schools will all take different approaches on how to advance them.
They are clearly significant for Indiana. Climate change will increase precipitation by 6 to 8% and the number of 95+ degree days in Indianapolis will more than double by 2050. Like the world, Indiana is also full of inequalities, as exemplified in wildly ranging life expectancy and infant mortality rates, as well as disparate public health funding and systemic racism. One in five IUPUI students experience food insecurity, and access to technology and quality education is uneven. And, of course, COVID-19 has made the inequalities in our world even clearer. COVID-19 also reversed much of the progress of the SDGs, so more than ever, we have our work to do.
And, the problems are significant. Overcoming them requires disciplines, professions, communities, organizations, and governments collectively working together. Just as the goals are interrelated, we need all of us at IUPUI and the many communities with whom we engage locally, nationally, and globally, to take collective responsibility for these global goals.
Higher education must take a lead, teach its students, work alongside communities, collaborate with businesses, and pursue innovative research to push this agenda ahead. We have an obligation, a sense of responsibility that is as local as it is global, which comes with significant ramifications if we do not practice this commitment. IUPUI is taking this work seriously, and we look forward to working with our various partners to make this world, this state, the city of Indianapolis, and IUPUI even better, more sustainable, and more equitable than ever, for future generations to come.