Sustainable Development Goals
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Understand how forest conservation in the Philippines is being shaped by local efforts and national policy, with insights from recent university events and fieldwork collaborations.
About Our Sustainability Program
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global objectives adopted in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, serving as a universal framework to address interconnected challenges such as poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, health, education, gender equity, peace, and sustainable economic growth.
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Each goal is supported by specific targets and measurable indicators — 169 targets in total — designed to guide policy, funding, and institutional action across varying sectors and disciplines.
For Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), this means compliance with a sustainable development target, embedding standards of green and eco-friendly sanctions in the university’s operations. Transforming abstract global goals into concrete institutional responsibilities must be disseminated to the student body through active instruction and participation, ensuring that sustainability practices are not confined to administrative policies
The SDGs emphasize a holistic approach: recognizing the interdependence of ecological systems, human well-being, and institutional accountability. They apply to all countries, regardless of development status, and require coordinated efforts from governments, civil society, the private sector, and academic institutions. As both a moral and practical blueprint, the SDGs promote inclusive and data-informed development, and serve as the global benchmark for sustainability reporting and program alignment through the year 2030.
Foundation University implements its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals through structured, policy-driven mechanisms embedded across its many functions. The integration is systematic, guided by institutional frameworks that align planning and extension
"While our imperative now is to implement these agreements, it is important to recall that the SDGs are not just an additional plan for the world, nor do they replace the specificity and detail of existing international agreements. The SDGs are a shared vision of a world … the “vision piece” of the globalization puzzle. Indeed, we are well beyond measuring poverty only in GDP terms. In a manner of speaking, the 169 Targets underpinning the SDGs are 169 ways of explain how no one is to be left behind. In other words, these 17 Goals and 169 targets – for which indicators exist and monitoring systems are being set – form the basis of a new social contract between the world’s leaders and their people."
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Thomas Gass, Keynote Speaker
Our Thrusts
Research
Research covers studies, data collection and scholarship efforts that advance knowledge on sustainability topics. Faculty-led investigations into watershed health, carbon-sequestration models or behavioral drivers of energy conservation all belong here. Graduate theses exploring life-cycle assessments of campus buildings or surveys measuring student climate attitudes count as research outputs. MOAs with research institutes, government agencies or industry partners often formalize resource-sharing — access to laboratory space, joint funding proposals or data-exchange agreements.
The goal of the Research thrust is to generate evidence that informs policy and practice. Findings from these studies feed directly into campus operations, for instance, a soil-analysis report might guide landscaping choices, while a cost-benefit analysis of solar panels could support a new installation. Research projects also contribute to academic literature, raising the university’s profile in sustainability networks. By publishing articles, presenting at conferences and hosting symposia, the university shapes broader conversations and attracts collaborators for future investigations.
Practice
Practice thrust focuses on implementing sustainable operations across campus and beyond. This includes energy-efficiency upgrades, water-conservation systems, zero-waste procurement policies and green procurement guidelines. Projects may start with an MOA between the university’s facilities office and an equipment vendor to install LED lighting throughout classrooms or upgrade to smart meters in residence halls. Practice also covers curricular integration of sustainability into hands-on training such as using compost collected from cafeterias in the campus farm or running lifecycle simulations in engineering labs.
Practice initiatives serve as living labs where theoretical research meets real-world application. Staff and students monitor outcomes by tracking utility bills, waste-diversion rates or biodiversity metrics, and work to refine methods to document return on investment. Successful pilots scale up into larger adoption: a trial rainwater-harvesting system in one building may expand to multiple rooftops after demonstrating cost savings. By embedding sustainability into everyday operations, practice thrust projects turn the campus into a model for other institutions and businesses seeking practical solutions.
Community
The community thrust covers initiatives that engage students, faculty, staff and local stakeholders in sustainability efforts. Projects under this category include outreach programs, awareness campaigns and partnerships that address environmental and social needs in nearby neighborhoods. For example, a clean-up drive organized with barangay officials or a waste-segregation workshop for adjacent villages both fall under community. Memoranda of agreement with local government units or NGOs typically specify shared goals such as reducing plastic waste or improving public green spaces. Community initiatives strengthen ties between the university and its surroundings, build practical skills for participants and generate measurable impacts on local well-being.
Beyond one-off events, community also embraces ongoing collaborations. Service-learning courses that send students into public schools to teach recycling practices, or urban gardening projects co-managed with residents, illustrate sustained engagement. Through formal partnerships—documented in MOAs—the university provides expertise, manpower and resources while partners contribute local insight and logistical support. By centering people’s voices and lived experiences, community thrust projects create a two-way exchange: the university learns from the
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President Victor Vicente "Dean" Sinco
Foundation University's
Commitment Strategy
Foundation University’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals grows directly from the vision that guided its earliest days. When Dr. Vicente Sinco laid the grounds for this institution, he saw rebuilding the country as a moral obligation to the land and its people. He believed scholarship and stewardship belonged together, and that conviction found expression in the first environmental policies he championed. Over time, that principle passed from faculty to students, shaping committees and everyday decisions across the campus
Clean-up drives and other community events are planned in coordination with local government units and civil society partners, ensuring that they respond to identified needs and are supported by monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Participants are briefed using environmental data and SDG benchmarks before deployment, and the initiative is followed by reflection sessions and formal documentation. These programs are embedded into the university’s extension services, with clear links to SDG targets such as Life Below Water (SDG 14), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11). Through direct, recurring participation in targeted community interventions, Foundation University affirms its commitment to sustainability not through advocacy alone, but through regulated, outcomes-based field engagement.
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