UJ introduces 100% free online course on the Sustainable Development Goals

Date: Sep 5, 2022 | Media Release, News

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has intensified its outreach with part- and full-time and fully online short learning programmes to help upskill and reskill people for current and future jobs. This is in line with UJ’s global excellence and stature (GES) 4.0 strategic objective underpinned by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The latest 100% fully online short learning programme offering, which was launched on Friday, 19 August 2022, explores the contested nature of the sustainable development discourse by highlighting the core features of the 2030 Agenda and responses to it.

The short learning programme, Introduction to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), is part of the Institution’s commitment to providing alternative means of acquiring insight into how sustainability has been perceived, as well as a thorough introduction to the SDGs – what they are, how progress can be scaled, and how the SDGs play a role in the management of the global systems supporting humanity.

• For more information on UJ’s short learning programme, Introduction to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), click here.

Current students and members of the public can now enrol, for free, for this fully online course. Anyone with a Grade 12 certificate or higher can enrol for the course. There are no classes to attend, and all assessments are in the form of quizzes. There are five (5) units to complete, and a digital certificate will be issued on successful completion which may be viewed and shared with third parties or possible employers through the UJ Digital Certificate platform.

Says Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at UJ: “For the first time in our planet’s history, we (humans) are threatening the climate system, the water system, the ocean system, and others. Human activities, like burning fossil fuels and changing land use, are causing the climate to shift—and this threatens our planet’s ability to support life. These crises are our creations and require our actions to change them. To solve these problems, the world agreed on 17 ambitious goals to help protect our planet and those who live on it. This course, which has been developed by our Division of Academic Development and Support (ADS), is part of the University’s initiatives to help participants to gain access to vital knowledge. In doing so, the course is also fostering a much-needed social shift that will feed into global efforts towards sustainability and the SDG.”