SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
UGM’s commitment to SDG 17 is built on a simple but powerful belief: sustainable development can only be achieved when knowledge, communities, and institutions move forward together.
Across Indonesia—and even across the world—UGM acts as a catalyst for collaboration, transforming research into action, classrooms into policy labs, and community service into real pathways for change. Through partnerships with governments, NGOs, international institutions, and local communities, UGM positions itself as a bridge between ideas and impact.
Policy partnerships and community service
UGM is directly involved in SDG-oriented policy-making at regional and national levels. The university proudly received an award from the Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta for “significant contribution to supporting the achievement of the SDGs in the province, particularly in addressing poverty and stunting”.
A key vehicle in manifesting the university’s sustainability targets into reality is the Community Service Program, a nation-wide SDG laboratory. In 2024, UGM deployed 7,162 students in 261 teams across 35 provinces with the theme “Food Sovereignty and Environmental Management to Support the Achievement of Peace and National Progress,” explicitly targeting 3T (underdeveloped, frontier, outermost) regions. In the December 2024 period, an additional 1,026 students were sent to 17 provinces, extending SDG-related activities from Java to Eastern Indonesia.
Partnerships with NGOs and local governments are led by two long-standing centers. The Center for Regional Development Planning Studies (PSPPR) (established 1978) regularly assists local governments in integrating SDGs into Regional Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJMD). The Center for Population and Policy Studies (CPPS) develops evidence-based policies on issues such as extreme poverty reduction, including a “Policy Study on Alleviating Extreme Poverty in Special Needs Areas and Suburban Areas in Kampar Regency” with Bappeda Kampar.
Cross-sectoral dialogue about the SDGs
As an institution of higher education, UGM has the ability to create structured spaces where governments, academics, and practitioners meet to discuss SDG implementation. The Master of Public Administration offers a special class for staff from ministries and local governments, selected through the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), with internship opportunities via the BAPPENAS Affirmation Scholarship. This program turns classrooms into policy co-creation forums.
Source: Financing the SDGs: Decades of Actions
The Directorate of Community Service, together with the Ministry of Finance, organized the SDG Talk on “Financing the SDGs: Decades of Actions” to raise awareness of sustainable financing and encourage cross-sector collaboration. The Faculty of Geography’s 6th International Conference on Environmental Resources Management in the Global Region (ICERM 2024) gathered over 100 participants from institutions such as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, BRIN, National Taiwan Normal University, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Utrecht University to discuss landscape management and environmental resilience.
These forums link decentralization, governance, and sustainability, and are designed to produce concrete policy recommendations.
International collaboration on SDG data gathering and Best Practices
UGM participates in international collaborations that generate SDG-relevant data and comparative learning.
The Environmental Science Study Program and Karst Study Group hosted the 5th Asian Trans-Disciplinary Karst Conference 2024, including joint cave exploration with Chinese researchers in Sangkulirang–Mangkalihat and Batu Benau to collect hydrogeological and geomorphological data.. In parallel, UGM cooperates with the UNESCO-affiliated International Research Centre on Karst (IRCK) – China through the China–ASEAN Demonstration Platform for Sustainable Utilization of Karst Landscape Resources.
UGM also contributes to international best practice on SDGs through multi-country research and policy forums.
The Australia–Indonesia in Conversation (AIC), co-organised with the University of Melbourne, brings together academics and indigenous representatives to discuss inequality, sustainability, and the role of local knowledge in policy-making.
The CDSR consortium with the University of Colorado Boulder, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Makassar City Government, and ITB has installed solar panels at dozens of sites in Makassar, supporting net-zero ambitions and community welfare.
Collaboration with NGOs and SDG-oriented training
Source: Water–Energy Nexus
UGM works with NGOs to mainstream SDGs in policy and practice. Together with WWF, the Faculty of Geography runs the “Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure Planning” training for central ministries and agencies, embedding nature-based solutions in long- and medium-term development plans. A workshop on “Water–Energy Nexus, Achieving SDGs” with Artha Graha Peduli and the Bali Mangrove Care Forum highlights mangroves’ role in protecting coasts, improving water quality, and mitigating climate change.
In the Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) sector, the Faculty of Geography initiated a two-stage expert meeting with government, private sector and NGOs to discuss mitigation and adaptation strategies toward Indonesia’s net-zero and FOLU Net Sink targets, emphasising incentives and the need for active non-state participation.
Education and Literacy around the SDGs
UGM integrates SDGs across the curriculum. In 2024/2025, the university offered 2,512 sustainability-related courses out of 11,201, meaning 22.43% of courses are SDG-aligned.
SDG Cross-Disciplinary Courses build critical thinking, collaboration, leadership and socio-entrepreneurial skills, delivered via flexible methods including the eLOK platform. At the graduate level, sustainability-focused programmes include the Environmental Science master/doctoral tracks, Development Extension and Communication, ASEAN Master in Sustainability Management, Peace and Conflict Resolution, and Sustainable Economic Development within Development Economics.
SDG education is of course extended into communities. Community service students in Getrakmoyan Village, Cirebon, run “Eco-Paving Education for a Sustainable Environment,” turning plastic waste into paving blocks and building local awareness on circular waste management. The Faculty of Geography’s Research and Community Service (P2M) 2021–2026 umbrella supports public-oriented activities such as the Sand Dunes Museum, summer courses on disaster risk reduction, and smart city/village programmes.
For all this to be feasible, UGM students must be fed with key principles in sustainability. Literacy on sustainability equips students with the knowledge, mindset, and skills needed to make decisions that do not harm— and ideally improve—social, environmental, and economic systems.
Freshmen are introduced to sustainability during the freshman orientation. In their third year, all students take a mandatory 10-credit Community Service Lecture (KKN, Health Literacy, Community Communication, Appropriate Technology). They design SDG-based programs, submit final reports, and publish news articles tagged with SDGs on the UGM Community Service News Dashboard; in 2024 this dashboard collected 1,091 news items with 2,754 SDG tags.
By weaving together the strengths of young minds, researchers, policymakers, and local communities, UGM continues to build a nationwide ecosystem of shared responsibility for the Earth. Moving forward, these partnerships will remain essential as Indonesia—and the global community—navigate complex development challenges.