Positioning the University of Botswana Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Higher education institutions (HEIs) are recognised as important stakeholders in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public HEIs require adequate funding to produce world-class graduates and carry out quality research and innovation activities
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Positioning the University of Botswana Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goemeone E. J. Mogomotsi, Patricia K. Mogomotsi, and David Norris
Abstract Higher education institutions (HEIs) are recognised as important stakeholders in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public HEIs require adequate funding to produce world-class graduates and carry out quality research and innovation activities. This chapter discusses the role the University of Botswana in achieving SDGs, specifically SDG4 and SDG17 in Botswana. Further, it examines the interventions that are needed to ensure that the University of Botswana succeeds in its developmental mission. It recognises that the University of Botswana as the only fully developed HIE in the country has a competitive advantage over any other tertiary institution in Botswana. The chapter concludes that the University of Botswana should leverage the competitive edge it has to effectively contribute towards meeting SDGs. Keywords Leadership · Competitiveness · Adaptability · Tertiary financing · Sustainability · Transformation
14.1 Introduction The University of Botswana, established by an Act of Parliament in 1982, is the oldest comprehensive higher education institution (HEI) in Botswana. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes up to doctoral level (University of Botswana 2019). It has played a tremendous role in the developmental agenda of Botswana during the past three decades in the areas of research, innovation, teaching and community engagement. The University has a pivotal function in ensuring the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country and the African G. E. J. Mogomotsi (*) · P. K. Mogomotsi Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, Maun, Botswana D. Norris University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 S. O. Keitumetse et al. (eds.), Sustainability in Developing Countries, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48351-7_14
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continent in general (University of Botswana 2020). In particular, SDG4 is relevant to the case of the University of Botswana as it advocates for inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. While at international level, countries have joint developmental goals being the United Nations Agenda 2030, Botswana has its own national vision (National Vision 2036). Each of these long-term visions are characterised by ambitious goals to be achieved in 2030 and 2036 respectively. The United Nations Agenda 2030 contains the popularly known as the SDGs that have replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which came to an end in 2015 (Morton et al. 2017). In the domestic context, the recently adopted national Vision 2036 serves as the platform for Botswana’s development from the year 2016 following the lapsing of the National Vision 2016 (Mogomotsi et al. 2018). The
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