How a multidimensional ecology education approach can enhance college curricula to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract Sustainability, i.e., effective management of natural resources to maintain ecological balance, is taught in formal post-secondary and nonformal education for students of all ages, but is often left out of the basic college and university life sciences coursework. To achieve the United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we must provide students with ecological knowledge and skills to enhance sustainability. Beginning in 2014, Ecological Society of America (ESA) educators developed an integrated, four-dimensional curricular framework (Core Ecological Concepts, Ecological Practices, Cross-Cutting Themes, and Human-Environment Interactions) (4DEE) to generate ecologically literate college students. Here we investigated all possible connections between 4DEE and the SDGs, to determine whether instructors could teach both in context of one another - to the betterment of both sustainability and ecology education. Analysis of the subcomponents of 4DEE arrayed against the Targets in SDGs 13 - Climate Action, 14 - Life Below Water, and 15 - Life on Land, revealed good to strong SDGs connections to each of the 4DEE dimensions. Curricula following the 4DEE approach can better address the SDGs. By integrating this multidimensional framework and connections to the SDGs and their Targets in our classroom, lab, and field experiences on and off campus, educators can help form the next generation of teachers, workers, policymakers, and citizens in ecological literacy and responsible sustainable decision-making. Applying the multidimensional thinking and training of the ESA 4DEE with interdisciplinary collaborations in our institutions and off-campus community partnerships will increase both the ecological literacy and SDG-literacy of present and future generations.