Australia-India roundtable explores collaboration on UN SDGs

Melbourne, December 9

(Australia India News Newsdesk)

A recent roundtable hosted by the Australia India Institute in partnership with Universities Australia at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) focused on the past and ongoing research collaborations between Australia and India through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda.

Both nations have made significant commitments towards achieving the SDGs.

The Australian Government has emphasized its dedication to these global targets through the National Sustainable Development Goals Summits of 2016 and 2018, aiming for SDG implementation across various levels, including states and regional communities.

Similarly, India has embedded the SDGs into its national development agenda, prioritizing 62 key indicators to meet the goals by 2030.

Australia’s impressive performance in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Global Impact Rankings, where it had the highest number of universities in the top ten, underscores its growing commitment to SDGs through research, outreach, and teaching. India, too, featured prominently in these rankings with 96 higher education and research institutions contributing to the global SDG movement. However, the roundtable also highlighted the minimal alignment between Australia and India’s research priorities and their corresponding SDG contributions, with Australian researchers often pursuing SDGrelated work driven by personal motivation rather than structured incentives. Experts noted that a lack of clear incentives and standardized methodologies in Australian research grants has hindered more systematic integration of the SDGs in collaborative research between the two nations.

The session provided a valuable platform for academic leaders and policymakers to reflect on these challenges and discuss ways to strengthen Australia-India research collaboration in pursuit of the SDGs.