ASU receives award for advancing SDGs through global education

Arizona State University’s Rob Walton College of Global Futures, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, was recently awarded the Forum on Education Abroad’s 2026 Award for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad.

The Forum on Education Abroad highlights global education opportunities offered by member institutions and organizations that promote the United Nations SDGs with profound impact and progress.

“We are honored to receive this recognition because it highlights the kind of education the world urgently needs,” said Kate Eaton, associate dean for students and academic innovation at the Rob Walton College of Global Futures.

“Our programs immerse students in the complexity of global sustainability challenges and invite them to collaborate across cultures in pursuit of solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. These experiences shape leaders who understand that sustainable progress is built through partnership.”

The award highlights the various global education opportunities offered by the Rob Walton College of Global Futures, ranging from discussing Indigenous sustainability solutions in the Amazon to exploring sustainability, wildlife and conservation in the Okavango Delta to studying coral marine life with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

Mary Jane Parmentier, deputy director and clinical professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, accepted the award earlier this month, nothing that, "The College of Global Futures programs have been providing education abroad programs with a central focus and design on sustainability and the SDGs for over a decade."

With six different programs led in 2025 alone, the college has shown its commitment to promoting the development of the SDGs. This commitment pre-dates the college, formed in 2020, with global education programs that began in 2013 through the School of Sustainability and the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

"The SDGs are internationally spread and globally focused. Giving students the chance to study these in an international setting connects the dots more than studying in a classroom ever could," said Shira Burns, associate director of faculty-directed programs in the Global Education Office.

In designing the programs, faculty collaborate with partners on core learning outcomes centered on the SDGs. These outcomes touch on food security, community resilience, the energy-water-food nexus and more.

“All of the College of Global Future’s faculty-led education abroad programs and partnerships have sustainability and sustainable development at their core and work with local communities on co-creation of the curriculum,” explained Parmentier

The programs focus on partnerships that have the same overarching goal of creating a sustainable future through the implementation of the SDGs. These collaborations allow students to learn about socioeconomic challenges faced by communities they work with while simultaneously developing solutions through service work.

“The curriculum throughout all of the programs, which focus on sustainable development within these country contexts, allows students to consider priorities and contexts of other societies, as they build skills in ethical considerations for sustainable solutions,” said Parmentier.

These experiences further prepare students with the skills and compassion necessary to address global sustainability challenges faced across diverse societies.

Upcoming programs include phytoplankton research in Antarctica, learning about sustainable coffee in Costa Rica, and marine conservation exploration in Baja California. Students are encouraged to apply to educational experiences abroad through the support of various scholarships offered by the college.

“This combination of working with local communities to learn from them and help address their needs, if appropriate, provides a powerful learning experience for the students, faculty and local community,” Parmentier said.

Through these award-winning global educational opportunities, students are part of real-world efforts to create a more sustainable future while developing the skills needed to address complex sustainability challenges across diverse societies.