ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
SDG 4 relates to equitable access to education, skills training, and the knowledge needed to support sustainable development. These goals can be seen in the University of Waterloo’s support for students, instructors, and the community in developing practices to improve learning outcomes while using grants/bursaries/scholarships and work-study programs to improve economic access to higher education.
Resources
Waterloo’s Co-operative Education program is the largest in North America and a distinguishing feature of experiential learning on campus. Through networks of over 8,000+ employers across 75+ countries, students from more than 120 programs have opportunities to bridge academic and workplace knowledge – challenging them to learn, grow, and contribute wherever they go. Co-op has also started a pilot project to map how students can be more aware of the SDGs and engage more deeply with them during their work experiences as a way of reflecting societal impact.
Centre for Teaching Excellence
The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) collaborates with individuals, academic departments, and academic support units to foster capacity and community around teaching and to promote an institutional culture that values effective teaching and meaningful learning. Through events, resources, new faculty support, graduate student programs, instructional and curriculum design workshops, and teaching innovation grants, CTE supports Waterloo’s teaching excellence, innovation, and inquiry. CTE provides a series of online tip sheets called “Inclusive Instructional Practices” to provide guidance to instructors in this area.
Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment is the largest and most programmatically diverse faculty of its kind in Canada. It brings over 50 years of leadership in environmental education and research, anchored in sustainable development, to the campus, community, and the world. Through pioneering new programs and learning experiences as well as cross-sectoral partnerships, Environment is equipping the next generation of sustainability leaders and mobilizing sustainability solutions across society.
The Student Success Office aims to help students to graduate having achieved their self-identified goals while staying actively engaged both in and out of the classroom. Success means that students are ready to apply what they’ve learned after graduation. In 2024, the Office launched the new Community Leadership Certificate, which focuses on anti-oppressive, community-centered leadership and teaches collaborative skills and practical knowledge.
The Centre for Extended Learning (CEL) supports the design, development and delivery of online credit courses and programs for the University of Waterloo and advocates for adult, part-time and online learners. In 2024, over 525 courses and 25 programs are available fully online. Online courses increase access and flexibility, benefiting both local and global learners. "We've been extending learning and bringing Waterloo education to the world for more than 50 years."
Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing
The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing is Canada's largest and most recognized outreach organization for promoting and creating activities and materials in mathematics and computer science. It was founded in 1995 with origins dating back to the 1960s. The Centre has partnerships with groups around the world, including in the global south, providing learning resources and opportunities to compete in contests.
Engineering Science Quest envisions a world where interest in science and engineering is common among everyone. The goal is to empower youth to be the change our world will need in the future by creating opportunities for them to increase confidence in their science, engineering and technology abilities. This is done by engaging kids in hands-on activities that serve to explore the science behind their world!