• Three year Bachelor’s Degree Program in Sustainable Development (B.Sc. – SD)

This programs is offered with an aim to reach out to the large audience of students and youth that are likely to be both decision makers and beneficiaries with regard to Human Development and Sustainable Development in the next generation. Just as the importance of planning in the welfare State permeated people’s consciousness through the educational curriculum, it is hoped that such academic programs will help integrate Human Development and Sustainable Development into the mainstream debate on development as formulated through university textbooks and research. Only when the concept and practice of these two developments mingle with academic debate and research and consequently give rise to schools of interpretation, can it truly be said to have become a field, as distinct from a fad or preoccupation of a few.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are a set of 8 goals that all 191 UN member states had agreed following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000 and following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration commit world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by 2015. No doubt, the 15 year concerted efforts of national governments, the international community, civil society and the private sector have helped expand hope and opportunity for people around the world and has produced the most successful anti- poverty movement in history, yet the job is unfinished for millions of people. We need to go the last mile on ending hunger, achieving full gender equality, improving health services and getting every child into school. The time has come to shift the world onto a sustainable path.

The framing of developmental debates is going to change a bit in the coming days with the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda in the forthcoming UN Summit in Sept 2015 in New York. The negotiations to finalize the agenda – Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Global Action – are in their last stages. What we will soon see would be called Sustainable Development Goals, Goals (SDG). These SDGs would be replacing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are set to expire at the end of 2015. The SDGs will guide policy and funding for the next 15 years, beginning with a historic pledge this coming September to end poverty, everywhere permanently. The SDGs were first talked about at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (popularly known as Rio+20) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. The 17 goals that one is more likely to hear about in the coming days are: end poverty and hunger, ensure well being and quality education, gender equality, water and sanitation, affordable and sustainable energy, productive employment, technology to benefit all, reduce inequality, safe cities and communities, sustainable consumption, combat climate change, conserve and sustainable use of marine resources, restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, promote peace and justice and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development. They are action-oriented, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

Sustainable development which means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Sustainable development recognizes the inseparable link between people, the planet, and wealth; it advocates for policies that fully consider these three components to ensure that none negatively impact the others. Achieving sustainable development requires systemic and integrated approaches that consider the complex interactions between the planet’s natural and social systems, while working at multiple levels of society, from the local to the global. The role of universities in this context assumes significance in order to create and nurture the next generation of managers and leaders who can anchor sustainable development. Building on XIMB’s (Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar) cutting-edge programs in business, rural management and sustainability management and its uncompromising spirit of caring for nature, Xavier University Bhubaneswar (XUB) has decided to respond to the global call and cry to promote the cause of sustainable development.

In order to promote sustainable development that can contribute to nation building a first of its kind Bachelor Degree Program in Sustainable Development of XUB is founded on the belief that students must be trained in a variety of disciplines in order to be effective leaders in the field of Sustainable Development. This program aims to equip students with values of equity, justice, peace and ecological and ethical sensitivity towards creating a future world of the 21st century which deeply connects nature and humanity.