SDGs Teaching Resources

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Use one or more of the Generation Global resources to teach about this SDG in your learning community. Select the resource you would like to use to learn more:

Tips and examples for aligning this SDG with your class

• Use dialogue to make real life connections between the content and subject you teach and what young people are experiencing regarding the issue.
• Use Dialogue as an activity that you come back to at key moments of a project to revisit the topic from various points of view and to reflect. For example, you might want to enter a dialogue on the subject before you teach a project, to help learners get personally connected, then host another dialogue at the end to help them explore what was learned and any new ideas that have come from the experience.
• Be sure to allow learners the space to bring their own personal experiences into the conversation and to explore instead of debating an issue.

Subject activity ideas

Math

Review data on the housing affordability crisis per region from the United Nations Statistics webpage. Ask learners to note which regions are most affected and what factors might be driving the differences. Book students into the SDG 11 video conference on Inclusive Cities to compare and reflect on challenges faced in different regions.

Sciences

Prepare to engage in a SMART Cities design project by having students complete the Inclusive Communities topic in the Ultimate Dialogue Adventure and reflect on what their own community needs to thrive. Based on the reflections, have learners design solutions for improving living conditions, green spaces, and accessibility and mobility.

Social Science

Prepare to host a conversation about the relationship between community and society in your country. Use the Rules of Dialogue activity to learn one way to create safe, brave, and inclusive spaces for the conversation to take place.

Language Arts

Use the Sharing our ideas activity plan from the Essentials of Dialogue to help students engage in a creative writing exercise. Invite students to write down 2–5 statements that use words to describe their community and what they think the future will look like.

Additional activities and resources

Videos:

• Understand Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (Secondary)
• Sustainable Cities and Communities 🏙️ SDG 11 🌿 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids
• SDG Academy Library: SDG 11 Sustainable Cities (video collection)

Readings and Data:

• Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities - United Nations Development Programme
• Sustainable Cities and Communities - United Nations (DESA, Statistics Division)
• The Global Goals: Things to do for Sustainable Cities and Communities

Activities:

• SDG 11 - Transform the city: future thinking put into practice - Stairway to SDGs
• SDG 11: Concrete Jungle to Urban Oasis (Lesson Plan) - Open Educational Resources Commons
• Lesson 15 | SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities - World Affairs Council