How to speak the complex language of sustainability in a social media-driven world

Whether you’re on it or not, it’s all happening on TikTok. An innovative project carried out by Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has now harnessed the power of the short video platform to drive awareness of our shared climate change objectives.

The N-TUTORR project, entitled TikTok for the sustainable development goals (SDGs) aimed to bring students studying science and agriculture together to build creative content that would help communicate the sustainability message to both their peers and the wider public.

The 17 SDGs, also known as the global goals, outline a universal call to action to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

The project was led by Dr Caroline Gilleran Stephens and her colleague Dr Suzanne Linnane, both lecturers in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Animal Health.

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Gilleran Stephens says she has been teaching her students about the SDGs for many years and realised it was time to try to bring them to life. “We thought we could get students really engaged in it by creating videos that we were able to disseminate to the wider community, and then carry out an assessment.”

Engagement was key – the students were heavily involved in the design of the project and even their own assessment. “We asked students what should be involved in an assessment and the big thing that came across from them was flexibility, so we made it very flexible,” explains Gilleran Stephens. “They could choose which SDG they wanted to focus on and choose the audience they wanted to target.”

This meant some students got to explore SDGs that were close to their own hearts. “Students chose the SDG that resonated the most with them. For example, a number of our agriculture students very specifically wanted to target the non-farming community, or urban dwellers, to try to get them to understand a bit more about their way of life,” Gilleran Stephens notes. “So, they discussed SDG2, which is zero hunger, because they have a supportive role in providing food, they had a lot of pride in it.”

TikTok was chosen as the best platform for the videos, explains Samuel Rodrigues, a PhD student at DkIT, and also an N-TUTORR student champion. “We know that many young people use TikTok and it’s the platform they use the most. We thought it would be a good way to teach them about the SDGs and really illustrate them. People aren’t necessarily conscious of the SDGs so we knew we could reach a wider audience, especially young people.”

Rodrigues, whose research focuses on the link between environmental education and citizen science, created sample videos so that the students would have an idea of what the lecturers were expecting. “We showed how you could use simple and accessible language to explain the SDGs and make the content engaging.”

This was particularly helpful for those reluctant to make videos, finding themselves out of their comfort zone, Gilleran Stephens notes. “We have some part-time students who are full-time farmers, for example, and initially they weren’t keen to produce videos as it wasn’t something they had ever done before. We provided them with a lot of mentoring and support.”

The result was a “diverse array” of videos, each with an impressive level of quality, Gilleran Stephens explains.

“We ran the project with 81 students across three courses and ended up with 32 videos. At the end of the project, we held a showcase/viewing evening on campus – complete with red carpet – and an awards ceremony with live voting on the night. Not only did the students enjoy it, but they learned a lot and had a much deeper understanding of sustainability and the SDGs at the end of it.”

The project was such a success, Gilleran Stephens said they are keen to repeat it next year. “It provided us with such a novel way of assessing students – rather than just lecturing them on the SDGs, this was far more interactive. They had their own take on it and it meant something to them.”