A Bibliometric Analysis of Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

Nowadays, the demand for goods has increased significantly in terms of both quantity and variety, in addition to the rapidly growing human population. Comparing the amount of goods required by an individual living a few centuries ago to survive with those needed by a person living in a developed country today, it becomes clear that the scale of consumption has increased dramatically. The current generation has developed a mindset that they need more things to survive. This behavior, combined with a growing population, has led to environmental, economic, and social issues that are unprecedented in human history. In this context, it is necessary to reveal the relationship between the depletion of our planet's resources and sustainable development (Barbier, 2011). In the report published by World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 with the name of “Our Common Future” (WCD, 1987), it was emphasized that uncontrolled growth is rapidly depleting the resources of the planet. Especially after this report, an awareness about the concept of sustainability has emerged and then the concept of sustainable development has started to be discussed. In many countries, some regulations and laws related to sustainability and sustainable development have begun to be enacted. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the end of 2030 by 193 member states of the United Nations to eradicate poverty, protect our planet and ensure that all people live in peace and prosperity came into force in January 2016. This is a plan to achieve shared and sustainable prosperity through global action, with the participation of governments of different countries, non-governmental organizations, businesses, research, and technology development organisations (Khaled et al., 2021). 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2017), which were published in 2015 and emerged with a universal collective political will, consist of targets for social, economic, and environmental problems that hinder global progress towards sustainability. 213 indicators were determined for 169 goals defined under 17 goals for the evaluation of the goals and objectives on the agenda. To achieve goals, the 2030 Agenda established five pillars which are people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership (Tremblay et al., 2020) (Table 1).