Between 29 February and 8 April 2016, the British Council's London office was home to 'The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Facing up to the big global challenges’ exhibition.
We set out to raise awareness and start a conversation about the SDGs and their importance to our work, that of our partners and to the UK more widely.
The SDGs are very relevant to much of what we do at the British Council: teaching English, supporting opportunities for skills development and lifelong learning, promoting good governance, and using the arts as a space for social change.
Our exhibition provided an insight into a broad spectrum of our programmes, demonstrating the ways in which they are all promoting fair, sustainable and inclusive societies.
“The exhibition demonstrates really well the kind of organisation that the British Council are and the relevance and importance of the work that they do around the world – and why they should keep doing it.”
Responses to the exhibition was hugely positive; many visitors to the space loved the striking colours and use of sustainable materials such as corrugated iron - which started conversations about the tradition held by many countries within Africa, Asia and the Caribbean to recycle, reuse and repurpose – an interesting lesson in sustainability for the UK and other countries.
There was an emphasis on the importance of global partnership to the achievement of the SDGs, which is a key tenet of the British Council’s cultural relations approach.
We hope that by focusing on building long-term partnerships, working in collaboration and widening the participation of diverse groups, our work can continue to bring about positive change.
