University and Sustainable Development

The aim of this article is to analyse the decisive role that public universities have to play in meeting the sustainable development objectives set out in Agenda 2030. Specifically, from the perspective of Objective 4 (Quality Education), we will focus our attention on free access to higher education and the role of the university as a social lift; the design of a new social contract based, to a large extent, on the fulfilment, under the culture of quality, of university missions; the environmental policy that corresponds to the development of higher education institutions; effective equality between men and women in the university environment; and the configuration of the university as a space for integration and management of diversity, inclusive and healthy.