The 2026 feature event at Queen’s for SDG Month Canada was a powerful and relevant keynote from globally renowned strategist and contributor to the creation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Dr. Alaa Murabit. The event took place at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on March 23 and was also livestreamed.

Dr. Murabit reframed today’s global ‘poly-crisis’ of climate instability and geopolitical conflict through a human lens, emphasizing that sustainable development is not separate from security, but fundamental to it. Citing new data from the World Health Organization, she noted that 4.9 million children are still dying every year before their fifth birthday.

“The goals I helped build, the goals this university measures itself against… are that we would make turning five unremarkable for every child on Earth… a birthday cake and too many balloons would be the baseline, not the exception,” she said. “That is not the world that we are occupying today… when a child dies from a preventable cause… you get destabilization… communities that have no reason to trust the institutions that failed them… and that is a security reality.”

Drawing on her experience across global health, development, and peacebuilding, Dr. Murabit challenged traditional systems of power and called for a shift toward community-led solutions. 

Dr. Murabit’s remarks aligned with the interdisciplinary and collaborative spirit of SDG Month, which brings together students, staff, faculty, and partners at post-secondary institutions across Canada to highlight the work being done and reaffirm the shared responsibility to work even more conscientiously at building a more sustainable and secure world.

From left: Gabriel Miller, President and CEO of Universities Canada; Patrick Deane, Principal and Vice-Chancellor; Brooke Schmidt, AMS Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability; Alaa Murabit, keynote speaker; Marcus Taylor, Special Advisor to the Principal on the SDGs.

Opening the event, Brooke Schmidt, a fifth-year biology and psychology student and Alma Mater Society Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability, reflected on how students understand sustainability as inherently interconnected. “To Queen’s students, sustainability is about environmentalism, but equally as much, as it is about humanity,” she said.

Gabriel Miller, President and CEO of Universities Canada that sponsored the event, underscored the critical role universities play in addressing global challenges, noting them as important hubs of international collaboration and innovation.

Principal Patrick Deane highlighted Queen’s leadership in advancing the SDGs, emphasizing there is still a long way to go. “I feel very pleased with the progress we've made,” said Principal Deane referring to the Queen’s community. “Sadly, with the SDGs, there is never enough progress, and there is always more we can be doing, and, of course, talking about that is one of the things we're here to do today.”

The event concluded with a moderated Q&A led by Marcus Taylor, Special Advisor to the Principal on the SDGs, inviting further discussion on how institutions and individuals can respond to a rapidly shifting global landscape.

Throughout the question period, Dr. Murabit returned to a central, urgent idea: that the work of sustainable development is ultimately about collective responsibility. “We keep each other safe,” she said. “No one else will do it.”

As SDG Month Canada at Queen’s continues, events underscore both the scale of global challenges and the opportunity for meaningful, community-engaged action. 

A recording of the event is available on the Principal’s Office YouTube channel for those who were unable to attend or wish to revisit the conversation.

March 23 at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts