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This study aims to examine academic staff’s engagement with sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education institutions.

The triangulation, convergence model of the mixed methods research design was adopted as the strategy for inquiry. A total of 56 questionnaires and 25 interviews were used to collect the data, and this was buttressed by document review and use of secondary data obtained from Scival.

The results show moderate levels of engagement of academic staff with the SDGs. However, SDGs familiarisation is not correlated with the rate of localisation. The lack of funding deflated political will by university management, demotivated academia and shrinking government support are the leading impediments to SDGs localisation.

The results could be improved by using a larger sample size equally distributed across disciplines. Triangulation of academics’ views with those of students and non-academic staff could have improved the understanding of other dynamics involved in the localisation of SDGs by university teaching staff.

The results point towards the need for a university-based framework that interweaves national, institutional, thematic, structural and personal aspects into the SDGs implementation matrix. The underlying determinants of successful localisation of SDGs by academia need to be addressed through a bottom-up approach.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt in Zimbabwe to exclusively look at University teaching staff’s engagement with SDGs.

University students’ awareness, knowledge and attitude towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contribute to their implementation and localisation. Understanding students’ perspectives in open and distance e-Learning institutions (ODELs) is crucial. This study aims to examine variations in students’ SDG knowledge and awareness across socio-economic characteristics, their engagement in SDGs and their identification of opportunities, gaps and priorities for implementation.

An online survey (n = 1,009) gathered responses from students across various socio-demographic variables. Descriptive and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis Test statistics were used to examine differences.

Students recognised the importance of SDG knowledge across all levels (p < 0.05, except for gender). The expectation for increased SDG content in the curriculum was high. A significant difference (p < 0.001) in these expectations was found across all variables except gender. However, involvement in SDGs and participation in related platforms and workshops was marginal to non-existent. These results guide universities in promoting SDGs to enhance sustainability-focused education strategies.

The article outlines measures universities can take to evaluate their contributions towards SDGs implementation, particularly in open and distance learning institutions.