For Purva Bommireddy, the potential and inherent challenge of the SDGs are built into the environment all around us, in the most literal sense. As a double major in Civil Engineering and Statistics & Machine Learning at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Purva is studying how the built environment itself can advance sustainability, equity, and justice.   

Purva says it was a high school field trip to New York City’s Moynihan Train Hall during construction that led her to the field of civil engineering. Standing beneath a 92-foot high atrium enclosed by an acre of energy-efficient glass, she remembers realizing how powerful and innovative this field could be and how essential SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure is to addressing our broader sustainability and climate challenges. “Just seeing this orchestra of groups working together to build this project was so inspiring to me,” she says.

Since then, Purva has studied how other cities and countries are transforming the world’s infrastructure. She says her recent experience studying renewable energy in Iceland gave her a clearer picture of the practical questions that come with realizing SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Questions like: How can we structure a city so people have access to safe, healthy, and green public parks? How can we promote greener infrastructure like green roofs? How can we promote renewable energy transition and protect the jobs of people in dying industries? And because each of the 17 Global Goals is grounded in nearly 250 indicators, she recognizes that data at all levels will be key to understanding what’s working — and what’s not.  

One critical question underlying it all: How do we make sure that no one is left behind? 

As an an alumna of the UN Foundation’s Girl Up campaign and now an intern at CMU’s Sustainability Initiative, Purva recognizes the power of collective action and community engagement. It’s why she helped launch a network of youth sustainability leaders at three universities across the city — CMU, University of Pittsburgh, and Chatham — to promote cross-campus collaboration. Her goal is to create a space where local college students can “build a sense of community because there’s a lot of different siloed groups.”   
“Local advocacy is key,” Purva says of achieving the SDGs in the U.S., especially for the most vulnerable among us. “Let’s zoom in and bring it into that community level.” 

By M.J. Altman, United Nations Foundation