ACTIONS
- Protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage
- Learning and educational opportunities
- Cultural participation/social inclusion
- Sustainable tourism
- Support research
- Employment (recruiting, training, safety)
- Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management and reduction
- Transport (forms of, energy use)
- Commercial activities including copyright and IP
- Governance and management
- Security, disaster preparedness, risk reduction
- External partnerships and collaborations
- Toolkit/framework/roadmap
- Sign-post to other resource (database)
Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals Through Art – Goals 15: Life on Land

Intended Audience
Grade 6 to 12 children enrolled in the Canadian education and the International Baccalaureate systems and educators based in Canada. With adaptation, the toolkit is also suitable for young people and educators in other countries who are interested in using it.
- L. Islam, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
“This toolkit of lesson plans and activities explores the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 15 - Life on Land - through arts and culture. We will look at sustainable development stories from Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s international work, historical artefacts from the Aga Khan Museum’s collection, and Canada’s work towards the Global Goals.” (P.6)
Avaiable in
- English
SDGs LINKAGES
This open-access toolkit helps educators make use of museum collections to educate children and young people about the SDG goals, SDG 15 (life on land) in particular, and encourage them to reflect on current affairs and happenings. Topics and contents presented in this tool are highly related to SDG targets 15.1 (ensure the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems), 15.2 (promotion of sustainable forest management), 15.4 (conservation of mountain ecosystems), 15.5 (actions to reduce degradation of natural habitats), 15.6 (promotion of fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of generic resources), 15.7 (highlight the illegality of poaching), and 15.9 (integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national (Canada) development).
The toolkit also helps users achieve SDG target 4.1 (provision of quality primary and secondary education) and 4.7 (knowledge and skills for sustainable development). The toolkit also helps address SDG target 5.1 (highlight roles and significance of women in farming and combatting climate change).
Click on the SDG Target to discover Our Collections Matter indicators
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of programmes drawing on collections that support children at risk of exclusion or otherwise not completing primary and secondary education.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Numbers of people in each type of programme drawing on collections from different demographic groups.
- Increases in numbers of people in each type of programme from different demographic groups.
- Proportion of people involved in such programmes in relation to overall audience size.
- Evidence that learners have acquired knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Collections development to ensure that collections effectively meet the needs of all, irrespective of sex or gender.
- Number and proportion of educational and participatory programmes that promote participation irrespective of sex or gender.
- Numbers and proportions of girls, women and gender-diverse people making use of collections in relation to the demographic of the local population.
- Numbers and proportions of girls, women and gender-diverse people involved in focused programmes aimed at promoting social, economic and political inclusion.
- Numbers and proportions of girls, women and gender-diverse people from different demographic groups involved in decision-making processes relating to collections and collections-based institutions.
- Number and types of partnerships that build relationships with people of different sex and gender.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of terrestrial and inland freshwater systems in a good ecological condition.
- Information on, educational programmes, collections development, research and partnerships relating to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems drawing on collections in place.
- Policies relating to collections and their use aligned with international agreements for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of forests in a good ecological condition.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to forests drawing on collections in place, to support their protection and effective functioning.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in a good ecological condition.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to mountain ecosystems and their biodiversity drawing on collections in place, to support their protection and effective functioning.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of habitats, notably endangered habitats, and species with favourable conservation status, with special reference to locally, nationally and globally endangered species.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to habitats and species drawing on collections in place, to support their protection and continued existence.
- Measures taken to enhance biodiversity value of green space associated with collections institutions.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Policies, plans and agreements in place for access and benefit sharing relating to use of collections, in line with the Nagoya Protocol (notably relating to natural history collections, gene banks, tissue banks, seed banks).
- Effective communication and dissemination methods in place to promote access to resources, and access to relevant policies, plans and agreements, in place.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Policies and plans in place to ensure objects and specimens of protected species (for example ivory, rhino horn) in collections are protected against theft and do not enter supply chains.
- Policies and plans in place to ensure that objects and specimens are only acquired in line with national and international legislation, or with legal dispensation.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to poached and trafficked species, notably protected and endangered species, to end poaching and trafficking.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion and number of relevant plans, processes and strategies that incorporate ecosystem and biodiversity values, and their relationships with effective collections.
- Plans in place to ensure that development of collections facilities contributes to effective conservation and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems.