The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a critical inclusion in the education of globally aware and responsible students. This paper explores the development of a project-based learning (PBL) experience that addresses the Clean Water and Sanitation UN goal, to “ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”* The project is specifically developed for coastal communities, and focuses on prototyping low-tech, small-scale devices to remove salt from seawater (desalination). The overarching project goal is to help coastal individuals maintain access to drinkable water in disaster situations and/or provide a viable drinking water option to developing coastal community contexts. We piloted the project with two primary school teachers, two pre-service teachers, and an undergraduate engineering student. In this paper, we share findings from piloting the project, including the technical project outcomes and participants perceptions of it. Additionally, we make suggestions for how this project could be scaled and implemented in a range of other educational settings to facilitate UN SDG learning experiences for students.

*United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, https://sdgs.un.org/goals (last accessed July 7th, 2025)

Keywords: Water, Project Based Learning, Sustainable Development, Engineering Design, Pedagogical Innovations.