Today, sustainable development has become one of the most important goals for humanity. Higher education students and especially teacher candidates can play an active role in the realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for global citizenship. However, how some important issues such as how much students know about these goals can play a role in achieving these goals are not yet clear. This study aims to determine the awareness of SDGs and global citizenship among higher education students with a focus on teacher candidates and their understanding of the global citizenship concept. In addition, it is also aimed to raise awareness about sustainable development goals and evaluate the applicability of these goals to create a sustainable world for future generations. The study group comprised teacher candidates studying under the sustainable development foundations for future learning in the 2022–2023 academic year at the Faculty of Education, Near East University, Northern part of Cyprus. Five interview questions were prepared in the form of a questionnaire and delivered to participants, and data were analysed with the aid of thematic content analysis. Results indicated that global citizens must have the ability to understand world events and grasp cultural diversity, recognize that everyone has equal rights, stand against gender, racial, and social discrimination, and strive for social justice by understanding different cultures and global conflicts and evaluating different perspectives. Factors such as social justice and equality, selflessness, globalization and social values, sustainable future and responsibility, global citizenship education, and awareness and respect have been established in this study as essential elements that can contribute to the development of global citizenship. In conclusion, global citizenship has the potential to contribute directly to the SDGs, and these potentials can be better explored through global citizenship education programs that can integrate all the SGDs without prioritizing one over others for teacher candidates.

Nowadays, higher education students play an active role in the realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for global citizenship. However, some important issues such as how much students know about these goals can play a role in achieving these goals are not yet clear. The aim of this study is to establish a fundamental study for determining the level of knowledge on the higher education students about SDGs. An open-ended questionnaire was conducted with the qualitative research methods on 54 higher education students after pandemic of COVID-19. As a result of the research, the goals of quality education, gender equality, health and quality of life, reduction of inequalities and peace, justice and strong institutions are the most frequently mentioned by the students. In addition, the opinions of the students on the subject of “sustainable cities and communities” are sequentially; the themes include ensuring socio-economic development, preserving cultural heritage identity, safe environment and durable buildings, as well as modern irrigation and waste methods, and reducing air pollution. On the other hand, they agreed on the need for global citizenship to have universal qualifications. In conclusion, global citizenship contributes directly to the SDGs and human-oriented production should be given more importance.