The Sustainable Development Institute is being developed as a university-level strategic platform of Fudan University in response to national strategic priorities and the global sustainable development agenda. Professor Marie Harder is leading its preparatory development. Guided by a problem-oriented, human-centred and transdisciplinary approach, SDI aims to support Fudan’s organized research capacity in sustainable development by serving as a hub for strategic coordination, resource integration, institutional innovation and international partnership. During its preparatory phase, SDI will use foundational research on human cognition, values and behaviour as a methodological engine, while forming initial research clusters in climate governance and China’s dual-carbon strategy, low-carbon energy transition, megacity governance, ecological restoration, ESG reform for the Global South, and ethical governance of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. These initial areas are not fixed boundaries, but starting points through which SDI will continue to convene and connect more schools, platforms and researchers across Fudan. Through its integrated RE-CoP framework of Research, Education, Contribution and Partnership, SDI aims to help build China’s knowledge system for sustainable development and contribute Fudan insights and Chinese solutions to the post-2030 global agenda.