Аннотация:The key role of education in achieving the 17 sustainable development goals identified by the UN for the period up to 2030 as the most important factors in transforming the world is considered. At the same time, improving the quality of education stimulates the development of the knowledge economy branches, that provides decisive competitive advantages in modern socio-economic processes. The authors show the choice of public priorities on the example of the development and implementation of the Strategy for the economic and social development of St. Petersburg for the period up to 2035. One of the most important priorities is the development of education to ensure sustainable development of the city's economy, increase the competitiveness of St. Petersburg in Russia and on foreign markets through the purposeful formation and accumulation of intellectual capital. A comparative analysis of the state of the knowledge economy branches in Russia and a number of other countries is presented, the activities of the UNESCO Chair "Quality Management in Education for Sustainable Development" at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University on conducting research in accordance with the global goals of UNESCO and Russia's national priorities in the field of improving the quality of education are shown.