UNESCO Chair Newsletter September 2024

Welcome to the September 2024 edition of the York University UNESCO Chair newsletter!

Greetings from Toronto. It is that time of the year when many students return to classes, and everyone is gearing up for busy months ahead. So are we: Following our engagement in the 2024 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July (also: York University at 2024 HLPF), we are preparing for the Summit of the Future to be held in New York on 22-23 September 2024 as well as the meetings in advance, such as the Summit of the Future Action Days and the 12th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development. The focus is on coming together as an international community to renew commitment to multilateralism, rebuild trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) recognized a key enabler of all SDGs, we will advocate for the importance of education, training and public awareness in all aspects of the sustainability dialogue.

Beyond the Summit of the Future, lots is happening. Please see the comprehensive list of events and opportunities below and feel free to share this newsletter with your network. Thank you for your interest!

Kind regards,

Charles Hopkins & Katrin Kohl, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, York University Canada

The Ages of Globalization is a free, online, multidisciplinary course designed to prepare learners from around the world to tackle today’s challenges. Students will virtually travel to UNESCO’s World Heritage sites that bring history to life. Video-based content, lesson plans, and a final capstone project are well rounded with a monthly live session to offer dialogue with global leaders. The course is co-hosted by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Mission 4.7, SDGs Today, the Global Schools Program, and supported by UNESCO, with further partners.

To kick off this innovative adventure, a launch event will take place on 20 September 2024 from 11.15-12.15pm EDT during the High-Level Pre-Conference to the Summit of the Future in New York.

On 25 September 2024, ProSPER.Net will host the hybrid 2024 Sustainability Forum as a joint event with Sustainable Development Solutions Network Philippines (SDSN PH). The forum is organized by Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo Institute of Sustainability, UNU-IAS (ProSPER.Net Secretariat) and De La Salle University. Following the Summit of the Future, this forum will dive deep into the critical role universities play in pushing forward multilateral solutions to achieve the SDGs. With the theme Circular Economy in Higher Education: Our Pact for the Future, the forum will explore how higher education and multisectoral collaborations can champion the circular economy as both a mindset and a lifestyle.

Promoting knowledge sharing, collaboration and mutual learning through the ESD-Net 2030, UNESCO will host the third ESD-NET Learning Webinar in 2024. Under the theme Learning and assessing competencies in ESD, the session will take place on 26 September 2024 from 10:00-12:00 CET /4-6 am EDT. 

This session will explore how ESD learning competencies can be included in curricula, pedagogy, assessment and the learning environment. Participants will hear from leading experts on promising practices of teaching, learning, and assessing ESD competencies, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Learn more.

The UNESCO Chairs and Partners Forum under the theme Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future aims to strengthen interdisciplinary and collaborative research capacity in Africa, including through more inclusive and effective South-South and South-South-North research partnerships. Convened from 30 September to 2 October 2024 by UNESCO and the Africa Union, the Forum is an excellent opportunity to showcase research and other projects, enhance collaborative research, and make new connections.

On 22-24 November 2024, the International Association of Universities (IAU) will hold the International Conference under the theme University Values in a Changing World in partnership with Sophia University in Tokyo (Japan). This year, the values that appear intrinsic to the very essence of universities and that are deeply embedded in diverse cultures and traditions, are at the centre of discussion. Speakers, representing higher education institutions from all four corners of the world will have a say in the discussion.

The German Rectors’ Conference will host a conference focusing on a broad understanding of ESD and its potential to transform higher education in Hamburg (Germany) on 12-13 December 2024. As a cultural concept, (western/westernized) education plays a vital role in the nature-culture-divide, contributing to the emergence of the unpleasant state of the Anthropocene that humans are facing today. Hence, it is time to bridge the culture-nature divide and embrace pluralistic forms of knowledge and empower humans to view themselves as part of an interconnected world. A call for abstracts is currently open until 15 September 2024. Find out more.

The urgency of the climate crisis is undeniable. The transition to a clean economy demands significant changes in skills, occupations, and attitudes. York’s UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins is among the speakers from education and business that delve into the challenges, opportunities, and strategies associated with developing higher education graduates who are equipped to lead on the path towards sustainable economies.

Canada needs workers with the green skills required for a more sustainable economy and future. This research – advised by York’s UNESCO Chair team – looks at how, and if, post-secondary institutions are teaching green skills and what is needed in workplaces, and how higher education can close the gap. What are the top green skills workplaces are looking for? Are schools doing enough to prepare students for the green jobs of today and tomorrow?

The long-awaited special issue of the Prospects Journal has arrived: Volume 54, Issue 2 of Prospects: Renewing the Social Contract for Education. Prospects is a leading journal providing comparative and international perspectives on current issues in curriculum, learning, and assessment. UNESCO partnered with a number of contributors from the UNESCO Chairs Network to curate diverse perspectives, responding to UNESCO’s invitation to renew the social contract for education. Thanks to our co-authors Robert J. Didham, Dzul Razak, Zainal Sanusi, and Mirian Vilela for partnering to contribute an article on Envisioning leadership for tomorrow’s collective well-being.

This is an opportunity to contribute to an upcoming MDPI Special Issue, launched by our colleagues Iveta Silova and Victoria Desimoni from Arizona State University (United States) and Carrie Karsgaard from Cape Breton University (Canada). This issue explores activism in the most expansive sense, looking beyond the youth climate strikes. The editors invite papers that address a multiplicity of youth activisms from a range of global contexts. Submissions by scholars and activists from the Global South as well as those belonging to marginalized communities within the Global North are particularly welcomed. Find out more.

Our colleagues Iveta Silova and Victoria Desimoni from Arizona State University (United States) and Carrie Karsgaard from Cape Breton University (Canada) are also looking for contributions to the NORRAG Blog Series. They invite submissions of blogs or vlogs on a rolling basis that can speak to a wider global audience of policymakers, academics, researchers, civil society organizations, activists, and other actors working in education, particularly from youth and youth researchers who are not often heard in academic spaces, including youth from the Global South, marginalized communities in the Global North, and from contexts where activism is culturally unacceptable, criminalized, underground, or perhaps unrecognized as activism. Find out more.

The SDGs call for all societal actors to accept their responsibility and to act more sustainably. Higher education has a high potential as research, innovation, and community engagement are essential cornerstones for valuable contribution of the SDGs. Yet most practices towards the SDGs are still scattered. To move towards structural, institutional and actionable commitments, higher education needs to embrace better measuring and monitoring mechanisms. SET4HEI is a free comprehensive resource that supports HEIs to measure and increase their contribution to the SDGs. 

ESD and global citizenship education complement each other in a quality education as stated in SDG 4. Check out this new opportunity to learn about global citizenship. This course is designed to provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of global citizenship education and its importance in today’s interconnected world. Over the course of several modules, we will explore the meaning and significance of global citizenship, and the role that education can play in promoting global citizenship values and attitudes. We will delve into various topics such as human rights, sustainability, social justice, and cultural diversity.

In light of the upcoming Summit of the Future, discussions on multilateralism are the center of concern. You are a student and would like to learn more or refresh your knowledge? In this free course designed to prepare students for the upcoming Summit of the Future, Professor Patrick Paul Walsh of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network will guide learners through the origins of Our Common Agenda, 11 thematic policy briefs, and the multilateral process for adopting the three compacts. Learn more about the course.

Across the globe, young people are currently signing a petition for better climate education. It calls for a seismic shift to mobilize the true potential of climate change education. The petition is supported by the GEM Report, the MECCE project, Take Action Global and Earth Guardians. When a student learns the science of climate change, they must also learn how to be part of the solution. 

UNESCO IESALC and National Geographic Learning in their ongoing commitment to promoting sustainable education through the Greening Higher Education and Greening Education Partnership invite higher education institutions to participate in a survey, gathering valuable case studies and insights on innovative practices in greening within higher education institutions and beyond. The survey aims to collect information about initiatives in greening teaching, training and curriculum, greening science, technology, and innovation, greening skills and jobs, and greening higher education institutions.

Following years of rapid digital transformation, the IAU is conducting the second Global Survey on Digital Transformation of Higher Education to monitor transformations. Universities and other higher education institutions from around the world are invited to contribute to the survey to inform a new report sharing global perspectives. Learn more here. 

Trends 2024: European higher education institutions in times of transition

The report focuses on several major transitions in European higher education, including changes in the student body, education programs offered as well as mobility and internationalization.

Accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda from local to global levels

The policy briefs examine critical issues pertaining to local implementation of action to achieve the 2030 Agenda and provides evidence-based recommendations for SDG localization.