UNESCO Chair Newsletter July 2024

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

With the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (UN HLPF) to take place from 8-17 July 2024, we are looking forward to hearing positive news from the 37 countries that will be reporting on their progress in working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Leading up to the Summit of the Future in September 2024, we hope that there will be a renewed commitment to the SDGs and to transforming education systems as key enablers of sustainable ways of life in just and inclusive societies.

The UNESCO Chair team has been accepted to join the Canadian Delegation to the 2024 UN HLPF and we are excited to learn from and to contribute to the higher education discussion, especially during the official UNITAR 2024 leadership dialogue on 14 July 2024 (all-day) and the side event under the theme Higher Education Institutions as critical partners in design and delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions at the UN Headquarters (Room S-1521) on 15 July 2024 at 1:15-2:30 pm EST.

Together with the International Association of Universities (IAU) and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), we have also been able to contribute to the sectoral paper of the Education & Academia Stakeholder Group, shared with all member states and other stakeholder groups. We are pleased with the prominent position that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) received this year.

We would also take this opportunity to extent our heartfelt thanks to IIUM and their Rector Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak for offering us the opportunity to meet Her Royal Highness Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah binti Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj, Tengku Ampuan of Pahang, former Queen of Malaysia (2019-2024) on 29 June 2024. With her unwavering support for themes of sustainability, such as climate change, healthy lifestyles, promoting culture and local knowledge, she is inspiring change agents in society, especially the next generation of higher education graduates.

The July newsletter features various events and opportunities. We invite you to read and encourage you to share this newsletter with your networks. Thank you for your interest!

Warm wishes,

Charles Hopkins & Katrin Kohl

UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, York University Canada

On 3-4 July 2024, under the theme Empowering Administrators for Climate Change Mitigation in HEIs: An Integrated Approach Through Digital Innovation and Community Engagement Objective, the International Universities Administrator Seminar (iNASA) aims to highlight the essential role of support service administrators in higher education, particularly in public sectors with insights applicable to private institutions, in addressing the challenges posed by climate change. By leveraging digital innovation and fostering robust community engagement, these administrators can lead effective strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhancing the sustainability of campus operations and the broader community. On 4 July 2024, UNESCO Co-Chair Katrin Kohl is invited to speak on the crucial role of connected and value-based management within higher education.

Watch the public session of the ESD for 2030 Regional Meeting on Transforming the Futures of Education: Mainstreaming ESD in Learning Systems live on YouTube on 3 July 2024 from 9:00 am-5:30 pm MYT / 9:00 pm-5.30am EST.

Our world is confronting pressing and dramatic challenges incurred by the collective impact of humankind. The principles of ESD call on us to contain and address the environmental, social, and economic issues of our times through the transformative power of education. In the Asia-Pacific, there is an escalating need for ESD as sustainability challenges continue to intensify.

Registrations are now open for the 2024 Edition of My Sustainable Living Challenge hosted by the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC).

You can join in this journey in an immersive environment to learn about sustainability, system change, the impact of your lifestyle, and how to make better choices – in a FUN, interactive setting. As well, and for this special edition, to participate representing of your institution!

Over the course of six weeks, teams will compete with each other, earning points for their progress and innovation. Participants will be motivated to take actions that contribute to a more sustainable future and encouraged to leverage their social media presence to increase the reach of their sustainable practices. And the best: the course is free!

The SDG Learning, Training, and Practice (SDGs in Practice) is series of capacity-building and knowledge-learning training focused on essential topics related to the implementation of the SDGs, held annually as a Special Event at the HLPF. In 2024, the SDGs in Practice sessions, organized by various UN entities in collaboration with stakeholders, will cover a range of topics, such as addressing the future of education and artificial intelligence, partnership building and multi-stakeholder engagement, lessons from the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). etc.

On 15 July 2024, the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) will organize a special event at the HLPF. It will feature a multi-stakeholder discussion on the intersection of education, innovation and sustainability, emphasizing the impact of artificial intelligence and other technologies.

The forum will showcase inspiring initiatives from the UN system and HESI action groups, highlighting higher education’s role in advancing implementation of the SDGs. 

UNESCO IESALC, HESI and UN Academic Impact will hold a panel discussion in New York on 15 July 2024 at 10-11:30 am EST.

In this hybrid event, higher education stakeholders from different world regions will discuss the need for University Voluntary Reviews and the challenges in translating the SDGs into actionable institutional practices. This event will also be the official launch of the Sustainability Self-Evaluation Tool for higher education institutions (SET4HEI).

UNITAR and York University’s One Water will host an official side event (off-site at the Westin New York Grand Central Madison Ballroom) to the UN HLPF on 16 July 2024 at 2-3 pm EST.

In this HLPF side event, UNITAR’s Global Water Academy (UGWA) offers scientific, technological, natural, and governance solutions to improve the resilience of freshwater systems, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to maintain water quality, empowering women and providing education for children to safeguard water supplies, and develop policies around water cooperation across stakeholders and sectors. Speakers will highlight examples to demonstrate the importance of building international networks to improve water quality education, capacity building, and fostering resource-sharing across disciplines and political boundaries to respond to the freshwater crisis.

Under the theme Bridging the Gap: Equipping Educators for Sustainable Development, Sulitest will hold an official side event at the HLPF on 17 July 2024 at 11:30 am – 1:00 pm. For the 8th year in a row, Sulitest will be presenting at the HLPF but for the first time the discussion will be held online for a broader audience to join.

The side event will include an expert panel discussing how networks, rankings and accreditations can accelerate positive change, reducing barriers and amplifying best practices across the sector. In addition, trends emerging from TASK by Sulitest about the global level of sustainability knowledge and the results from the global survey on faculty engagement on sustainability will be presented and critically analyzed.

The Copernicus Alliance Higher Education Summit under the theme Co-Creating Change for Sustainability will take place in Padua (Italy) on 8-10 September 2024. The IAU as well as our UNITWIN Network partner, the University of Education Heidelberg (Germany), will offer sharing sessions and presentations at the conference. Educators, researchers, students and other interested stakeholders are invited to join the conversation on education and sustainability, especially regarding whole-institution approaches. This conference is an opportunity to foster cross-border and cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration in higher education. 

On 22-24 November 2024, the IAU will hold their next 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.

Education must be rethought to help respond to urgent and unprecedented new challenges, and to take a long-term perspective on how education can help shape more inclusive, just and sustainable futures. While contexts are unique, the educational issues we need to consider as we aim to shape our collective futures are shared.

This inaugural UNESCO International Forum on the Futures of Education 2024 aims to provide a platform through which the global community can strengthen cooperation to exchange and share contextualized experiences in innovative policy, practice and research to transform education.

The IAU is currently working with UNESCO for a new publication on the Whole-Institution Approach (WIA) to Sustainable Development for all levels of education, primary, secondary, and higher education. The UNESCO Chair team will support these efforts with research and writing contributions. The team is currently reviewing literature and gathering information on examples of good practices for whole-school/whole-institution approaches globally.

If you know or have written publications and other materials or have documented case studies or success stories, we invite you to make them visible to the global community in responding to this survey.

The information from ESD networks will ensure that the new publication is best tailored for the intended target groups, will provide state-of-the-art information as well as a selection of meaningful tools and stories to have the hoped-for impact in further establishing the whole-institution approach towards sustainability. 

Learning to lead towards living together sustainably. UNESCO’s new social contract for education underlines the need – and raises a call for – reimagining educational leadership. This IdeasLAB blog by York’s UNESCO Chair team Charles Hopkins and Katrin Kohl is part of a series leading up to the launch of a publication on the theme of “renewing the social contract for education.” The theme of the series is based on the call from the report Reimagining Our Futures Together: A new social contract for education. See the full article, and look for the full special issue in Prospects to be released in 2024. 

UNESCO’s new Greening Curriculum Guidance is a practical manual providing, for the first time, a common understanding of what climate education should consist of and how countries can mainstream environmental topics across curricula, with detailed expected learning outcomes according to age group (from 5-year-olds to 18+). It focuses on the importance of promoting active learning and designing a range of hands-on activities.

UNESCO’s new Green School Quality Standard, developed in partnership with other UN agencies, civil society and countries, sets the minimum requirements on how to create a “green school” by promoting an action-oriented approach. It recommends that all schools set up green governance committees including students, teachers and parents to oversee sustainable management.

While 250 million girls and boys are currently excluded from access to education across the globe, a new UNESCO report The Price of Inaction analyzes for the first time the economic and societal cost of educational deficiencies. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, calls on the Organization’s Member States to break the “vicious circle” of school drop-outs as quickly as possible.

Education and climate change: Learning to act for people and planet takes a comprehensive approach to review the various links between education and climate change in formal, non-formal and informal settings. The report also proposes a new indicator measuring countries’ green education content. The indicator assesses national curriculum frameworks and syllabi in primary and secondary education.

In case you missed it: On 25-27 October 2023, the Canadian UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT) held an online symposium under the theme of Peace, Culture & Social Justice.

Over 150 presenters from 30+ countries led 50+ collaborative and action-oriented sessions. Sessions were held in Spanish, French, English, and Korean, with many of them being simultaneously interpreted.

Canadian UNESCO Chairs Liette Vasseur and Charles Hopkins joined forces with IIUM Rector and UNESCO Co-Chair Dzul Razak, offering a hopeful conversation on All relations: quality education for greater impacts on societies.

The 7th Annual Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Ethiopia was held in person in Dilla (Ethiopia) from 24-25 May 2024.

More than 50 participants attended from the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST), colleges of teacher education, and theological seminaries. Under the theme on Partnership for Environmental Literacy and Sustainable Schools and Communities, the conference provided an opportunity to discuss emerging trends for the future of education and current priorities in ESD practice.

Members of the network had opportunities to provide progress reports on institutional ESD implementation, learn from peers, and share experiences as well as best practices to build capacities in the region and globally.

If you are in search of a great podcast for the summer or for your daily commute to work, check out this one:

The UN’s award-winning podcast, Awake at Night, gives exclusive insights into the inspiring lives of the extraordinary people that make up the United Nations.

Join host Melissa Fleming, the UN global communications chief, in conversation with UN leaders and staff working to promote human rights, climate action, peace, development, and justice in all corners of the globe.