Message from the Global RCE Service Centre:

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Mark Your Calendar! ProSPER.Net Forum on Sustainability in Higher Education 2018

Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Thailand in collaboration with UNU-IAS, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) will hold the ProSPER.net Forum on Sustainability in Higher Education ‘Higher Education and Research in a Changing Climate: Science-Policy-Society Interface’, on 24-26 January 2018, Hat Yai, Thailand. The Forum will also be a commemorative event for PSU to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Read more

RCE Belarus Joins RCE Network

Please join us in welcoming RCE Belarus to the network. By far the most pressing impact on the environment of Belarus has been the aftermath of the Chernobyl catastrophe. An ongoing threat to the environment also results from the currently applied land-use methods, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and mass-scale loss of nature-friendly agricultural practices. RCE Belarus aims to transform the views and behavior of local inhabitants, closely connecting this to integrating ESD practices in the communities. At the same time, they hope to increase the professional expertise and support the key role of education in regional sustainable development processes. More information RCE Belarus will soon be posted on the RCE Portal.

Sincerely,

The Global RCE Service Centre

Upcoming Events

Ninth World Urban Forum (WUF9): Cities 2030 for All

7-13 February 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

WUF9 will be an instrumental to substantively feed into the inputs for the first report of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. The Forum will also contribute to global mobilization towards advocating for the common vision on sustainable urban development in advancing on the achievement of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more

9th International Conference on Environmental and Rural Development (9th ICERD)

24 - 25 February 2018, Yezin, Myanmar

The International Society of Environmental and Rural Development (ISERD) is organizing the 9th ICERD. Deadline for abstract submission is 31 October 2017. Read more

For more events visit our ESD calendar.

Open Calls

2019 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR)

The GSDR, mandated by the UN Member States is the outcome document of the 2012 Rio + 20 conference. As part of its outreach efforts, the IGS is soliciting inputs from a diverse group of scientific and non-scientific communities, from all over the world, in the form of publications supported by short abstracts or descriptions of case studies. They are requesting contributions in (1) interactions among SDGs and their targets, (2) transformation pathways towards sustainable development; (3) looking beyond the SDG and (4) the role of science for sustainable development. If you are interested, click here.

Expansion of RCE Asia Pacific DRR Network Concept – Calling on Japanese RCEs

In February last year, there was an open call to establish a RCE group to collaborate on DRR. This has now been established with several RCEs joining this group. However, they are now calling on Japanese RCEs to collaborate with them, due to their expertise in Disaster Risk Reduction. Also, there are funds available by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency Japan (ERCA), i.e. the Japan Global Fund for Environment that could be used to bring this group forward. Read more

IPBES Global Assessment on ILK

Contributions on Indigenous and Local Knowledge [ILK] for the IPBES Global Assessment - deadline extended to 20 December 2017! Read more

Latest News

Universities Discuss ESD Implementation in Higher Education Japan

Every year, Japanese universities meet at the HESD Forum to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The HESD Forum is the biggest meeting in Japan of its kind. Different interesting points emerged from the discussion such as undergraduates being more interested in ESD in general and how ESD is implemented in the different universities. Read more

RCE Penang Receives Wenhui Award for Educational Innovation 2017

RCE Penang received an Honourable Commendation for its ‘360 Approach to Teachers’ ESD Professional Development. The programme goes beyond one-off workshops or lectures on embedding ESD into subjects for a full range of activities. These include webinars, research into teachers’ knowledge about and attitudes toward ESD, and opportunities for teachers to network and share ESD practices. The Award Ceremony will be held from 18 to 19 November 2017 in Shanghai, China. Read more

CISSA – RCE Thiruvananthapuram Wins ESD Okayama Award 2017

RCE Thiruvananthapuram together with its major stakeholder the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) has won the Global Prize of the Education in Sustainable Development (ESD) Okayama Award for 2017 for the project 'Kerala Children’s Agricultural Science Congress'. The project was selected for the Award from among 11 nominated projects in the first-round of selection. As many as 44 applications from 29 countries competed for the Award. Read more

Youth Discuss Good Governance, Sustainable Development and Leadership at the 2nd African Youth Virtual Conference

African youths have an integral role to play in bringing about Sustainable Development, Good Governance and sound Leadership on the continent. For this reason RCE Minna, Nigeria in collaboration with RCE Grand Rapids, Michigan USA, for the second time, brought together, virtually, young people from across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa to discuss ways of addressing the challenges of Leadership and Governance on the African continent. The 2nd African Youth Virtual Conference was held on 13 September 2017 with the theme: The Role of Youths in Achieving Good Governance, Leadership and Sustainable Development on the Continent. Youth took part actively and topics discussed included youth participation in the decision-making process, advocacy, sensitization, and how to take leadership roles in their various communities, regions and countries.

Presentations, Reports and more have been uploaded on the portal here. Photos of the event have been uploaded on facebook.

New TVET Initiative COMMEET

COMMEET is a new TVET initiative envisioning tailor-made vocational education and entrepreneurship training for regional communities anywhere in the world. The goal of COMMEET is to achieve optimal embedding of TVET and entrepreneurship initiatives in these communities. Advancing community empowered TVET-centres in every part of the world requires generating a dynamic, expanding global network, with educators and educating facilities of every type and form, both formal and non-formal, including private institutions as well as governmental organisations - ranging from university and HEI training and education centres to equally important skilled local craftsmen and women. Read more

ESD Books, Publications and Other

Psychology of Environmental Protection - Handbook for Encouraging Sustainable Action

Based on a psychological model, a new handbook for encouragement of sustainable action summarizes environmental psychology’s treasure of knowledge in a scientifically profound and practical way. Each chapter is dedicated to an important topic like self-efficacy, social norms, and emotions. Guiding questions and examples that are close to everyday life facilitate a direct implementation in ESD. Read more.

Sustainability Filters and Enhancers towards Improving Intervention Functionality and Sustainable Advancement as a More Holistic Concept

Anthony Wakwe Lawrence (RCE Candidate Greater Yenagoa), International Journal of Development and Economic Sustainability (IJDES), Vol 5, Issue 5, September 2017. Read more.