The Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Project was launched in 2003 in response to the resolution on the UN Decade of ESD (DESD: 2005-2014) adopted at the 57th session of the UN General Assembly. The Project focuses on contributing to international Sustainable Development (SD) and ESD processes through developing multi-stakeholder networks and higher education alliances, enhancing leadership and capacity development, and advancing knowledge through policy-relevant research. Upon the completion of the DESD in 2014, the Programme is committed to further generating, accelerating and mainstreaming ESD by implementing the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD, and through these activities, contributing to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The goal of the ESD Project is to contribute to the effective implementation of SDGs in bridging the gap between learning and development. The Project aims to realise this goal by meeting the following objectives:
• Accelerating local and regional solutions to sustainability issues 

• Re-orienting higher education for societal transformation into SD 

• Developing SD and ESD competences and capabilities as well as a science-policy interface 

The global multi-stakeholder network of Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on ESD and the alliance of higher education institutions called Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network (ProSPER.Net) are two effective vehicles for facilitating policy-relevant research that contributes to international debates and policy processes for sustainability. By making the maximum use of networks and expertise of the RCEs and ProSPER.Net, the ESD Project will offer a series of capacity development and leadership training programmes, targeting various stakeholders, especially policymakers, young professionals, youth, and practitioners. These programmes will be designed in ways which provide innovative platforms for knowledge generation and learning for transformation. Both policy-relevant research as well as capacity development and leadership programmes play significant roles in creating favourable policy environments and integrating sustainability in all sectors of society.
For more information, please visit www.rce-network.org (for the RCE Initiative) andhttp://prospernet.ias.unu.edu/ (for ProSPER.Net).