Issue 70: June 2017

 

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Issue 70: June 2017

 

Message from the Global RCE Service Centre:

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Mark Your Calendar! First Thematic RCE Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change and SCP

5-7 December 2017, Japan (exact location TBC)

The RCE Service Centre is pleased to announce the dates for its first Thematic RCE Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Sustainable Consumption and Production – focused on food systems. The conference will be held in Japan, with the exact location to be confirmed soon. During the conference, participants will delve deeper into these topics, through discussions and capacity building exercises.

RCEs are encouraged to submit summaries of their best practices in these areas, to be shared during the conference. The conference will also offer capacity building workshops and opportunities for RCEs to learn what UN organizations and other international partners are doing in these areas and offer ways for RCEs to contribute to global sustainable development objectives. An open call and details on registration will be released soon.

Mark Your Calendar: 2017 RCE Award for Innovative Projects on ESD to Open 1 September

You can submit your Annual Report as of 1 June, 2017. Awards applications for 2017 can be submitted between 1 September 2017 and 31 October 2017. Projects receiving the Outstanding Flagship Award Category will receive one travel grant for each project to join one of the upcoming RCE meetings in 2018. Read more

Calling on all RCEs working in Biodiversity! Submit your assessment until 26 June!

IPBES aims to finalize five assessments at the sixth session of the IPBES Plenary, in March 2018: four regional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services (for Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe and Central Asia) and the thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration. The eight-week period for external review of the second order drafts of the assessment chapters and the first order drafts of the summaries for policymakers is now open and runs until 26 June 2017 for the land degradation and restoration, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe and Central Asia assessments; and until 24 July 2017 for the Americas assessment. Read more

Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish (1937 - 2017)

With sadness we received the message that Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish died June 15th at 80 years of age. Dr. Ibrahim was a man full of inspiration and great values striving for sustainable development. He started the Sekem initiative with one small organic farm 40 years ago in the desert of Egypt and went on to build a network and today’s business group Sekem with more than 2,000 workers. The Sekem Development Foundation includes a Kindergarden, elementary, high and vocational training schools, a medical health care center and the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development that has set new standards for inclusive, transdisciplinary, and transformative education and research.

Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish joined the RCE network when establishing RCE Cairo in 2009. From the very beginnings of the network, he was an active participant in our annual conferences and inspired many of us. Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Price) in 2003 for ‘a 21st century business model that combines commercial success with social and cultural development’. We will remember Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish as an inspiring man who contributed to sustainable development through his visions and his values.

Sincerely,

The Global RCE Service Centre

 

Upcoming Events

 

7th Africa RCE Meeting

2-4 August 2017, Lusaka, Zambia

RCE Lusaka, Zambia is delighted to host the African RCE Meeting in 2017. This year’s theme of the meeting is “RCE and ESD Initiatives: Milestones for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”. Application deadline is 25 June 2017 midnight at Central African Time.*Please note that the schedule has been changed from the previously announced schedule. The concept note, fund support application form and other related materials are available here.

European RCE Meeting

8 - 9 September 2017, Dortmund, Germany

The European RCE Meeting will be held back to back with the Conference FAIR FRIENDS a trade fair for Sustainable Lifestyles, Fair Trade and Social Responsibility, in Dortmund. RCE Ruhr and RCE Oldenburg-Muensterland will organize the meeting. Feedback from European RCEs is requested for possible themes for the conference. The tentative programme is now available on the RCE Portal.

6th Americas RCE Meeting

14-15, September 2017, Vancouver, Canada

RCE British Columbia (Northern Cascades) will be hosting this year’s regional meeting in the Americas. The conference will be held back to back with the World Environment Education Congress (WEEC2017), featuring the theme of Culture/Environment: Weaving New Connections. More information on these meetings will soon be posted on the RCE Portal.

Summer Course Youth Leadership Programme on Sustainable Development: Community Resilience for Promoting Sustainable Development Goals in Changing Climate

12-21 September 2017, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

ProSPER.Net member Universitas Gadja Mada is organizing this leadership course where youth will learn about SDGs, policy and agenda that currently influence sustainability worldwide. Participants will hear how they can engage with the movement, and position themselves as local and global communities. UNU-IAS researchers Mario Tabucanon, Zinaida Fadeeva and Unnikrishnan Payyappallimana will be speakers at the event. Read more

8th IAEC Asia-Pacific Regional Network Meeting

14-15 September 2017, Suseong-gu, Korea

The IAEC (International Association of Educating Cities) invites all local governments in the Asia Pacific region, including RCEs, to share best ESD and GCE practices. The meeting is organized under the theme of ‘The role of Educating Cities to foster Global Citizenship Education'. Accommodation and local transport will be provided. RCEs with expertise in GCE practices are particularly encouraged to apply as a small honorarium for presenting will be offered. Read more

10th Asia Pacific RCE Meeting

2-4 November 2017, Delhi, India

RCE Delhi is hosting the 10th Asia Pacific RCE Meeting in Delhi, India. More information will be added to theRead more

For more events visit our ESD calendar.

 

Open Calls

 

#Video4COP23 Youth Competition

The UNFCCC secretariat and the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme are inviting young people to share their stories on action they are taking to make the world more sustainable and climate friendly. They can submit stories of what they are doing as part of the third annual Global Youth Video Competition on Climate Change. Share the #Video4COP23 competition on your platforms. Read more

Green Olympiad

GREEN Olympiad is an annual written examination on environment initiated by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The exam is conducted by Sustainable Development Outreach & Youth Education Division of TERI and attracts participation from lakhs of school students across India and abroad. The examination is open only for schools affiliated to recognized education boards and educational trusts. Students enrolled in such schools from grades IV to X can appear in this examination. Read more

 

Latest News

 

UNU-IAS and UNESCAP Team Up at the Asia Pacific Forum

UNU-IAS and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) co-organized a workshop on Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for the SDGs Implementation in Asia and the Pacific.Read more

Asian Network for Promoting Teacher Education Discusses ESD in Teacher Capacity Building

The 1st meeting of the Asian Network for Promoting Teacher Education, held in Okayama, Japan on 10– 11 June 2017, focused on how ESD initiatives from national ministries of education and sub-national education boards were integrated into teacher training programs of universities in six countries across Asia Pacific. The conference was relevant as it contextualized the unique challenges of nations in creating a national ESD strategy for teacher training. It was interesting to see the complexity of how a national strategy plays out in sub-national, local contexts. This meeting highlighted how RCEs have been instrumental in the teacher training programmes in localized contexts, and offered insight into how an RCE model may be of use in other countries. One of the core components of the network will be to develop guidelines for teacher training institutions. Read more

Powerful Youth Ambassador School Programme

Coordinated by the Office of Sustainability, Western Sydney University (host to RCE Greater Western Sydney) in partnership with a number of our RCE network members, 100 students from 10 local high schools participated in a one-day forum with a series of hands on workshops including building a solar car to measuring light and temperature with a range of digital meters. Read more

Asia Pacific Coordinating Committee Agrees to Close Inter-RCE collaboration in the Region

On 9 May 2017, five RCEs and the Global RCE Service Centre joined in the first Asia Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee Meeting through Skype. RCE Greater Western Sydney (RCE GWS), RCE Iskandar, RCE Penang, RCE Tongyeong, and RCE Waikato discussed the role, structure and communication of the Committee. Mario Tabucanon (UNU-IAS) explained the envisioned tasks of the Committee to advise on the agenda of the AP RCE annual meeting; provide a platform for AP regional collaboration, and co-ordinate and report inter-RCE activities. Read more

Nigerian RCEs Meet to Discuss SDG Implementation

On May 12-14, 2017, the Nigerian Regional Centers of Expertise (RCEs) organized a Forum to commemorate the visit of Charles Hopkins to Nigeria. The programme brought together RCEs across Nigeria, people from academia, government, secondary schools, traditional institutions, NGOs and Media organizations. Read more

Decolonising Sustainable Development

Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Former IAU President (2012-2016) talks about the importance of indigenous knowledge in ESD. ”Anthropocentrism was not an issue then as it being categorically singled out today. This is made very apparent over the period of DESD whereby indigenous knowledge and wisdom found their way to be firmly anchored in the ESD framework while further widening the relevance of ESD over and above the scope envisaged in 1987. It sets up new focus on ESD by broadening ‎and enriching it as a living educational approach that engages and collaborates with real life communities; actualises sustainable livelihood as real life experiences beyond the limits of living labs; and it invites for an even greater involvement of the global community in promoting and preserving relevant indigenous norms, values and practices in all that we do.” Read more

 

ESD Books, Publications and Other

 

Climate Change Education for Asia Pacific Small Island Developing States

UNESCO Jakarta published the training material ‘Climate Change Education for Asia Pacific Small Island Developing States.’ Developed under a project funded by the Government of Malaysia, the publication aims to enhance the capacity of teachers at all levels to deliver climate change education. It includes examples of educational activities and sample lesson plans to help teachers in Asia Pacific Small Island Developing States to promote education for sustainable development. Read more.

 

This is a publication of UNU-IAS RCE Global Service Centre.

If you wish to contribute to the monthly bulletin or have news, upcoming events, or publications, you would like to share, please use this form. You can mail it to the Global RCE Service Centre: rceservicecentre@unu.edu. Submissions must be made by the 15th of every month. In addition, we encourage you to continue using the RCE Portal to exchange ideas, share expertise and resources and deliberate emerging sustainability issues towards ESD implementation at a global level.

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