RCE Bulletin 35: May 2014

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Issue 35: May 2014

Message from the Global RCE Service Centre:

 

Dear colleagues and friends,

Following the establishment of the new United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) in January 2014, a new website (http://ias.unu.edu/en/) was launched in April 2014. The website is designed to reflect the unique vision and approach of the new institute of contributing to a more sustainable future through policy-oriented research and capacity development on sustainability. Our former UNU-IAS website has been archived, but it is still accessible at http://archive.ias.unu.edu/.

We are working on migrating RCE-related information and resources to the RCE Portal (http://www.rcenetwork.org/portal/home) and hope to complete the task by the end of June. The remodeled RCE Portal will contain more general information on RCEs for non-RCE members and will continue to serve as a communication platform for RCE members to exchange innovative ideas and projects.

During the migration period, you can still post comments on the Community page and upload your Annual Reports. We would, therefore, like to encourage you to make use of the RCE Portal for preparatory discussions on upcoming events such as continental RCE meetings and the 9th Global RCE Conference. You are further encouraged to start updating your annual reports.

With much appreciation,

The Global RCE Service Centre

Upcoming Events

 

Events organized by UNU-IAS

3rd Americans RCE Meeting

28 July–1 August 2014

The 3rd Americans RCE Meeting will be held in Aurlan de La Grana, Jalisco, Mexico from 28 July to 1 August. The overall objective of the meeting is to share experiences and best practices and strengthen collaboration among Americans RCE members for the promotion of ESD in the region. The tentative schedule is available here. For more information, please contact Salvador Garcia (sgarcia_60@yahoo.com.mx) of RCE Western Jalisco.

7th Asia-Pacific RCE Meeting and International Symposium on ‘A Decade of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD: Reflections and Advances in Asia-Pacific’

26–28 August 2014

The 7th RCE Asia-Pacific Meeting will be hosted by RCE Penang in Malaysia from 26–28 August in conjunction with the International Symposium on ‘A Decade of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD: Reflections and Advances in Asia-Pacific’. In addition to the ongoing discussions on priority thematic areas, the meeting aims to discuss how to further advance the ESD agenda beyond the DESD with reference to the Global Action Programme on ESD. The registration and call for case presentations will be open shortly through the conference website.

4th African RCE Continental Meeting and 32nd Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) Annual Conference

9–12 September 2014

The 4th African RCE Continental Meeting will be held in conjunction with the 32nd Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) annual conference at the University of Namibia (Windhoek Campus) on 9–12 September. The theme of the EEASA conference is: Reflections on the current and emerging ESD issues and practices informing the post DESD framework programme. RCE Khoma-Erongo of Namibia will host the African RCE meeting. Activities of the meeting will be integrated into the EEASA programme to address the afore-mentioned theme through plenary sessions, paper presentations, round table discussions and workshops.

For information on how to register and thus participate in both the African RCE Meeting and EEASA conference click here. Details on content and expected outcomes of the 4th African RCE Meeting will be posted here.

9th Global RCE Conference

4–7 November 2014

We are pleased to invite you to the 9th Global RCE Conference to be held in Okayama, Japan from 4 to 7 November. Marking the final year of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD: 2005–2014), the Conference is regarded as one of the official stakeholder meetings to be held prior to the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (10–12 November). The Conference provides a great opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges of the RCE movement with a view to charting a post-2014 agenda as proposed in UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on ESD. The major objective of the Conference is to identify a tangible commitment of the RCE community towards the effective implementation of ESD beyond 2014.

For more information, please visit the RCE Portal. Registration for the conference will open in mid-June.

International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Higher Education Beyond 2014

9 November 2014

The United Nations University through its Institute of the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) is organizing the International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Higher Education Beyond 2014 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan on 9 November, in collaboration with UNESCO, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), UNEP, UN Global Compact’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative, and the International Association of Universities (IAU). The Conference will highlight the major challenges and pathways for transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs), with a focus on scaling up and mainstreaming innovative practices in learning and knowledge development and research. For more information, please visit the UNU-IAS website or contact the Conference Secretariat (heconference@unu.edu). Registration for the conference will be open on the conference website in July.

Events organized by RCE members

Balkan Summit for Sustainable Development

13–15 June 2014

The First Balkan Summit 2014 for sustainable development will be held in Bitola, the Republic of Macedonia, with a motto of “Let’s create our future!” It will bring together actors within the sustainable development movement from Macedonia, neighbouring countries, and the rest of Europe to share their knowledge, stories, and visions with the aim of co-creating sustainable projects. The event is internationally coordinated and inspired by ThinkCamp, a collaborative partner of RCE Middle Albania. For more information, please visit their website.

RCE West Sweden: 2014 Ed Summer Seminar

24–26 June 2014

This annual event by RCE West Sweden is dedicated to open learning environments that explore matters of social sustainability and individual and collective action. The Summer Seminar is a social learning laboratory in which you are invited to co-create new futures for yourself, your communities, and our world. For more information click here or contact Johan Boman (johan.boman@chem.gu.se).

RCE Greater Western Sydney: 2014 Youth Eco Summit (YES)

22–23 October 2014

RCE Greater Western Sydney will hold its 2014 Youth Eco Summit (YES) in Sydney, Australia on 22–23 October. YES is an annual award-winning global education event that seeks to build the capacity of students and schools to take action and have a voice on sustainability, through targeted workshop training and project development. For more information click here.

Call for Papers and Applications

 

Call for papers for the 17th UNESCO-APEID International Conference

Deadline: 31 July

UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) is organizing the 17th International Conference on the theme of ‘The Powerhouses of Education: Teachers for the Future We Want’ from 29–31 October in Bangkok, Thailand. This conference will provide a forum for discussions on leading edge thinking about teachers and teaching practices. It will underscore the key role played by teachers in determining the quality of education.

The organizers invite papers on the Conference sub-themes. For those who are interested to present papers, submit English abstracts (200 words) through the online form available at the Conference website by 31 July. For registration or further information, please visit the Conference website or contact UNESCO Bangkok (apeidconf@unesco.org).

Call for entries for the 2014 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award

Deadline: 15 September

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) in cooperation with UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education are pleased to announce the 2014 SEAMEO-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award, with the theme of "Fostering Global Citizenship for Sustainable Future".

Public and private schools in the 11 Southeast Asian countries are invited to submit programmes, projects, or activities relevant to the theme. The 11 countries include: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

For more information, please visit the website or contact SEAMEO(seameojapan.award@seameo.org).

Latest News

RCE Kakamega - Western Kenya: Youth and Education for Sustainability Camp 2014

BUMA Fish and Integrated Farm, an active member of RCE Kakamega – Western Kenya, hosted the Youth and Education for Sustainability Camp 2014 from 13 to 18 April. It was jointly organized by Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Kenya Youth Network for Sustainable Development (KYNSD) and African Youth Initiative for Climate Change (AFICC). The 5-day camp brought over 40 youth from Kenya and Uganda. The event provided a great opportunity for the participating youth to network as well as to learn about local sustainability issues through lectures and hand-on experiences at the farm.

For more information, click here or contact Zippy Shiyoya (zippyshiyoya@yahoo.co.uk) of RCE Kakamega - Western Kenya.

RCE Lusaka: RCE Lusaka Self-Evaluation Workshop

With support from Rhodes University and the Global RCE Service Centre, RCE Lusaka organized a 3-day RCE evaluation workshop at Oxfam, Lusaka City from 7–9 May. Seven key stakeholders in attendance identified achievements and challenges that the RCE has experienced through implementation of ESD projects.

A brief summary of the workshop is available here. For more information, please contact Mirriam Moonga (mirriam.moonga@unza.zm) of RCE Lusaka.

RCE Srinagar: Celebrations of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2014

The United Nations has proclaimed 22 May the International Day for Biological Diversity to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of biodiversity issues. RCE Srinagar with the Centre for Environment Education Himalaya (CEE Himalaya) celebrated the day at several locations across the Indian Himalayan Region. The Himalayan region is prone to natural disasters and biodiversity conservation plays a crucial role in mitigating them.

The RCE involved school children, teachers, local NGOs and the community members to promote biodiversity conservation. A number of activities such as teacher training workshop, group discussion, storytelling, slogan writing, painting and tree planting were organized for participants to learn about local biodiversity issues and think how to make a more sustainable living. For more information, click here for the report or contact CEE Himalaya (ceehimalaya@ceeindia.org).

Publications

 

Quality Education for Sustainable Development: A Priority in Achieving Sustainability and Well-being for All

The Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) — one of the main partners and collaborators of UNU-IAS — published a new policy brief titled ‘Quality Education for Sustainable Development: A Priority in Achieving Sustainability and Well-being for All’. The policy brief presents an ESD Learning Performance Framework (LPF) to address both learning processes and educational contents. The LPF provides a roadmap for how stronger ESD can promote greater educational quality and can serve as a basis for developing targets and indicators for both the Global Action Programme on ESD and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The material used for this policy brief is based on a two-year (2011–2013) collaborative research project on Monitoring and Evaluation of Education for Sustainable Development for the Asia-Pacific Region jointly organized by UNU-IAS and IGES in cooperation with UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau of Education. The policy brief is available here.

 

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

Please send your comments, suggestions and materials to rceservicecentre@unu.edu.

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