Message from the Global RCE Service Centre:

Dear colleagues and friends,

Summer greetings from UNU-IAS!

We are pleased to introduce Ms. Asako Toyozumi who has recently joined the ESD Team as a Programme Coordinator. Prior to joining UNU-IAS, she was involved in the implementation of environmental and health policy planning activities. She looks forward to working with the entire ESD community, including both the RCE and ProSPER.Net networks. Please join us in welcoming Asako to the ESD Team.

RCEs that have not responded to the call for GAP launch commitments by UNESCO are encouraged to do so before the 15 August 2014 deadline. We would also like to draw your attention to the following important deadlines regarding the forthcoming 9th Global RCE Conference:

• Deadline for online registration: 29 August, 2014
• Deadline for submissions of 2014 RCE Awards and annual reports: 1 September, 2014
• Deadline for poster exhibition: 10 October, 2014
• Deadline for hotel reservation: 21 October, 2014

In the meantime, we look forward to receiving your 2014 annual reports and also nominations of your flagship projects for the RCE Award. Only four RCEs have updated their annual reports so far.

With much appreciation,

The Global RCE Service Centre

Upcoming Events

Events organized by UNU-IAS

3rd Americas RCE Meeting

28 July–1 August 2014

The 3rd Americas RCE Meeting is being 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. For those who cannot attend the conference physically, the streaming live video is available here. For more details, please visit the RCE West Jalisco website or contact Salvador Garcia Ruvalcaba (sgarcia_60@yahoo.com.mx).

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’. More information is available at the conference website. For those who wish to attend the conference but have not registered, please submit your registration form to RCE Penang (Dr. Mageswary Karpudewan: (mageswary_karpudewan@yahoo.com) and the Global RCE Service Centre (rceservicecentre@unu.edu) as soon as possible. If you are going to present at the International Symposium, please submit the final paper and your PPTs by 18 August 2014.

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 2014. The theme of the EEASA conference is: Reflections on the current and emerging ESD issues and practices informing the post DESD framework programme. RCE Khomas-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. The overall purpose of the 4th African RCE meeting is to deliberate a joint strategy and concrete actions for positioning African RCEs to effectively deliver a post 2014 ESD agenda. For more details visit the Portal.

The deadline for submission of abstracts and full papers has been extended to 8 August 2014. African RCE delegates that have not registered for the upcoming EEASA conference are requested to do so by completing the registration form and returning it to the organizers (EEASAconference@unam.na).

9th Global RCE Conference

4–7 November 2014

The 9th Global RCE Conference will 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 (GAP) 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.

Registration for the 9th Global RCE Conference is now open here and ends on 29 August 2014. For those who would like to book their accommodation through RCE Okayama we advise that you register as early as possible.

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

9 November 2014

The United Nations University through its Institute for 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.

Online registration for the conference will open soon here.

Events organized by RCE members

COPERNICUS Alliance Conference on Education for Sustainability: Building Capacity in Higher Education

3 October 2014

We are pleased to share programme information and to invite participation in an international conference organized by COPERNICUS Alliance (CA) in collaboration with Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. The Conference will review major trends and changes in higher education towards sustainability over the last ten years, with an emphasis on whole-of-institution approaches, curriculum change, university educators, ESD competences and quality enhancement. A state of the art report which maps existing ESD professional development opportunities for university educators in Europe will be presented at the event.

For further information, abstract submissions and registration details please click here or visit the conference website.

RCE Srinagar: Media Workshops on Adaptation to Climate Change

30 July–1 August 2014

The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and The Third Pole (TTP) under the Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) are jointly organizing four media workshops on adaptation to climate change in the Indian Himalayan Region. The workshop is supported by the Climate Change and Development Division (CCD-SDC) of the Embassy of Switzerland in India and the first workshop will be held in Shimla from 30 July to 1 August 2014. The workshop will include a field trip to facilitate ground-level reportage of adaptation to climate change. It will focus on climate change effects and adaptation in the central and western Himalayas.

A similar workshop is planned to be organized in the eastern Himalayas region later in the year (mid November). For more details, please contact Abdhesh Kumar Gangwar (abdhesh.gangwar@ceeindia.org).

Call for Papers and Applications

Call for UNESCO’s Global Action Programme (GAP) Launch Commitments

Deadline: 15 August 2014

UNESCO is calling for GAP Launch Commitments, inviting ESD stakeholders around the world to make their specific commitments to support the GAP. GAP Launch Commitments are plans for concrete activities that support one or more of the five Priority Action Areas on policy, whole-institution approaches, youth, educators and local communities. Stakeholders making GAP Launch Commitments can be organizations or institutions from countries or of regional or global communities, including public and private, formal and non-formal, and education and non-education sectors.

For UNESCO, GAP Launch Commitments will help identify partners with whom it will form partner networks. GAP Launch Commitments will also provide an important basis for the periodic reporting on GAP implementation planned by UNESCO. Interested RCE stakeholders are highly encouraged to fill in the GAP Launch Commitment Registration Form found here. Submit your completed form to esddecade@unesco.org (indicating ‘GAP Commitment’ in the email subject line) by 15 August 2014. Please note that it is possible for an individual RCE to register more than one GAP commitment.

Call for entries for the 2014 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award

Deadline: 15 September 2014

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 seameojapan.award@seameo.org.

Latest News

RCE Goa commemorates World Earth Day

A programme on source segregation of household domestic waste was organized to commemorate World Earth Day on 22 April 2014 by RCE Goa. The programme began with the screening of an 18 minute documentary titled 'Half a View', set in Mumbai, India. The film illustrated how the city has changed through the decades from a city of dreams and aspirations to a metropolis struggling to deal with the woes of thrash and garbage. The event was used to discuss the importance and benefits of segregation of waste at source as an aspect of sustainable waste management.

RCE Middle Albania participates in the EU Sustainable Energy Week event

RCE middle Albania took part in the European Union Sustainable Energy Week that ran from 23–27 June 2014. Specifically the RCE participated in an event on ‘Energy Efficiency’ that was hosted by the European Union Info Centre in Albania on 26th June 2014. During the event the RCE presented the “Residential Energy Efficiency Guide”, the first part of the "Energy Chapter", of Action Plan on ESD for Albania, process initiated by RCE middle Albania. Discussion on energy policies based on EU and UN strategies, with the aim to design and implement actions for Energy efficiency, were held with representatives of Ministry of Energy and Industry, Businesses, Universities, Regional Councils of Tirana, Durres Elbasan and civil society. For more details contact Kalterina Shulla (kalterina@yahoo.co.uk).

RCE Arunachal Pradesh launches ‘Care a Tree Campaign’

On 5 June 2014, RCE Arunachal Pradesh successfully launched the ‘Care a Tree Campaign’ in collaboration with Wakro town residents. The campaign is part of the RCE’s agenda of engaging local communities in environmental awareness and action. The RCE has also celebrated on 25 June, the Anti-Narcotic Day with a skit in the local Mishmi language entitled “Kaaniyaa” (the drug addict). For further details click here or contact S. Mundayoor (lohit.libraries@gmail.com).

Publications

The Sustainable University

RCEs will find this new publication The Sustainable University, edited by Prof. Stephen Sterling, Larch Maxey, and Heather Luna useful. The book is a noteworthy addition to the literature on the emerging area of sustainable university. The book has a chapter on the role of RCEs in promoting sustainable communities locally and globally by Ros Wade. For more information on the contents click here.

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Lessons Learnt and Needs to Be Met

The latest editorial of International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (Vol 15, issue 2) describes some of the lessons learnt from the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, and some of the needs to be met. The full text is available here.

Article citation: Leal Filho, W. (2014) "The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: lessons learnt and needs to be met", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 15 Issue: 2, pp.

Higher education practitioners will find the article on "Campus sustainability plans in the United States: where, what, and how to evaluate?" by Stacey White (pp. 228–241) interesting. The article can be found here.

New Pedagogies for Deep Learning Whitepaper: Education PLUS

The world will be led by people you can count on, including you!

Michael Fullan and Geoff Scott have produced a whitepaper on Education PLUS for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning in the USA. Education PLUS is the hidden dividend that learners come to acquire if they are educated in what we call the new pedagogies – powerful new learning modes steeped in real world problem solving now made more telling through recent, rapid developments in the use of technology for interactive learning. The whitepaper is published by Collaborative Impact SPC, Seattle, Washington (July 2014). To read the paper click here. For more information about New Pedagogies for Deep Learning visit here.

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

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

To unsubscribe click here.

United Nations University
5-53-70 Jingumae
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925
Japan

To opt-out of all United Nations University contact system messages click here.