The Europe Regional Meeting 2022 (Part I) was held online from 8-9 February, 2022, hosted by RCE Fryslân under the theme 'The Imaginative Power of the Region: Learning for the SDGs Together.' 

Bringing together participants across Europe, the event focused on how education can support the transition to a sustainable society, and how regional ecologies, communities, resources, and cultures shape the context for sustainable development, and subsequently, ESD. Throughout the two days, the dynamic programme included lectures, presentations, breakout sessions, and artistic interventions (poetry, music, and film), all aimed at sparking the imagination of participants to consider a new reality.

RCE Fryslân shared a number of best practices for ESD from their region in relation to whole school design, curriculum design, art, and biodiversity conservation, sparking conversations among European RCEs as they reflected on their own experiences and projects. 

Dialogue continued within breakout sessions, where RCEs discussed how best to approach coordination and cooperation of ESD projects within the region, highlighting examples of governance from other regions in the Global RCE Network as a starting point for scaling up action and cooperation among RCEs in Europe. Ideas resulting from these discussions include a magazine publication highlighting RCE cases from the region, as well as an in-person meeting later in 2022 to create a regional coordination structure similar to those in the Asia-Pacific and Americas.

UNU-IAS, as secretariat for the Global RCE Network, presented its research on ESD trends in the region during the Global Action Programme (GAP) between 2015-2019, highlighting the topics and modalities European RCEs focused on during the GAP.

The meeting marked a starting point for many RCEs within Europe emerging from conditions brought about by the pandemic, to align their ESD agenda with national and international sustainable development agendas, such as the European Green Deal, and implementation of ESD for 2030.

The Global RCE Service Centre would like to thank the team at RCE Fryslân for their outstanding efforts and coordination in making the Europe Regional Meeting 2022 (Part I) a great success, and to all participants for their active participation and contributions. Further information about the outcomes of the event are available in this RCE Meeting Magazine produced by RCE Fryslân.