Reported by Katherine Olson

The first Asia-Pacific SDG Challenge held in 2018, 'Youth for the Goals: Climate Action and Life Below Water' aimed to inspire and mobilise on-ground projects led by youth, centred around SDGs 13 and 14.

Collectively it achieved an engagement of nearly 40,000 youth participants across the Asia-Pacific region.

Following a successful pilot last year, the 2019 RCE Youth SDG Challenge ‘Youth for the Goals: Social Inequalities’ is back! Led by the Asia-Pacific Regional Youth Leaders (from RCE Greater Western Sydney and RCE Yogyakarta) via the RCE network, this year's challenge will focus on SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and is open to all youth globally.

The second RCE Youth Challenge is now open for expressions of interest for youth-based projects focusing on SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. All youth are welcome to get involved from any region.

A total of 91 delegates from Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs) across Asia-Pacific gathered in the Greater Western Sydney region, one of the most multicultural locations in Australia, for the 11th Asia-Pacific RCE Meeting from 25-27 September, 2018 under the theme ‘Mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Education and Impact’.

Sixteen RCEs from 12 countries recently gathered in Vannes, France, for the 2018 European RCE Meeting, hosted by RCE Brittany from 29^th – 31^st August, 2018. Organised under the theme ‘ESD and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – how can RCEs coordinate both to achieve sustainable development?’, this meeting was the largest meeting of RCEs in Europe that has occurred to date.

The 8^th African RCE Meeting was held at the Chancellor College in Zomba, Malawi from 8^th – 10^th August, 2018.

In celebration of the Youth SDG Challenge 2018, and in conjunction with the 11th Asia-Pacific Regional RCE Meeting and Symposium, the first Asia-Pacific Virtual Youth Summit will be held on 24 September, 2018. This initiative is led by the Asia-Pacific Youth Regional Coordinators, Brittany Hardiman (RCE Greater Western Sydney) and Emmy Rusadi (RCE Yogyakarta).

Photo credits: RCE Penang

RCE Penang recently held seminars focusing on the themes of the SDGs, Ethics and Celebrating Diversity. The first was held at the end of June 2018, in collaboration with the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia and RCE Tongyeong.

Four RCE Severn projects were selected for funding through the University of Gloucestershire’s professional support programme, Learning Innovation for Tomorrow (LIFT) for 2018. The LIFT programme aims to support new innovations in learning and in turn bring transformative, futures-oriented learning into the curriculum. In addition, it connects students’ learning with the community to advance shared sustainability goals.