For her international engagement with sustainable development, York’s Executive Coordinator to the UNESCO Chair, Katrin Kohl, has been awarded a fellowship by The Royal Society of Arts in London. The Royal Society of Arts recognizes outstanding contributions and thought leadership in positively impacting society for a better future. Members come from all walks of lives and branches of learning that align with these values and have contributed to positive change in the arts, humanities or sciences. Congratulations, Katrin! 👏👏👏
The United Nations High-Level Political Forum (UN HLPF) will be held in New York from 5-15 July 2022 under the theme ‘Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ . In 2022, the UN HLPF will also review the progress on SDG 4 Quality Education.
The Division for Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA/DSDG) and the New York Office of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will offer the 2022 SDG Learning, Training and Practice Special Event. It will feature speakers and experts on crucial topics related to the implementation of the SDGs to be reviewed at the 2022 HLPF.
Jointly with the International Association of Universities, My World Mexico, and SDSN, York University is hosting a training session during the Special Event on 5 July 2022 at 2:00 pm EDT.
York University´s Director for Global Engagement and Partnerships Helen Balderama and UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins will share their insights on balancing inclusive global engagement and the pursuit of sustainability in higher education to make universities and colleges lighthouses of a better future. Register for session 2 at the UN HLPF now!
York University is hosting the 2nd edition of the Sustainable on the Go (SOTG 2022), co-organized by York International, the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, and their international partners during the International Education Week 2022 on 17 November 2022. The SOTG 2022 will feature inclusive, innovative, and interactive formats following the joint commitment to the Toronto Declaration in 2021.
Share your story or intention (max. 1 page), a short resume, or a glimpse of your art (e.g., you can add live links to portfolio and/or project websites). As we are looking for various ways of bringing innovative learning, connections between local and global ideas and student community engagement into the classroom, there is no fixed format for sharing your insight.
Interested? Check for more details and apply now!
On 28-30 June 2022, over 150 ministers and vice-ministers of education came together with 1,850 attendees at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France). York University was represented by the UNESCO Chair team, Charles Hopkins and Katrin Kohl.
Participants discussed the current key issues in education in light of the upcoming UN-wide Transforming Education Head of State-Level Summit in New York to be held on 19 September 2022.
The massive disruptions of the last two years during the global pandemic have caused an unprecedented loss of education for learners around the world. Education is a key 🔑 in achieving the SDGs by 2030 and has to be at the top of the political agenda in all countries.
Read the Transforming Education Pre-Summit Closing Press Release and find out more why we need to transform education now.
The 5th Annual Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Ethiopia will be held on 7-10 July 2022, in Arba Minch, Ethiopia. More than 45 participants are expected to attend from five Colleges of Teacher Education (CTE), four Theological Seminaries, and the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. Under the theme on ‘Partnership for Environmental Literacy and Sustainable Communities’, the event is organized in partnership with the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, the Southern Ethiopia CTE Network and the Southern Ethiopian Evangelical Theological Seminaries Network.
The annual conference will include reports on the progress of individual colleges in addressing ESD challenges and will further plan for a continuous engagement in learning and sharing experiences as well as best practices between and among the members towards building capacity. The event also aims to address emerging common issues on ESD, global citizenship and transforming education.
UNESCO Chairs from York University and Leuphana University are partners to the annual conference. Charles Hopkins will hold a keynote speech on the futures of education and the outcomes of recent global UNESCO events.
For more information, please contact the Head of Development and Communications at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST), Professor Addise Amado, or reach out to unescochair@edu.yorku.ca.
An innovative and comprehensive SDGs-in-the-Classroom Toolkit has just been launched at York University. The toolkit offers a dynamic suite of supports designed to help faculty bring SDGs into their courses as well as having the SDGs serve as a pedagogical framework for the student learning experience. It has been designed to assist York University faculty with their efforts to infuse the 17 SDGs into their teaching and learning activities. Most resources are available in an open access format and can serve as a resource for all interested stakeholders beyond the York community.
We are in ‘a battle for our lives’, as we struggle to transform our societies to reach the 1.5-degree path recommended by the Paris Agreement. The time to learn and act for our planet is now!
Have you missed the initial sessions of the UNESCO-UNFCCC’s joint webinar series On the Road to COP27, dedicated to the goal of greening every education policy, curriculum to be climate ready, or education for post-carbon green economies? No problem, you can join now!
The next webinars ‘Now or never: Adapting teaching and learning in a changed climate‘ and ‘Our future starts with you: How to become a climate change champion’ will take place on 26 July and 30 August 2022.
Further leading up to COP27, more monthly webinars will explore perspectives on the critical role of climate change education, and how to harness its transformative power. Register here to participate in one session or the entire webinar series.
This book, Roads to Integrating Sustainability in School Leadership & Teacher Preparation Programs, is a great resource for educators and education administrators to develop both individual and collective responses to many sustainability challenges. The content covers research, initiatives, and success stories from a wide range of settings that give insight into the locally relevant and culturally appropriate approaches that will serve readers to either get started or to enhance existing ESD programs. Charles Hopkins wrote the foreword to endorse the publication, available online.
Transformative education involves teaching and learning that motivates and empowers learners to make informed decisions and actions at the individual, community and global levels. Transformative education – SDG target 4.7 – is critical in developing the competencies needed to cope with today´s and tomorrow´s world. UNESCO issued recommendations on key questions as a result from the 5th UNESCO Forum on Transformative Education for Sustainable Development, Global Citizenship, Health and Well-being held in November 2021.
Education has the power to transform the lives of children and young people, and the world around them. But inclusive and transformative education cannot be delivered if students are not safe, well-nourished and healthy, and free from violence and discrimination.
This strategy presents UNESCO’s vision for better health and education outcomes for all learners. It will guide UNESCO’s work in collaboration with UN agencies, multi-lateral organizations and civil society to put health and well-being at the top of the education agenda.
Since the right to education was first advanced at the international level, the global landscape has changed immensely. In this context, higher education has progressed from being a pursuit for the elite in selected countries to being an integral part of the education continuum, accessed by half or more of the population in many parts of the world.
Taking these considerations into account, the objective of this conceptual paper is to advocate for the right to higher education (RTHE) as part of the evolving right to education.
The International Association of Universities (IAU) is returning to meeting face-to-face for the 16th IAU General Conference 2022 hosted by University College Dublin (Ireland) on 25-28 October 2022. Under the theme ‘Relevance and value of universities to future society’, the conference in Dublin (Ireland) will provide an opportunity to discuss the lessons learned with higher education stakeholders from around the world. Together we aim to advance the role of higher education in achieving a sustainable, fair, healthy, and inclusive society, and imagining the future. Registration for the conference is open now!