Based on the success and lessons learned from the previous Global Action Programme (GAP), UNESCO developed the ESD for 2030 framework and Roadmap, a global framework for the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development for the period 2020-2030. To support and accelerate this global framework, UNESCO, with the generous support of the Government of Japan through its Japanese Funds-in-Trust (JFIT), is launching a new global network of education stakeholders - the ESD for 2030 Global Network (ESD-Net 2030).

The network aims to become a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration, mutual learning, advocacy and monitoring and evaluation among a wide range of stakeholders, including governmental agencies, civil society organizations, educators, youth, research institutions, UN partners, international development communities, among others.

To launch ESD-Net 2030 and its activities, UNESCO is organizing an online webinar and workshop on Tuesday 4 October 2022, 14:30 – 17:30 CET. The webinar will showcase several Member States’ efforts in developing and implementing ESD for 2030 Country Initiatives, followed by the first in a series of interactive workshops on ESD pedagogy. This first workshop will focus on the role of culture in promoting ESD at the community level. 

Be on the lookout for further details which will be shared in the coming weeks.

As the sequel to the highly successful Transforming Education Pre‐Summit hosted at UNESCO Headquarters from 28-30 June, the Transforming Education Summit will take place at UN Headquarters in New York from 16-19 September. The Summit is being convened in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance. Often slow and unseen, this crisis is having a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide with progress towards the education-related Sustainable Development Goals badly off track. If unaddressed, its negative impacts on our collective pursuit of peace, justice, human rights and sustainable development will be felt for decades to come.

The parallel session, co-organized by UNESCO and Governments of Japan and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greening Education Partnership: Getting Every Learner Climate-Ready, will take place on the Summit's Solutions Day, 17 September 2022 from 10:00  - 11:30 EST and present the new Greening Education Partnership, it’s aim and purpose, and how it will function. This will contribute to mobilizing of commitments from Member States and key stakeholders on climate education. The link for virtual participation will be shared in due course.

The Summit's thematic session 3, Transforming Education to Transform the World: Empowering Global Citizens for a Peaceful, Just, Healthy, Equal, and Sustainable Future will take place on the Summit's Leaders Day, 19 September 2022 from 13:30 - 15:00 EST. This session offers a space for a high-level dialogue among heads of state, leaders and influencers of a just, peaceful and sustainable world, to exchange perspectives and action on ESD, global citizenship education, and gender equality in education.

On the margins of the Summit, Mission 4.7 will organize an event on Transforming Education for Prosperity, People and the Planet, on 18 September 2022 from 12:00 - 13:30 EST, focusing on how everyone can promote a more sustainable future for the generations to come; contribute to policy considerations that will help learners of all ages have access to resources related to transformative education; and join the global mission to achieve the SDGs before 2030.

Stay updated on the registration links of the side events

From April to July, UNESCO-UNFCCC hosted the first four webinars of eight for the Webinar Series, Climate Change Education for Social Transformation: On the Road to COP27, which is dedicated to the goal of greening every education policy and curriculum to be climate ready. Taking place on the last Tuesday of every month, each episode will explore the critical role of climate change education, and how to harness its transformative power, in leading up to COP27.

The fifth session, Our Future Starts with You: How to Become a Climate Change Champion, takes place on Tuesday, 30 August 2022 from 14:00 - 15:00 CET, and reviews transformative pedagogies for civic action and the role of youth, educators, and women as agents for social change. Through testimonies of climate change champions, the session reflects upon how transformative engagement takes place through their personal journeys including their motivations, inspirations, drivers, opportunities, and challenges they faced, and discusses what knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes should be included in teaching and learning to prepare learners to become climate change champions.  

The session will be in English with interpretation in French and Spanish

Panelists:
Moderator: Mr Abubaker Musuuza, Ashoka Fellow, Uganda
Ms Ayshka Najib, Youth Lead on Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition and Fridays for Future Most Affected People and Areas, United Arab Emirates
Mr Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
Ms Hoor Ahli, UAE Nature Ambassador, United Arab Emirates

The UN Secretary-General calls the climate crisis ‘a battle for our lives’, as we still struggle to transform our societies to reach the 1.5°c-degree path recommended by the Paris Agreement.

Rapid and radical transformation at all levels and in many aspects of our life is required, with education as a central and powerful means to support the adaptation and strengthen the resilience of learners and societies. It is also important to ensure education systems become more resilient to climate change to create safe and climate-proof schools. 

The UN Transforming Education Summit has confirmed that education must be transformed to respond to the global climate and environmental crisis. Building off of the knowledge and practice accumulated in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), a new Greening Education Partnership aims to deliver strong, coordinated and comprehensive action that will prepare every learner to acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to tackle climate change and to promote sustainable development.

The Greening Education Partnership will be officially launched at the Transforming Education Summit's parallel session, Greening Education Partnership: Getting Every Learner Climate-Ready, which will take place on 17 September 2022 from 10:00 - 11:30 EST. If your organization is working on climate education towards greening schools, learning, teacher training and lifelong learning, express your organization’s support and commitment in the link below.

Today, the coastal and marine biodiversity of Senegal is endangered by plastic waste. In this country, where fishing is one of the main sources of income, pollution is seriously affecting coastal areas, especially those of the Cape Verde peninsula. Plastic waste pollution is therefore a major environmental protection issue in the country.

To combat the ever-increasing dangers of the climate crisis, local communities have continued to involve students and youth in activities to protect Senegal's biodiversity. To support and complement these existing activities, UNESCO's Regional Office in Dakar launched a field initiative in 2021 aimed at raising environmental awareness around ocean protection and to promote marine cultural heritage among Senegalese coastal populations. These activities have targeted public schools and fishing communities in the Dakar region.

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In 2016, the Okayama ESD Project received the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development, a biennial prize that honors outstanding projects that advance the role of education in connecting the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The Okayama ESD Project brings together organizations promoting ESD and facilitates a whole-city approach to ESD. The project involves the local community through both formal and informal education. It offers various activities and training organized in community learning centres in Kominkans, schools, parks, and shopping malls as well as in places close to nature. For example, in Okayama City, ESD begins in elementary school: pupils have the opportunity to visit local farms, meet with human treasures (elders with specialized knowledge of the local area), as well as learn about the environment and recycling.

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Tras las huellas del venado, inspired by Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), was brought into the field of non-formal education in 2015. The project transcended the boundaries of the classroom and became a visible, accessible adventure for anyone eager to become a part of biodiversity conservation efforts. Since then, children and teenagers have been proposing new initiatives for their community, conducting research, mapping socio-environmental problems, and devising plans to address them.

The project soon became community-wide, and included field trips and educational outings both within Uruguay and abroad, aiming to offer hands-on experiences across diverse landscapes and biomes. These fields visits were always preceded by thorough preparation from a multidisciplinary standpoint in such a way that the most can be made both before and after the trip. 

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Calling all young eco-artists! Share your voice through art and inspire others to take action on conserving biodiversity. Unleash your creativity and have your work seen by a global audience!
 
The Global RCE Service Centre at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), in partnership with UNESCO, is now accepting submissions for the RCE Youth Biodiversity Art Challenge!
 
The challenge is open to anyone aged 35 or younger worldwide. We’re looking for your creative works of art that put a spotlight on the species, habitats, and ecosystems that we need to work to protect. Submissions close on 30 September, 2022

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Do you believe students should have a say in education? Throughout 2022, leaders are gathering to discuss education at global conferences and we want to make sure children’s voices are at the heart of these events. Ask your students (aged 10+) to take part in the World’s Largest Lesson’s Transforming Education Survey. It’s available in multiple languages and  takes 10 minutes to play. We will then share children’s ideas for education with policy leaders.

Find the survey and a lesson plan here to spark an interesting classroom conversation.