ESD News and Events

Asia-Pacific RCEs meet in Delhi
10 November 2009

Fourteen RCEs participated in the 3-day Asia-Pacific Regional RCE Conference held in New Delhi, India, from 5-7 November 2009. The event was organized by RCE Delhi and TERI at TERI University, to coincide with a School Environment Educators’ Conference.

An overview of the ESD Programme
October 2009

Download a concise presentation of the ESD Programme, its initiatives, achievements and latest developments presented at the UNU-IAS board meeting (pdf file, 1.2 MB)

Four new RCEs
September 2009

Four new RCEs have been acknowledged recently bringing the total of RCEs worldwide to sixty-six. RCE Kakamega-Western Kenya, Guatemala, Bogota (Colombia) and Ilocos (the Philippines) are the new RCEs in the network.

For more information
The Global RCE Service Centre
rceservicecentre@ias.unu.edu

Engaging universities in North Africa and the Middle East
30 May 2009

UNU-IAS, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), held a seminar in Cairo, Egypt on Opportunities and Challenges for University Leadership in Education for Sustainable Industrial Development on 27 May 2009. The seminar was organised in collaboration with RCE Cairo and the Egypt National Cleaner Production Centre.

Leaders of about forty universities from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region attended the seminar that was convened to encourage and support leading universities in the region to integrate sustainable development considerations in curricula, vocational training and community outreach, and research and development.

The seminar built upon the results and experiences of leading programmes of the organisers— the RCE initiative and ProSPER.Net of UNU-IAS, and National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPC) of UNIDO.

The intensive one day seminar was designed to showcase examples of university leadership in sustainable development, introduce key sustainable development topics and discuss practical ways for incorporating sustainable development considerations into curricula (science, engineering, business, etc.), vocational training and community outreach.

The seminar took place in connection with the UNIDO Green Industry Forum on Competitiveness and Innovation through Green Products and Processes, held on 26-28 May in Cairo. The forum focused on emerging opportunities for bio-based products, processes and energy as well as showcased examples of green competitiveness from firms around the Mediterranean region.

For more information
Zinaida Fadeeva
fadeeva@ias.unu.edu

Fourth International RCE Conference
20 May 2009

The Fourth International RCE Conference was organised by UNU-IAS from 13-15 May 2009 in Montreal, Canada. The conference, hosted by RCE Montreal at the Biosphère, was held back-to-back with the the Fifth World Environmental Education Congress (5WEEC, Montreal, 10-14 May 2009).

Download programme and presentations

Parallel event on RCEs at 12^th AAU Conference
10 May 2009

A parallel event on RCEs was held on 7 May 2009, during the annual 12^th general conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU), in Abuja, Nigeria. About 30 people participated in the event.

The RCE concept and application procedures were presented at the event. Prof. S Duwa of RCE Kano and Ziole Zanotto Malhadas of RCE Curitiba shared their experiences in establishing RCEs in their regions, and discussed challenges and opportunities. Participants also explored linkages between RCEs, UNEP’s MESA and AAU, to identify potential collaborative activities and synergies between these networks for sustainable development.

For more information
Yoko Mochizuki
mochizuki@ias.unu.edu

Side event on RCEs at CSD-17
10 May 2009

A side event on RCEs in Africa was held during the conference of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)-17, at the UN headquarters in New York, on 8 May.

Presentations at the event included one on the progress of RCEs worldwide and activities of RCEs in Africa; on RCE contribution to sustainable development in Africa, in particular in addressing impacts of climate change on food security, agriculture, health, poverty and biodiversity; and on government and NGO expectations of RCEs in Africa.

The event, supported by the Ministry of Environment of Japan, UNESCO, UNEP, WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) and the UN CSD Education Caucus, attracted about 40 participants.

For more information
Yoshihiro Natori
natori@ias.unu.edu

World Conference on ESD
Apr 2009

UNU-IAS' ESD Programme organised three events at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (31 March-2 April 2009) in Bonn, Germany.

Open symposium on ESD in Africa

Feb 2009

With Japan and UNU's long-standing commitment to DESD and development in Africa, UNU-IAS and the newly established United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) convened its first joint symposium on "The Role of Universities in the Promotion of Education for Sustainable Development in Africa" on 27 February 2009 at the Elizabeth Rose Hall, UNU in Tokyo. Supporters included Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Japan.

Read more....

UPCOMING EVENTS

Conference on Traditional Medicine and RCE Planning Workshop

19-22 November 2009, Bangalore, India

This event assumes importance in the context of the RCE thematic network on Health and Sustainability, and is a follow-up of previous meetings of the group held in Kotabaru and Yokohama.

For more information
Sampreethi Aipanjiguly
UNU-IAS
aipanjiguly@ias.unu.edu

Third European RCE Meeting
16-18 December 2009, University of Graz, Austria

The third European RCE meeting, to be held at the University of Graz, Austria is hosted by RCE Graz-Styria.

For more information
Clemens Mader
RCE Graz-Styria
clemens.mader@uni-graz.at

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