Education for sustainable development (ESD) is crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), affecting a diverse range of stakeholders within and beyond the formal education system. Particularly, there is a need for teaching and learning which embeds the priorities of the SDGs for every level and type of education, ranging from formal and informal systems, and from classroom-contexts to lifelong learning (LLL). With SDG 4 of the 2030 Agenda focused on ensuring “inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all,” this workshop aims to present approaches, resources and methods for education for sustainable development and integrating it to a wide variety of educational contexts.
As more higher education institutions (HEIs) and other post-secondary education organizations globally engage with the 2030 Agenda and SDGs, education leaders are debating how to integrate SDGs in teaching, LLL, research, community engagement, and campus operations. To support this process, policymakers and other stakeholders should form partnerships with staff, students, researchers, and citizens engaged in higher education and LLL work.
How can we work together to create resources, identify and develop innovative methods, and build capacities not only for teaching sustainable development but also for enabling individuals and groups to take an active role in the implementation of the SDGs? While access to knowledge, quality teaching materials, and links to current global challenges are crucial, effective capacity building needs to take a holistic and interdisciplinary approach and include different groups and stages of learning. While the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) entry points offer a place to start, all of the SDGs and the localized contexts of implementation should be taken into account. “Think local – act global” also applies to research and learning about and for the SDGs.
Furthermore, engaging various societal groups for the Agenda 2030 and supporting the translation of the goals and strategies to local and regional realities requires innovative capacity building, learning, and integrating sustainable development into post-secondary curricula and strategic plans. The workshop will address dynamic and interactive forms of teaching, LLL, and advocacy for the SDGs. Participants will have the opportunity to increase their skills for teaching about the 2030 Agenda 2030 in their fields, and advocate for research on the challenges and implementation of the 17 SDGs in their institutions, communities, and other local contexts.
Topics to be covered include:
● A ‘wreath’ of goals – Interlinkages of the SDGs to Higher Education and Lifelong Learning
● ‘All for one and one for all’ – cooperation and partnership for the Global Agenda
● Global character and local ‘face’ of SDGs
In conclusion, education stakeholders and researchers are active contributors to a more sustainable future. They educate the future generations, provide research about the current state of our planet, invent new technologies, and address pressing issues of our times. Higher education and lifelong learning institutions further connect the local and the global, translating the SDGs to a local level and serving local communities. In short, post-secondary education, including LLL, is a key driver for a sustainable future.
Format: Moderated Panel discussion with 4 leading questions:
PART 1
1. How can we ‘translate’ the SDGs efficiently into universities and Learning Institutions’ teaching, learning and research practices and strategies?
2. What/how do we teach about the SDGs and undertake international research to engage with the SDGs to have a (long-term) positive effect on sustainability and society?
PART 2
3. ‘All for one and one for all’ – Which roles do cooperation and partnerships play for the Global Agenda?
4. What are the challenges and what opportunities can we build the future on?
About the Session Partners
The session partners, the SDG Academy, the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) and the International Association of Universities (IAU) with L’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), have been involved with sustainable development in post-secondary education for many years, along with their respective global networks of partners, members, and other collaborators.
The SDG Academy is the flagship online education platform of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), creating and curating the best available educational content on the SDGs and making it available as a public good. The ICAE focuses on adult formation outside an institutional context and opening up inclusive and lifelong learning opportunities. The partnership of ACU, AUF and IAU accelerate the engagement of higher education in Agenda 2030, as the associations together represent more than 2,000 HEIs globally. They share their commitment to improving higher education for a more sustainable future and advocate for a Whole-Institution-Approach (WIA) to sustainability.
