IAU is proud to have contributed to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development

To achieve a more sustainable world, education needs to engage fully with Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals; higher education’s role in this respect is crucial.

The UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development was held as a virtual conference from 17 to 19 May 2021, organised in cooperation with and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, and with the German Commission for UNESCO as an advisory partner. It looked at how education could best be harnessed to address interconnected global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, green and circular economies - and participants were called upon to commit to the Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development that outlines a range of policy measures encompassing teaching, learning, professional training and civic engagement. The Declaration was officially adopted by UNESCO during the Conference.

READ THE DECLARATION

IAU led the session on higher education’s role for ESD and its link to the UN SDGs. In this session, university representatives, including those from the IAU Global HESD Cluster and IAU partners, presented wholistic institution approaches to sustainable development and the role of associations and alliances. Building on the discussion in previous sessions, this session focused on concrete ESD actions that could be undertaken by specific stakeholder groups around the five Priority Action Areas of ESD for 2030 and provided best practices and tools that could facilitate the work of the various stakeholders involved. The session recording will be made available soon on the IAU HESD Portal.

More information on the IAU global HESD portal.