UNESCO UNITWIN NETWORK ON EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

The Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development, together with the University for Peace, is part of a global UNESCO UNITWIN cooperation programme on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Social Transformations (ST) known as UNiESD&ST. This global partnership is envisioned as a platform for generating and sharing knowledge and experience in the fields of ESD and ST, as well as for contextualizing the role of ESD across diverse regions and contexts.

This global network of higher education institutions and internationally engaged organizations positions Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a transformative force for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fostering a sustainable future for all.

Our UNESCO UNITWIN is committed to work with key UNESCO education agendas such as ESD for 2030 and the 2023 UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. It focuses on three key areas: research, policy development, and the implementation of ESD at all levels of education, with a special emphasis on building global perspectives on ESD and advancing teacher education.

The objectives of the network are to:

  • Promote an integrated system of research, training, information, and documentation activities on ESD and social transformation;
  • Generate and disseminate publications, research findings, and scholarly articles; and
  • Facilitate collaboration among high-level, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff from member institutions, as well as with institutions outside the network in other regions of the world.

This cooperation programme, established in November 2021 in collaboration with UNESCO, brings together six founding members: UNESCO Chairs from Leuphana University and Heidelberg University of Education (Germany), the University of Crete (Greece), the Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development at the University for Peace (Costa Rica), York University (Canada), and the SARChI Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems (South Africa). The network is led by Leuphana University.

The founding members are joined by partners from 30 countries, including universities, internationally engaged associations, and UN-related institutions. Together, they work to strengthen the role of quality education in achieving the SDGs through research, policy development, and the implementation of ESD, with a particular focus on teacher education.

The founding partners in this new alliance are:

  • Canada: UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, York University with its chairholder Professor Charles Hopkins and Dr. Katrin Kohl.
  • Costa Rica: UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter, The Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development and the University of Peace with its chairholder Professor Mirian Vilela and Dr. Alicia Jimenez.
  • Germany: UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, Leuphana University with it chairholder Professor Daniel Fischer
  • Germany: UNESCO Chair on Observation and Education of World Heritage and Biosphere Reserve, Heidelberg University of Education with its chairholder Professor Alexander Siegmund.
  • Greece: UNESCO Chair in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education for Sustainable Development, University of Crete with its chairholder Professor Vassilios Makrakis.
  • South Africa: DSI/NRF SARChI Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems, Environmental Learning Research Centre, Rhodes University with its chairholder Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka.

This UNiESD&ST expands our individual efforts and creates new possibilities by engaging selected partners to enhance much needed collaboration to serve the SDGs and the ESD for 2030 Roadmap. It is a learning laboratory to explore inter-cultural perspectives of sustainability and the transformative power of ESD content and pedagogy.

Examples of projects: