Date: Tuesday, 8 November (7:00pm Costa Rica, 8:00pm Toronto)
Wednesday, 9 November (10:00am Japan, 9:00am Beijing and Kuala Lumpur)
The United Nations, especially through UNESCO, has been putting as a high priority the transformation of education to face our current challenges and help better shape the future. The invitation to rethink education is not only for governmental institutions, but all individuals and institutions working in this field, who are also called to rethink and reimagine how education can help us build a more just, sustainable and peaceful world.
In this webinar, we will learn about these ongoing efforts from Charles Hopkins, who holds the UNESCO Chair at York University in Toronto, Canada. He has been an advisor to several ministries of education in Asia and Europe, he is the Co-Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute on Education for Sustainable Development in Beijing, China; and has been involved with UNESCO efforts in transforming education since the drafting of Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 in 1992.
We will also learn from Mirian Vilela, Executive Director of Earth Charter International, who has been collaborating with UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development efforts since 2004, she was a member of the UNESCO Expert Group for the UN Decade on ESD, then the Global Action Programme on ESD and now is part of the Education for Sustainable Development ESD 2030 Network. She holds the UNESCO Chair on ESD with the Earth Charter, based at the Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development at the University for Peace.
The closing remarks for this online event will be offered by Atsufumi Yokoi, Senior Vice President for Global Engagement Strategy of Okayama University, Japan
The moderator of this webinar will be Sam Crowell, Faculty member of the Earth Charter Center for ESD, and professor emeritus from California State University, San Bernardino, USA.
This webinar will be an opportunity to identify synergies and opportunities between UNESCO’s Futures of Education Initiative and ESD 2030 Roadmap, and other similar efforts.
In specific, this webinar will:
- Look at key ideas highlighted in these two major efforts, their similarities, and the opportunities they present to transform education at various contexts.
- Look at how these efforts emphasize the need to reorient the purpose of education towards fostering a culture of care and responsibility and ecological consciousness.
- Explore the role values education and ethics have in the transformation of education practice and the notion of education as a global common. How to envision bringing values and ethics more to the center of education?
The spaces inside Zoom will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
If you are unable to participate in zoom, or did not get a ticket, this webinar will be also broadcasted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ECInternational
Charles Hopkins
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Charles Hopkins, holds the UNESCO Chair at York University in Toronto, Canada. He has been an advisor to several ministries of education in Asia and Europe, he is the Co-Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute on Education for Sustainable Development in Beijing, China; and has been involved with UNESCO efforts in transforming education since the drafting of Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 in 1992.
Mirian Vilela
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Mirian Vilela is the Executive Director of the Earth Charter International Secretariat and the Center for Education for Sustainable Development at UPEACE. Mirian has been working with the Earth Charter Initiative since early 1996. She coordinates the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter and served as a member of the UNESCO Expert Reference Group for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). Over the years she has led and facilitated numerous international workshops, courses and seminars on values and principles for sustainability. Prior to her work with the Earth Charter, Mirian worked for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for two years in preparation of the 1992 UN Earth Summit and a year at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). She actively participated in the 2002 World Summit of Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, and the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development/Rio+20. Mirian holds a PhD. in Education from LaSalle University and a Master´s Degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was an Edward Mason Fellow. She is originally from Brazil.
Sam Crowell
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Sam Crowell is professor emeritus from California State University, San Bernardino. He serves as a faculty member of the Earth Charter Education Center for Sustainable Development and has been engaged in the Earth Charter movement for several years. He founded the MA in Holistic and Integrative Education and is a founding member of the Network in Spirituality and Education. He is the former director at the Center for Research in Integrative Learning and Teaching and has been an elementary teacher, a principal, and a school administrator. He has a PhD on Education from University of Virginia. His books include Emergent Teaching: A Path for Creativity, Significance, and Transformation (2013), The Re-Enchantment of Learning, Mindshifts, and two e-books on Earth Charter Pedagogy.
She served as Head of Environmental Education and Training of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); UNEP’s lead focal point for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development; and Coordinator of the Ecosystem Management Programme of UNEP. Akpezi is recipient of awards and honours such as the Environmental Creation Awareness Award by the Environment Outreach Magazine (2010); The Outstanding Young Persons of Nigeria Award in recognition of her contribution to Moral and Environmental Leadership by the Nigeria Junior Chamber on the occasion of their 40th Anniversary Convention (1997). She is also recognized as a Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecturer at the The Centre for Environmental & Sustainability Education of Florida Gulf Coast University, USA 2011.
She has contributed to knowledge in the field of environmental law and education for sustainable development through several published articles in international journals and book chapters.
Atsufumi Yokoi
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Atsufumi Yokoi (Japan) is Senior Vice President for Global Engagement Strategy of Okayama University, and UNESCO Chairholder in Research and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), established at Okayama University in 2007.
At the comprehensive national university in Okayama City, the sister city of San José, he is committed to designing and implementing a global engagement strategy for the well-being of all, helping to enhance the university’s international profile, presence, and reputation. Yokoi is also in charge of promoting a whole institution’s approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through meaningful relationships and interaction around the world, including, but not limited to UN agencies, international organizations, governments, transnational corporations, universities, and civil societies. He contributed significantly to the progress of the SDGs within the university and throughout the county, and resulted in the SDGs Partnership Award at the first Japan SDGs Awards to Okayama University, presented at the Prime Minister’s Office in December 2017.
Yokoi has also been appointed by UNESCO as Chairholder of UNESCO Chair in Research and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This UNESCO Chair is the first UNESCO Chair in ESD ever awarded among Asian universities and institutes, where he is responsible for promoting research and education for sustainable development in concert with Okayama region and affiliated institutions in Japan and abroad. Among these awards are “The 2016 UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD” awarded to Okayama ESD Project, and “The UNESCO Learning City Award 2017” awarded to Okayama City.
Yokoi frequently speaks at various events focusing on the SDGs and at high-level forums both inside and outside Japan. In 2018, invited by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan, he participated in “The International Youth Exchange Conference” commemorating the marriage of Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, as a keynote speaker and a main facilitator for the international youths to discuss the SDGs in the presence of Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince and Crown Princess, who are currently Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
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