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RCE Bulletin

Issue 118: June 2021
MESSAGE FROM THE GLOBAL RCE SERVICE CENTRE:

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

Greetings from the Global RCE Service Centre! It was wonderful to see many of you at the recent 2nd RCE Global Webinar, where we were able to explore ways to upscale climate activity in the lead-up to COP26, hear from RCEs about their innovative projects, and launch the new Roadmap for the RCE Community 2021-2030! Thank you to our wonderful co-hosts RCE Scotland, and for all of you for your active participation! See below for more on each of these, or view the session recording and presentations here

We now turn our attention to the next steps, and are excited to announce a number of webinars where we can build upon this momentum, where we can delve further into the RCE Roadmap, as well as further opportunities for us to get together regionally and globally, with the announcement of the dates for the RCE Regional Meetings and the 12th Global RCE Conference, which will now be held online. Please mark these important events in your diary - we hope to see as many of you there as possible! 

As always, if you would like to share any news, upcoming events, open calls, or publications for an upcoming bulletin, please complete this form and email your submission to the Global RCE Service Centre at rceservicecentre@unu.edu (submissions close on the 15th of each month).

Sincerely,
The Global RCE Service Centre

RCEs Explore How to Upscale Climate Action in Second RCE Global Webinar

The 2nd RCE Global Webinar, 'Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: action through learning in a time of global crises', took place on 8 June, 2021, with over 90 participants coming together to focus on taking action on the most pressing of issues: climate change. 

Hosted by RCE Scotland and the Global RCE Service Centre, this webinar was the second of two 'bridge' events between the 2020 RCE Regional Meetings and the 12th Global RCE Conference to be held in Autumn 2021. 

With a focus on climate action, the webinar provided participants with an opportunity to explore ways to upscale climate activity in both the lead-up to COP26 and beyond, linking to the priority action areas within the UNESCO ESD for 2030 Roadmap. In addition, the event saw the launch of the new Roadmap for the RCE Community 2021-2030, which serves to guide the RCE community's collective actions towards the SDGs and ESD for 2030 framework at local, national and global levels during the period 2021-2030. 

The Global RCE Service Centre wishes to thank the team at RCE Scotland for their outstanding efforts and coordination towards making this second webinar of the 12th Global RCE Conference a great success, and to all participants for their active participation and contributions. Read more 

Save the Dates: Upcoming RCE Conference and Meetings

The Global RCE Service Centre is delighted to announce the following dates for upcoming events to be held in 2021 and 2022. Further details will be announced in due course, but for now please save the dates!

Global RCE Conference: 

Regional RCE Meetings: 

  • 11th African Regional RCE Meeting - 2 September, 2021 (please note the date has been updated), held online, co-hosted by RCE KwaZulu-Natal and RCE Makana and Rural Eastern Cape  
  • 10th Americas Regional Meeting - 4-6 October, 2021, held online, hosted by RCE Salisbury, under the theme 'Creating an Ongoing Americas Learning Space for Sustainable Development'
  • 13th Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting (Part 2) - 5 October, 2021, held online, hosted by RCE Kyrgyzstan, under the theme 'SDGs and ESD for 2030 Framework: Local actions during COVID-19 Pandemic' 
  • Europe Regional Meeting 2022 - 8-9 February, 2022, held in-person, hosted by RCE Fryslan, under the theme 'The Imaginative Power of the Region: Learning for the SDGs Together'
Launch of New RCE Roadmap

The 'Roadmap for the RCE Community 2021-2030' was launched at the 2nd RCE Global Webinar, held on 8 June, 2021, and serves to guide the RCE community's collective actions towards the SDGs and the ESD for 2030 framework at local, national and global levels during the period 2021-2030.  

Developed in close consultation with the Global RCE Network and the Ubuntu Committee of Peers for the RCEs, the Roadmap presents the long-term vision and mission of the RCE community.  

The Roadmap highlights four strategic priority areas for the next 10 years which had been commonly identified by the RCE community, as follows:  

  1. Serving as local and regional hubs for ESD and showing leadership for innovation  
  2. Strengthening the association of RCE activities with SDGs and ESD framework  
  3. Expanding knowledge sharing and outreach  
  4. Monitoring progress of RCE achievements  

Through a focus on these strategic priority areas and some suggested actions under each priority area, the RCE community will be in a position to continue generating, accelerating and mainstreaming ESD and contributing to the realisation of the SDGs in their respective regional and local contexts. View the Roadmap here

Upcoming Events

Synergising ESD for 2030 Stakeholders Dialogue - Learn for our Planet, Act for Sustainability
1 July, 2021, 17:30-19:30 JST

UNU-IAS and the Ministry of Environment of Japan (MOEJ) will co-organise a Global Environment Outreach Centre (GEOC) outreach event on the theme of 'Synergising ESD for 2030 Stakeholders Dialogue-Learn for our Planet, Act for Sustainability.' It is also a part of a series of events that UNU-IAS will organise alongside the UN High-level Political Forum 2021.

This event aims to provide an opportunity to brief the key elements addressed at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD and discusses ways to accelerate actions on ESD for 2030 with international and local stakeholders. This event will also be a preceding event for the commemorating event for the International Youth Day in August 2021. View the programme and register for the event here.

Webinar: Roadmap for the RCE Community 2021-2030: What’s Next?

Following the launch of the Roadmap for the RCE Community 2021-2030, this webinar will delve further into the key areas of the Roadmap, in particular the four strategic priority areas to guide the RCE community's collective actions towards 2030. In addition, an important part of the Roadmap - Monitoring and Evaluation - will be covered, with a focus on how to report RCE projects and disseminate relevant information via the Global RCE Network's communication channels.  

The webinar will be held on two instances - please join the webinar which is most convenient for your timezone. Please note that registration in this webinar is strictly limited to RCE members. 

  • Friday 9 July, 2021, 16:00-17:00 (JST) - register here 
  • Tuesday 13 July, 2021, 09:00-10:00 (JST) - register here 

Please see the tentative programme here. The deadline for registration is Wednesday 7 July, 2021 (23:59 JST).

Webinar - Education for the Energy Transition: Approaches, Resources and Next Steps
30 June, 2021, 15:00-16:30 CEST (GMT+1)

This interactive event, sponsored by the Green Learning Network, the International Renewable Energy Agency, REN21 and UNEP's Youth and Education Alliance, brings together panellists at the forefront of renewable energy education and training to share innovative approaches to skill building and is useful for anyone interested in building a more sustainable future. 

For more on the agenda and how to register, visit the event page here.

Open Calls

Applications Open: 2021 ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme

The 2021 ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme will be held from 14th - 24th September, 2021, in a virtual format, organised by UNU-IAS. 

The theme of this year's Leadership Programme is 'Climate Change: Global issues, local actions and transdisciplinary solutions'.

The ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme is an opportunity to bring young professionals and emerging leaders in academia, the public sector, the business community, and civil society together to explore how education and training can be used across sectors to foster more sustainable societies in the Asia-Pacific region.

This year's programme, to be held online, will offer participants the opportunity to build skills to view the climate crisis from a holistic lens of sustainable development and to explore interdisciplinary solutions within the context of their local communities. It aims to seize the momentum of the 'build back better' initiatives that have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young professionals and emerging leaders from the public, private, and non-governmental organisation sector who are actively engaged in climate action at various levels are encouraged to apply - this programme is designed for the express purpose of incorporating sustainable development planning into leadership training, and can be applied within any number of spheres, from city government and finance, to education and non-profit work.

Selected participants will attend a 5-day online training programme consisting of lectures and workshops on a variety of topics related to responding to climate change covering policies, practice and theories, while tackling other issues within sustainable development within community contexts. Participants will be given an opportunity to interact with both facilitators and each other throughout these sessions, giving them space to reflect on their current practice, the issues discussed and how they pertain to their own organisations and work programmes.

For more details and how to apply, visit the open call here. Applications close on Tuesday 20 July, 2021 (11:59pm JST).

(Photo credit: Asian Development Bank / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Applications Open: UNU Intensive Core Courses

UNU-IAS is currently accepting applications for its four-week UNU Intensive Core (UNU-IC) Courses to be held at UNU Centre in Tokyo, Japan, from 1-29 September, 2021. The courses are designed to provide analyses of global issues from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, and draw on the research projects undertaken at UNU-IAS and at various other UNU institutes located worldwide. Although advanced in nature, they are open to postgraduate students and professionals in various occupations who are not necessarily specialists in the field. Details on the courses offered, requirements, and application procedure can be found here. The deadline for applications is 16 July, 2021.

Call for Submissions: Innovative Practices in Using Advanced ICT and AI in Education

UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) and Shanghai Open University (SOU) invite schools, TVET organisations, and universities to share best practices on digital transformations related to the use of advanced ICT in education, including artificial intelligence (AI).

The best practices are being collected within a joint project on 'Promoting ICT Capacity Building and Open Education in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies', which is aiming to improve the understanding of the potential, benefits, and limitations of AI and advanced IT among educators. The deadline for submissions is 30 June, 2021. Read more

Latest News

UNESCO World Conference on ESD Wrap-up

The UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development was held virtually from Berlin from 17-19 May, 2021, in cooperation with and generously supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, and with the German Commission for UNESCO as advisory partner. Read the summary from UNESCO here

In addition, take a look at the following documents, sessions, and resources from the Conference: 

  • The adoption of the Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development will create momentum for the implementation of the ESD for 2030 Roadmap. Read it here
  • Watch back the livestream of key sessions here
  • Share why it's important to #LearnForOurPlanet by downloading and using the messages and posts in this toolkit
  • Check out the publication 'Learn for Our Planet', which summarises the findings of a study examining the extent to which environmental issues are integrated into education. 
RCE Dobong-Gu Holds Global ESD University Student Exchange Program

RCE Dobong-Gu recently conducted the 2021 Global University Student Exchange Program for foreign university students, in which they were able to share the achievement and experiences of RCE Dobong-Gu's sustainable development education and experience in the field. A participant in the program, Yayama Aoi, recommended by the University of Kitakyushu, conducted various field programs including visits to learning and community centres and schools, as well as a seminar on civil education. From 2022, RCE Dobong-Gu is looking to plan and operate ESD exchange programs for domestic and foreign university students in earnest within Seoul.

RCE Greater Dhaka Partners Run National Seminar on Observance of World Environment Day 2021

The IUBAT Institute of SDG Studies (IISS), Centre for Global Environmental Culture, host of RCE Greater Dhaka organised a National Seminar on the Observance of World Environment Day 2021 on 5 June 2021. With the theme for the day of 'Ecosystem Restoration', Professor Mohammed Ataur Rahman, Coordinator, RCE Greater Dhaka presented the Keynote paper entitled 'Sustainable Landscape Management for Ecosystem Restoration and Climate Action'. This was followed by a number of presentations from various guest speakers on the topics of soil modelling, awareness building on lightning disasters, protected forest areas, and the role of the university campus on ecosystem restoration. 

ESD BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER

Launch of IPBES-IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change

In the first-ever collaboration between IPBES and IPCC, this report on biodiversity and climate change is based on a workshop held by the two intergovernmental science-policy bodies.

The workshop brought together 50 of the world's leading biodiversity and climate experts to examine the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Read more

Policy Briefs on Greening the Mekong: Action for a Greener Economy with Children and Youth

These policy briefs suggest ways in which children and youth can contribute as agents of change in tackling the challenges from climate change and accelerating the transition to greener economies. The briefs were developed based on a three-country study in Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam, commissioned by UNESCO and UNICEF. 

  • Policy brief 1: Climate Action and Green Economy with Children and Youth in the Mekong Region  
  • Policy brief 2: What Adolescents and Young People Can Do to Accelerate Action towards a Green Economy  
  • Policy brief 3: Cambodian Youth Eager to Contribute to Green Solutions 
  • Policy brief 4: Thailand's Ambitious Environmental Vision Needs Youth Involvement  
  • Policy brief 5: Environmental Knowledge for Youth Can Help Viet Nam Accelerate its Green Actions for the Economy, People and Environment  

Access them here in a range of available languages.