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RCE Bulletin

Issue 140: April 2023
MESSAGE FROM THE GLOBAL RCE SERVICE CENTRE:

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

Greetings from the Global RCE Service Centre! We start this month with some exciting announcements about the 13th Global RCE Conference and 2023 RCE Regional Meetings! We are delighted to announce the hosts and dates for most of these events - please mark these in your calendar - further details will be shared throughout the year.

We are also excited to share that for the first time, we will be holding an RCE Youth Art Challenge Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan showcasing some of the awarded artworks from last year's RCE Youth Biodiversity Art Challenge. If you will be in Tokyo during May through July this year, please stop by to take a look at some of the brilliant artworks from last year's Challenge! See below for more information on this exhibition.

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

Save the Dates: 2023 RCE Regional Meetings and RCE Global Conference

The Global RCE Service Centre is delighted to announce the following dates for upcoming RCE Regional Meetings to be held in 2023, as well as the RCE Global Conference! Further details will be announced in due course, but for now please save the dates. Details for the 15th Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting will be announced at a later date.

  • 13th African Regional Meeting - 17 August 2023 (online), hosted by RCE KwaZulu-Natal, RCE Makana and Rural Eastern Cape, RCE Lesotho, and RCE Eswatini under the theme of 'Fostering Pan-African Collaboration for Just Futures'
  • Europe Regional Meeting 2023 - 12-14 September 2023 (online), hosted by RCE Basque Country - Navarre and RCE Fryslan, under the theme 'Transformative Education - Innovative Pedagogical Approaches to ESD'
  • 12th Americas Regional Meeting - 27-29 September 2023 (hybrid), hosted by RCE Greater Atlanta, under the theme 'Youth Engagement - Empowering Our Youth to be Change Makers'
  • 13th Global RCE Conference - 31 October - 2 November 2023 (hybrid), hosted by RCE Greater Gombak & RCE Greater Kuala Lumpur, under the theme 'Whole Community Approach for ESD'.
RCE Youth Art Challenge Exhibition
15 May - 15 July 2023, Global Environment Outreach Centre, United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan

In 2022, the second RCE Youth Art Challenge was held by the Global RCE Service Centre, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), in partnership with UNESCO, on the theme of biodiversity.

The Challenge put a spotlight on the species, habitats, and ecosystems that we all need to work to protect. Artworks were received from youth across the world, focusing on SDG 14 (life below water) or SDG 15 (life on land), and described the actions we can all take to conserve biodiversity. 

From 15 May until 15 July 2023, an exhibition will be held at the Global Environment Outreach Centre at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, showcasing a number of the awarded artworks from the 2022 RCE Youth Biodiversity Art Challenge.

Entries consisted of drawings, paintings, craft work, digital art, and photographs across two categories: 'Animals & Plants' and 'Habitats & Ecosystems' (take a look at the artworks in this video featuring the awardees).

The exhibition is open to all and is free to attend; no registration is required.

Upcoming Events

T7 Japan Summit
27-28 April 2023, ANA InterContinental Tokyo and online

The T7 Japan Summit will present research-based recommendations to support policy discussions at the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May 2023 and beyond. Under the theme 'Addressing Crises, Reigniting Sustainable Development, Bridging the G7 and Group of 20 (G20)', experts from Think7 (T7) Japan will propose solutions to advance:

  • development and economic prosperity;
  • wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and just transition;
  • science and digitalisation;
  • peace, security and global governance.

The summit will highlight measures to promote greater collaboration between the G7 and the Global South and seek to bridge G7-G20 action, underscoring the importance of these approaches for tackling shared challenges. It will include panel discussions on Ukraine's reconstruction, gender-equitable economic growth, disarmament and non-proliferation, and other imperatives, to be followed by a press conference.

UNU-IAS is co-chair of the T7 task force on Wellbeing, Environmental Sustainability, and Just Transition. It focuses on social and environmental challenges to achieving the SDGs and climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement after COVID-19. Registration details (in-person and online) are available here.

Open Calls

Latest News

Japan RCE Youth Meeting Synthesizes Action Point for 2023

On 22 February, 2023, 17 young people from six Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs) in Japan came together at the Global Citizens Exchange Center in Aichi for the 2023 Japan RCE Youth Meeting. The event was preceded by three online sessions where the young participants got to engage with each other and share their individual initiatives.

The series of events were hosted and facilitated by youth from the host, RCE Chubu. The meeting was held in parallel to the RCE Working-level Meeting and Global Citizens Forum on Water and Watersheds for SDGs: The Regional Dialogue Forum 2023 in Aichi. It aimed to facilitate discussions amongst the youth RCE members on their respective initiatives in their regions to further knowledge sharing and collaboration. Read more

(Photo credit: UNU-IAS)

First National Meeting of RCEs in Republic of Korea Fosters Collaboration on Education for Sustainable Development

On 15-16 March 2023, the First Korean National RCE Meeting was held at Sejahtera Forest in the Republic of Korea, hosted by RCE Tongyeong. The meeting brought together around 30 members from five of the seven RCEs located in the Republic of Korea. It established a collaborative network, identified common challenges and opportunities, shared ESD projects and activities, and discussed ways to enhance joint projects. Read more

RCE Greater Dhaka Conducts Community Engagement Program on Climate Action

On 19 March 2023, RCE Greater Dhaka held a Community Engagement Program on Climate Action at Uttara Model Town in Dhaka city to raise public awareness in the city on climate action. RCE Greater Dhaka and RCE Greater Dhaka Youth led the program with the presence of students from IUBAT university and the local community. Various public awareness indicators were presented at the event, including planned urbanisation, environmental pollution reduction, waste management, safe industrial management, water management, ecology protection, tree planting, and the prevention of various types of pollution.

Side Event at UN 2023 Water Conference Discusses Global & Local Water Security

On 24 March 2023, UNU-IAS co-organised a side event of the UN 2023 Water Conference on the theme 'Global to Local Water Security Assessment: How Do We Measure Up and How Close Are Our Targets Mid-way To SDG 6?' It discussed the status of water security with a focus on indicators and data, bringing together experts from academia, UN entities, civil society, and development banks. The event considered gaps and challenges related to metrics for SDG 6 (clean water & sanitation) and the UN Water Action Decade objectives. Read more

ESD BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the Context of Transformative Education

Published in the new Handbook of Education Policy, a guide to educational policy around the world, this chapter analyses ESD policy in school systems, higher education, and non-formal education, as well as initiatives targeting broader public audiences. View the chapter here.

Awareness Assessment Study and Ways to Deepen the Knowledge and Practice of the Sustainable Development Goals

This study looked at the level of awareness/understanding, knowledge acquired by the generality of people, and perceived importance attached to the various SDGs by stakeholder groups sampled in the Port Harcourt metropolis. The findings show gaps between what they have heard about SDGs and what SDGs entail. Based on this evident gap, nine recommendations were proposed that can deepen the knowledge and practice of SDGs. Read more