The 9th Global RCE Conference was successfully held in Okayama, Japan (4-7 November 2014). It was a great opportunity to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders – from cities, communities, governments, industry, international organizations, and academia – to discuss, debate and launch activities that reinforce the fundamental role that education plays in achieving a sustainable future worldwide. RCE Okayama hosted the conference.

The conference booklet is now online here.

Presentations are posted below. Visit the conference website for links to the online forums and more information about what took place during each session: here.

Wednesday 5 November

9:00-9:45
Session 1. Opening
MC: Miki Konishi (RCE Okayama)
Opening Remarks: Kazuhiko Takemoto (Director, UNU-IAS)
Welcome Remarks: Masao Omori (Mayor, City of Okayama)
Congratulatory Messages: Soichiro Seki (Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan), Alexander Leicht (Chief, ESD Section, UNESCO), Hans van Ginkel (Former Rector, UNU)

9:45–10:00
Session 2. Introductory Session:
Highlights of the RCE Community Development - Zinaida Fadeeva (UNU-IAS)- Download PDF here

10:30-12:30
Session 3. Reflections on Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities 
Africa: David W. Ongare (RCE Greater Nairobi), Ali Bukar Ahmad (RCE Kano) and Abel Barasa Atiti (UNU-IAS)- Download here
Americas: Roger Petry (RCE Saskatchewan) and Unnikrishnan Payyappallimana (UNU-IAS) – Download here
Asia-Pacific: Won J. Byun (RCE Tongyeong), Mario Tabucanon (UNU-IAS) and Sachiko Yasuda (UNU-IAS) - Download here
Europe: Detlev Lindau-Bank (RCE Oldenburger Münsterland), Jos Hermans (Regional Advisor to the RCE Community) and Zinaida Fadeeva (UNU-IAS)- Download here

1230 – 1400
Lunch Session – Japanese RCEs

RCE Greater Sendai – Download here
RCE Chubu – Download here
RCE Hyogo-Kobe –Download here
RCE Kitakyushu –Download here

14:00-15:30
Session 4. Reporting and Strategic Discussion Part I

Reporting from Session 3 

Download pdf Reporting from the Asia Pacific region 
Reflection and Comments by the Ubuntu Committee members and Regional Advisors to the RCE Community: Dzulkifli Razak, Goolam Mohamedbhai, Charles Hopkins, Jos Hermans

16:00-17:30
Session 4.  Strategic Discussions  

Capacity Development
Networked Governance
Assessment
Engagement with Policies

Thursday 5 November 2014

10:00-12:00
Session 5-I: RCE Award Presentations

All nominated and Award presentations can be downloaded here.

Session 5-II: Policymakers Round-table Discussion

Key Speakers:
Masao Omori (Mayor, City of Okayama) - Download here
Monika Bodil Mansson (City of Malmo / RCE Skane) - Download here
Soichiro Seki (Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan) - Download here
Ayub Macharia Ndaruga, (Director, Environmental Education, Information & Public Participation, National Environment Management Authority, Kenya) - Download here
Anantha Kumar Duraiappah (Director, UNESCO  MGIEP / Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development)

Commentators:
Alexander Leicht (Chief, Section of ESD, Division for Teaching, Learning and Content, UNESCO)
Hans van Ginkel (Former Rector, UNU)
Eunkyung Park (Chairperson, Tongyeong Education Foundation for Sustainable Development / RCE Tongyeong)

13:30-15:00
Session 6. Looking Forward: RCE’s Engagement with International Sustainability Processes

Sustainable Consumption and Production:
Zinaida Fadeeva (UNU-IAS) and Roger Petry (RCE Saskatchewan) - Download here
Mahesh Pradhan (UNEP) - Download here

Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge:
Unnikrishnan Payyappallimana (UNU-IAS) and Rob O’Donoghue (RCE Makana & Rural Eastern Cape) - Download here

Climate Change:
Abel Barasa Atiti (UNU-IAS) and Marlene Chikuni (RCE Zomba) - Download here

Youth:
Mario Tabucanon (UNU-IAS) and Ranjana Saikia (RCE Delhi)

Higher Education:
Geoff Scott (RCE Greater Western Sydney) and Clemens Mader (Leuphana University Lüneburg/ University of Zurich) - Download here

15:30-17:00
Session 7. Reporting and Discussion

Reporting from Session 6
Reflection and Discussions - Download PDFs for Climate Change here and Higher Education here

18:00-21:00
ESD Week Opening Ceremony

Friday 7 November 2014

9:00-11:00
Session 8. RCE Movement beyond 2014

Key Speakers:

Dzulkifli Razak (President, International Association of Universities)
Mahesh Pradhan - Download here
Rob O’Donoghue (RCE Makana & Rural Eastern Cape) - Download here
Alfred T. Ortega (RCE West Jalisco)
Recap by Kazuhiko Takemoto (UNU-IAS) - Download PDFs here
Okayama Declaration - Dowload PDFs here

11:30-12:30  
Closing

RCE Award Giving Ceremony
Adoption of the Okayama Declaration on RCE and ESD
Closing Remarks: Isao Aoyama (Chairman, Okayama ESD Promotion Commission/RCE Okayama), Kazuhiko Takemoto (Director, UNU-IAS)