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RCE Bulletin

Issue 84: August 2018
MESSAGE FROM THE GLOBAL RCE SERVICE CENTRE:

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

This month saw the first of the Regional RCE Meetings take place, with the 8th African Regional Meeting held in Zomba, Malawi from 8-10 August, 2018. Stay tuned for a report of the event in the coming months. For those attending the upcoming European, Asia-Pacific, and Americas meetings, we look forward to seeing you there!

Applications will open soon for the RCE Awards, where we honour and celebrate RCEs who have made outstanding contributions through ESD projects and programmes. Details on how to apply will be announced shortly.

As always, if you have any news, upcoming events, or publications you would like to share in the RCE Bulletin, please complete this form and email your submission to the Global RCE Service Centre at rceservicecentre@unu.edu by the 15th of the month.

Academia and Communities: Engaging for Change – Learning Contributions of RCEs on ESD

The Education for Sustainable Development Project at UNU-IAS has worked with RCEs worldwide to launch a new publication titled 'Academia and Communities: Engaging for Change'. The publication, which was launched on 15 August, 2018, looks at the ways in which local development problems can be approached through a variety of ESD forms and practices initiated by the multi-stakeholder networks and which contribute to the ambitions of the GAP (Global Action Programme on ESD). These are presented in the form of RCE-led initiatives throughout 17 chapters which demonstrate the engagement between knowledge institutions and communities.

A big thank you to all of the RCEs involved in this publication for your invaluable contribution! The publication can be downloaded here.

Sincerely,
The Global RCE Service Centre

Upcoming Events

Online Conference: Empowering Asia Pacific Students’ Leadership in ESD through Networking
5 September, 2018, 11:00-16:00 MYT (virtually via RCE Penang USM Dashboard)

Student leadership in sustainability cannot be achieved single-handedly - in order to develop these competencies it is essential that students are empowered to collaborate and share their ESD knowledge at the global level. RCE Penang, Universiti Sains Malaysia in collaboration with the School of Educational Studies (USM), Penang Education State Department, RCE Tongyeong, RCE Greater Dhaka, RCE Goa, and RCE Yogyakarta will bring together school students from across Asia-Pacific to share and exchange ideas on issues relating to sustainability, focusing on specific themes such as Biodiversity, Sustainable Consumption & Production and Climate Change. The online conference is open to all to participate. Registrations can be made here.

Asia-Pacific Virtual Youth Summit
24 September, 2018, 13:30-17:00 AEST (online webinar via Zoom)

In celebration of the Youth SDG Challenge 2018, and in conjunction with the 11th Asia-Pacific Regional RCE Meeting and Symposium, the first Asia-Pacific Virtual Youth Summit will be held on 24 September, 2018. This initiative is led by the Asia-Pacific Youth Regional Coordinators, Brittany Hardiman (RCE Greater Western Sydney) and Emmy Rusadi (RCE Yogyakarta).

In February this year, the first preliminary Asia-Pacific Youth SDG Challenge commenced, focusing on the SDGs, specifically Goal 13 (Climate Action) and Goal 14 (Life Below Water). Asia-Pacific Youth were invited to make a difference in their local communities with on-the-ground projects that address their community needs and the goals. Collectively, approximately 10,000 youth have been engaged, having worked on 20 youth-led projects in Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Colombia and Australia. This virtual youth summit will celebrate these achievements and hear from the youth who participated.

Participants are invited to join for this online, free event to celebrate the Youth SDG Challenge 2018, and to use the hashtag #apvirtualsummit to share photos and videos during the live stream. The webinar is open to all, from anywhere in the world, of any age (not only youth).

In addition, RCEs are asked to consider hosting live streaming events of the webinar at their local schools or campuses to share these presentations globally and to support our young speakers.

Registration is essential as this is a closed webinar. Please register your attendance here. Note that only those who have registered will receive a link to access the virtual summit.

2nd Edition: Secondary Schools SDGs and ESD Quiz Competition
16 October - 1 December, 2018, Kano, Nigeria

RCE Kano is organising its second edition of its annual quiz competition among some selected private and public secondary schools from 16th October - 1st December, 2018. One of the main objectives of the event is to introduce sustainable development tenets into the informal activities of secondary schools in Nigeria, and in turn to create momentum towards the reorientation of educational systems in line with the global agendas on education.

The first three weeks will be for sensitisation, document sharing and training of the participating schools and students. The frame will be divided into four stages: the general, quarter, semi, and final stages, and will be live, to be televised across Nigeria on African Independent Television (AIT). Every session of the quiz will have a quizmaster, commissioner and the judges' panel, which will be drawn from RCE Kano, RCE Kano's member institutions and other RCEs in Nigeria. The concept note and flyer for the event can be viewed here.

Open Calls

Call for Entries: 2018 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award

Photo credit: SEAMEO

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) in cooperation with UNESCO Bangkok - Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education are pleased to announce the 2018 SEAMEO-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award, with the theme 'Applying Local Wisdom for Environmental Conservation'.

The award is open to all public and private kindergarten / elementary / secondary / vocational and technical schools within 11 Southeast Asian countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam). Eligible schools with programmes, projects and activities related to the theme are invited to apply.

The school awarded 1st prize will receive USD 1,500 and a study tour to Japan, with prizes of USD 1,000 and USD 500 for 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively. The deadline for submissions is 3 September, 2018. Further information and details on how to apply can be found here.

Latest News

UNESCO Member States Map the Future of ESD

With the Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP) ending in 2019, UNESCO is now preparing the future programme for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), to be linked specifically to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On 9 and 10 July, 2018, over 270 participants from 116 UNESCO Member States and Associate Members gathered in Bangkok, Thailand to discuss which future direction governments and UNESCO should take in promoting ESD. Participants discussed a draft position paper, which UNESCO will further revise, based on the inputs from the meeting. Read more

RCE Srinagar Holds Training on Flood DRR

RCE Srinagar recently organised training on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) preparedness in the flood-prone villages of Ahata and Reti hata of the Jarwal Block, Bahraich District, Uttar Pradesh. Over 200 people including representatives of the Gram Panchayat, women, men and children participated in the training, with resource persons coming from the fields of DRR, Environmental Conservation, Water Sanitation & Hygiene, Livelihood Support and Entrepreneurship. Read more 

RCE Penang Holds Seminars Focusing on SDGs, Ethics and Diversity

Photo credit: RCE Penang

RCE Penang recently held seminars focusing on the themes of the SDGs, ethics and celebrating diversity. The first was held at the end of June 2018, in collaboration with the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia and RCE Tongyeong. Local school teachers from Tongyeong city were led through a workshop which aimed to lead the teachers to be agents of change for the SDGs through ESD. Teachers are key in order to drive ESD pedagogical practice, and thus being equipped with the skills and knowledge to nurture and foster this is paramount. Workshop activities were specifically designed to help teachers in dealing with issues associated with cultural diversities and developing a sense of autonomy throughout the ESD process.

The second seminar was held in early July 2018, in collaboration with the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Gyeongsang National University (GNU) Jinju. This event provided an opportunity for academic networking and research collaboration, focusing on ethics across disciplines to provide an understanding of shared values from different cultures when dealing with diversity (SDGs 16 and 17). Read more

ESD BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER

Sulitest Report: Raising & Mapping Awareness of the Global Goals

Photo credit: Sulitest.org

The Sustainable Literacy Test (Sulitest) has released its 2nd Annual Report to the UN High-level Political Forum. The report highlights Sulitest's currently available tools and how they are being used, as well as the projects which have been deployed, are in development or that are planned. Observations on global awareness of the 17 SDGs are also featured, including trends and indicators based on this past year’s International Core module global test results. Read the report here.

In addition, Sulitest has launched two new modules (SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 11: Holistic Waste Management), available at Sulitest.org for universities and organisations.

Opinion: Sustainable Cities Depend on Collective Responsibility and Action

Following on from the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2018, researchers from the IDS (Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex) and partners reflected on how the cities of the future can be built to ensure they are sustainable, disaster resilient and inclusive. Read more

'Nai-Mono-Wa-Nai': Ama Town's Concept of Sufficiency and Message to the World

Junko Edahiro, chief executive of Japan for Sustainability, delivered a presentation at the recent 16th Annual Meeting of International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, held in Hong Kong. Her presentation focused on the concept of nai-mono-wa-nai, which looks at sufficiency in a world where our ecological footprint is exceeding what can be managed. Within this concept, 'connections' and 'interactions' are also valued over initiatives that simply create efficiency. Read more

Shimokawa, Hokkaido: Advancing SDG-Based Community Building

This article, from Japan for Sustainability, looks at how the city of Shimokawa in Hokkaido, Japan, one of the 'SDGs Future Cities', has been proactively working on developing their town by integrating the SDGs in their town planning formulation processes. Read more 

NYC is First City in the World to Report to UN on Local Steps Toward Global Goals

Photo credit: New York City Mayor's Office for International Affairs

NYC has become the first city in the world to submit a review of its progress directly to the United Nations during the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). Modelled after the Voluntary National Review (VNR) that countries are invited to submit to the HLPF every year, NYC’s Voluntary Local Review (VLR) highlights the city's sustainable development achievements since 2015, translating its local actions to a global audience, with a focus on the five priority Goals for the 2018 HLPF. Read more and download their VLR here.

The city's OneNYC strategy, including its goals, targets, initiatives and connections to the SDGs can also be viewed in the publication, 'A City with Global Goals', produced by the NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, available here.

Towards Citywide Participatory Planning: Emerging Community-led Practices in Three African Cities

In this working paper the authors seek to contribute to debates about the scaling up of citizen participation in towns and cities of the Global South through a focus on participatory planning. Read more

Know Your Lifestyle: Introducing Sustainable Consumption in Second Chance Education

In cooperation with Second Chance-teachers and NGOs engaged in development education, didactic materials and workshop modules on topics related to sustainable consumption such as 'Renewable Energies', 'Water as a Global Good', and 'Human Energy' have been compiled and developed to fill gaps identified within the curricula of Second Chance-education in Europe. Read more