UNU-IAS at CSD-18
15 May 2010

Two side events Education and Learning Supporting Business and Community Development and UN Actions on Education for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Consumption and Production were organised as part of the CSD-18, at the UN headquarters in New York, on 10 and 11 May respectively.

The event on 10 May was organised by UNU-IAS and UNIDO, and the event on 11 May by UNU-IAS and the Interagency Committee for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

During the past two decades UN Agencies have individually and collectively supported a vast range of worldwide initiatives for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) globally. Greater knowledge of emerging best practices in education for SCP and identification of underlying success factors is a starting point for achieving widespread replication and mainstreaming of SCP, which is in turn conditional for advancing sustainable development and addressing urgent environmental and resource challenges at global, regional and local scales.

The learning event on 10 May – Education and Learning for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP): Supporting Business and Community Development (Learning Centre) – aspired to showcase best educational practices for fostering SCP as seen from both business and developmental viewpoints. During the event, experts introduced best practice examples of education for SCP from three perspectives – higher education, local economic development and green industry – and provided insight into both barriers encountered and key factors required for success. The session also included a panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges of scaling-up and mainstreaming best practices in SCP. The event allowed for learning and interaction between participants and presenters on interpreting and implementing SCP.

The speakers at the event were Zinaida Fadeeva, Research Fellow, UNU-IAS; Hasnah Haron, Professor of Accounting at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); René Van Berkel, Chief of the Cleaner and Sustainable Production Unit of UNIDO; and Roger Petry, Rhodes Scholar and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Luther College at the University of Regina (Canada)
 

In the context of the Commission on Sustainable Development 18th session, UNU-IAS, in cooperation with UNEP, UNESCO, UNICEF and UN HABITAT, presented the side event on 11 May to highlight the critical role of education in promoting sustainable consumption and production as well as associated challenges and opportunities for action from the perspectives of different stakeholders.

Development of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) systems requires the participation of various stakeholders dealing with policies, innovations, human and institutional actions. In the side event, business, civil society organisations, government, IHEs as well as other representatives from critical partners of UN agencies presented their perspectives on the potential of educational processes to contribute to the furthering of SCP systems. 



UN agency members of the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) provided an overview of UN initiatives within the framework of DESD and engaged different stakeholders in a discussion to address three issues:

1) role of education and learning in development of SCP;
2) challenges and opportunities to create learning systems for SCP; and
3) strategies, tools and good practice in the area of education and SCP.

This was followed by contributions from representatives of diverse stakeholders groups: IHE, youth, local government, civil society and businesses. The concluding discussion focused on the potential for scaling up good practices through partnerships and engagement with UN agencies.

Speakers at the event were Mark Richmond, Director, Division for the Coordination of UN Priorities in Education, UNESCO; Sylvie Lemmet, Director of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), UNEP; Zinaida Fadeeva, Research Fellow, UNU-IAS; Donna L. Goodman, Founder and Executive Director of the Earth Child
Institute (ECI); Axumite Gebre-Egziabher, Director of the New York Office of UN-HABITAT; Roger Petry, Rhodes Scholar and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Luther College at the University of Regina (Canada); and Sara Svensson, Advisor to UNEP Programme Tunza

For more information
Zinaida Fadeeva
UNU-IAS
fadeeva@ias.unu.edu

More information and background reading