We, at UNESCO, play a strong emphasis on sustainable development and particularly on the contributions which Higher Education (HE) can offer. This has been demonstrated by two major international UNESCO Conferences, both organized in 2009, that I would like to evoke.
Higher Education in one of the major determinants in the well-being of a society and of the whole world. What it is aiming for, what it is asked to deliver, what it achieves, what it needs, these are the most important factors to be considered.
We life in an international context of changes and global crisis in which universities must find their place. the overall effects of the energy, economic and financial crisis, climate change and the loss of biological and cultural diversity, food insecurity and huge social inequities, as well as...
Higher Education is uniquely place to play a leading role in the attainment of sustainable development. This catalyst potential needs grounding, however, in a context where universities and colleges are currently seen as contributing to the sustainability crisis.
For centuries, universities have been at the forefront in creating and breaking paradigms, as well as educating the future leaders, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and intellectuals. However, universities have reminded largely traditional, where far too much to much of modern education has...
This paper considers the actualization of sustainable development in African universities. It draws on Deleuze's (1995) concept of "event" to develop analytical lenses for considering different ways in which sustainable development is interpreted in African universities; the problems that...
The following experiences are a selection of good practices in sustainability in Arab States. Some of them where presented in the 5th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education and others are part of the GUNi Observatory.
Higher Education institutions in Asia and the Pacific have endeavored towards sustainability , which have been propelled by government policies and agencies in many cases, as well as several regional and sub-regional efforts.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2002), approximately 800 people in the developing world are food insecure. In Africa, millions hover near starvation in a world of plenty. Since 1990, food availability per capita in Sub-Saharan Africa has declined by 3%.
The following experiences are a selection of good practices in higher education and sustainability. Some of them were presented in the 5th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education and others are part of the GUNi Observatory.
The following text is an extract from the Regional guiding Framework of Education for Sustainable Development in the Arab Region, a document prepared by a group of programme specialists and experts from UNESCO, UN Organization and Arab States, as part of the UN Decade of Education for...
At a time when change is sweeping in Arab region, universities have a vital mission to prepare young citizens for the task of building their societies.
The following experiences are a selection of good practices on higher education and sustainability in Europe. Some of them were presented in the 5th International Barcelona Conference in Higher Education and others are part of the GUNi Observatory.
Canadà and the United Satates of America (USA) have played pivotal roles in the development of sustainability in higher education movement. Many north-American universities are modelling sustainability on their campuses, rethinking polices that are counterproductive to sustainability, and...
This paper describes the historical process and current status of environmental mainstreaming in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Jesús Granados-Sánchez, Arjen E.J. Wals, Dídac Ferrer-Balas, Tom Waas, Mireia Imaz, Stefan Nortier, Magdalena Svantröm , Hilligje Van’t Land and Gerardo Arriaga
Finding an adequate response to the challenges posed by (un)sustainability is a major challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim of this paper is to discuss the barriers or difficulties that prevent HEIs from finding such a response and to suggest ways of overcoming them.
Ever since environmental education was recommended for inclusion in the school curriculum at all levels and in all educational modalities by the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education held in Tbilisi (Georgia) in 1977, the issue of how to ensure this inclusion has been a...
Lisa Schwarzin, Arjen E.J. Wals, & Irena Ateljevic
Around the world we are witnessing a shift in public education in general and higher education in particular. This shift is, at least in part, the result of hegemonic neo-liberalistic thought, which not only dominates the world of commerce but has, during the past two decades or so, forcefully...
The challenging facing a new systemic, complex paradigm in our universities is to connect the disconnected. To do this we need to escape from the maze created by the separation between elements whose original vocation was and continues to be unity in diversity.
