This session is part of an ESD-Net 2030 webinar that will take place on Thursday, 30 March 2023, 13:00-15:00 CET.
Register here and select Session D. On the day, you will be automatically allocated to the breakout room associated with the session selected.
The International Association of Universities (IAU) has advocated for the role universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) have played in support of sustainable development since the early 1990s. Already in 1993, the IAU Kyoto Declaration called for higher education leaders to better articulate HEIs’ work to achieve a sustainable future. This was reaffirmed in 2014 with the IAU Iquitos Statement in which the IAU called for stronger connection between knowledge systems, including indigenous knowledge systems around the world. IAU was one of the strongest advocates for the inclusion of higher education as a key stakeholder for achieving Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IAU was one of the key partners in UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (GAP ESD 2014-2019), and is currently a partner to the follow-up initiative, the ESD-Net 2030. IAU’s strategic priority Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD) includes surveys on HESD, the IAU Global HESD Cluster Network, specialized publications, the IAU HESD portal, representation at events and more around sustainability in higher education.
Workshop description: The UN 2030 Agenda and associated SDGs are a framework for higher education institutions (HEIs) to contribute to sustainable development through their core activities of Education, Research, Community Engagement and Campus operations. Not only are HEIs educating the citizens of today and the leaders of tomorrow; they are important actors at the local level and inform policy nationally and globally.
In line with the objectives mapped out in the ESD Roadmap for 2030, this event will look at HEIs and their teaching practices for ESD. Special attention will be paid to teaching ESD through a transdisciplinary approach. We will also discuss whole-institution approaches to (E)SD. After a short welcome by IAU, experts from different universities will share their experience in teaching SDGs. Participants will be invited to take part in the discussion, ask questions and think of a concrete activity for teaching ESD in their local context. The workshop will include elements of active participation and solution-oriented working. By the end of the workshop, we hope to have not only inspired participants to take a transdisciplinary ESD approach but also will have provided them with tools and resources that they can use to continue to inform themselves and engage with the topic further.
Facilitators:
Dr. Hilligje van’t Land serves the global higher education community as Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU), global NGO with UNESCO Associate Status, which celebrated its 70th Anniversary in 2020. For the past two decades, she has fostered the key role of higher education in societal transformation. She supervises the overall programme activities of the IAU, develops the Association’s strategic plans and oversees the everyday work of the secretariat. She positioned the IAU as partner in UNESCO work on Education for sustainable development and in the UNESCO Futures of Education initiative, and higher education as a key stakeholder for the UN Agenda 2030 – Transforming our world. Hilligje van’t Land strongly believes in the importance of international cooperation and intercultural understanding and has developed multilateral projects related higher education and beyond. She represents IAU in various working groups and expert committees including at the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the UN as member of the High Level Advisory Board to the UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative and Mission 4.7; the UNESCO ESD for 2030 Programme.
Isabel Toman is Programme Officer for Sustainable Development at the International Association of Universities (IAU), based in Paris at UNESCO. Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD) forms one of the four strategic priorities of the Association. Amongst Isabel’s tasks at the IAU are the coordination of the IAU Global HESD Cluster, communicating with Members and partners on HESD, conducting the 3rd IAU HESD Global Survey, and creating content for the HESD Portal, as well as work on related events and publications. Before coming to the IAU in 2019 and taking up her current position in 2020, she gained international experience during work placements in the higher education sector in Mexico and Germany, and her studies (politics, international relations, languages) in Germany, Spain and the UK.