From 29-30 April 2022, the interdisciplinary conference "Diversity & Inclusion across languages – Insights into communicative challenges from theory and practice" will take place at Vienna University of Economics and Business. The conference will bring together researchers and practitioners to gain insights into communication for, within and about a diverse society. Deadline for submissions of abstracts 15 December 2021.
The transformative quality of adult education will shape the future in several ways. The ambition of the Erasmus+ project Online Transformative Learning (OnTL) is to explore the opportunities and limitations for Transformative Learning in virtual settings. From 9-11 September, the project partners including the CA Team came together for a Transnational Project Meeting in Croatia.
Staff of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at University of Bern and the Bern tertiary students’ association for sustainability, BENE developed a sustainable city guide "Nachhaltig unterwegs in Bern" for students. The book invites students to consider what they need for a satisfied and good life and contains facts, ideas and tips in the areas of sustainable development.
"Transformative learning for sustainable development fostering the doughnut economy" is the theme of the next CA Conference, which will be hosted by Hasselt University. From 5-9 September 2022, Hasselt University will open its doors for a physical conference in Belgium, but an online teaser event will already take place on Thursday afternoon, 9 December 2021. What can you expect from this virtual afternoon? Interesting keynote discussions, interactive workshops, live debates broadcasted from a cozy studio and much more! Getting excited for an interactive, inclusive and inspiring afternoon full of doughnuts? Take your diary and mark the dates in the color of your favorite doughnut! More information and registration will soon be available.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) extend their MOOC on "Nature-based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Resilience". Join a learning community of nearly 50,000 participants from 192+ countries! The course is freely available in several languages and provides real-life examples, animations, 360° virtual reality videos, and more. Upon completion participants can receive a certificate.
In our series "A conversation with..." we talk with our members. In this edition, we interviewed Lisa Bohunovsky, deputy head of the Centre of Global Change and Sustainability at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). The centre coordinates the process of integrating sustainable development throughout the university to ensure that education for sustainable development principles and contents are increasingly adopted, if possible from a whole-institution perspective.
The Bern tertiary students’ association for sustainability, BENE (Verein für nachhaltige Entwicklung an den Berner Hochschulen), has just issued an app for sustainable consumption in Bern. Named "BENE Stadtplan" (BENE city map) and featuring over 170 businesses in Bern, this online guide is the outcome of a project supported by swissuniversities, the University of Bern, and the SUB (student association of the University of Bern). The dedicated small team who created the app were motivated by a desire to help everyone in Bern make conscious decisions about consumption and lifestyle, based on sustainability criteria.
The proceedings of the joint IRDO Conferences on "Socially Responsible Society", which took place virtually on 10 and 11 June 2021, have been published. The event was supported by the COPERNICUS Alliance with a Micro Fund and featured a contribution by Anne Zimmermann and HES2020 colleagues on "Creative virtual conferencing and networking to advance higher education for sustainable development".
The University of Girona will award the distinction of honoris causa to former CA President Prof. Daniella Tilbury. Her work has contributed significantly to the progression of sustainability as a key agenda for the future of higher education, not least of all through her research and policy work in the field of Education for Sustainable Development, where she is one of the world’s lead experts.
The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) together with the Social Innovation Center ArantzazuLab is developing a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) to foster transition skills that are necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With financial support from a CA Micro Fund, a workshop was organized with Prof. Jorge Riechmann (Autonomous University of Madrid). The keynote is also available as a video.
The Volunteering Program of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is a project that seeks to channel and promote students' concern for solidarity. More than a decade ago, the UPV/EHU implemented a plan for the recognition of optional ECTS credits in undergraduate studies, which resulted in over 150,000 hours of voluntary work in cooperation and social action programs so far.
University employees have a big responsibility as role models and multiplicators when it comes to sustainability, both at professional level and in their private social environment. Adapting new habits and integrating sustainable routines in daily life starts with knowing about it. The University of Graz added three new courses to its further education programme for staff members to raise awareness for sustainability issues. Both academic and administrative employees can take the courses for free and obtain a certificate.
The UNESCO Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, held virtually from 17-19 May 2021, underscored the urgency with which steps need to be taken, including strong leadership to transform education and to ensure ESD is embedded as a foundational element in education systems worldwide. The 2,800 participants from 161 countries adopted the Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development in order to make ESD foundational at all levels.
Over 230 participants from 35 countries gathered online for the Virtual Higher Education Summit 2020 (HES2020) from 31 August to 2 September 2020. People from various communities interacted with each other to achieve a more systemic and effective understanding of how to enable transformative learning for sustainable development while also assuring quality at higher education institutions. We asked some of the conference organizers and speakers to reflect on the event and selected a few snippets – take a look at the video report! In addition, material and session recordings continue to be available to registered participants on the conference website.
A multiplicity of educational experiences, programs, and approaches exist or are currently being designed in, on, or for mountains. This focus issue of Mountain Research and Development (Vol 40, No 4), offers some answers to the question of how education can contribute to sustainable development in mountain areas. Articles present examples and insights from around the world. Covering a wide range of formal and informal education at all levels, including practical training and lifelong learning opportunities, they provide a basis for future research, policy, and action.
A movement of French researchers invented "Camille Noûs", an imaginary scientific author intended to embody the collective dimension of scientific research. His creation seeks to underline that the sense of collective work has been devalued and forgotten during the last decades in academia, through various neoliberal research policies that prioritize competition over cooperation, and thereby favor individualism at all levels. Their manifesto points out important dimensions of research sustainability.
Frontiers in Sustainability opens a new research topic on "The Role of the Human Dimension in Promoting Education for Sustainable Development at the Regional Level". The theme is closely sociated with ESD and learning processes on regional level, where diverse actors are involved. Deadlines: Abstracts by June 2021 (not obligatory) and manuscripts by January 2022 via the Frontiers online system.
The book "Developing Sustainability Competences Through Pedagogical Approaches. Experiences from International Case Studies" edited by Prof. Rodrigo Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen (both University of Gävle) integrates practice-based original research on how sustainability is incorporated in curricula, the competences being developed, and the pedagogical approaches being used to develop the competences.
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Are you or your institution interested in becoming a member of the COPERNICUS Alliance? Find out more about how you can benefit by being part of a vibrant network!
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