A Whole-Institution Approach for ESD and the SDGs

Sonya Peres
International Association of Universities (IAU), Students Organising for Sustainability and partner universities
The International Association of Universities (IAU), Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), and partner universities propose a workshop around the whole-institution approach to sustainable development in the higher education context. We invite researchers and educators, sustainability officers and all interested to discuss how higher education institutions, staff, students and leadership can work together to incorporate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) principles and the UN SDGs framework in their strategies and activities across all levels of their institutions.
Higher education stakeholders are at the heart of many actions for the SDGs. Not only research, but teaching and overall campus activities have a huge potential to initiate and move forward change. Becoming and supporting changemakers is a crucial step needed for the transformation towards a more sustainable future. Key questions for presentations and discussion are:
What are higher education institutions doing well to embed sustainability and SDGs?
How can these efforts be extended and improved at the institutional level, with all actors involved?
The session will build on short input presentations and open the floor to participants for peer-to-peer exchange on how to encourage students to get engaged with sustainability issues and find innovative solutions through collaborative approaches. The use of an engagement tool (Mentimeter) is envisaged.
Next to Sonya Peres, Senior Project Manager, Education Programmes, SOS UK, two colleagues respectively from the University of the West Indies (Caribbean), and the University of Costa Rica will be joining the conversation.
The workshop will be facilitated by Isabel Toman, Programme Officer for Sustainable Development, IAU.
Relevant for:
SDG 4: Quality Education
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals