Declaration on higher education for sustainability

Collaboration between universities has become a key word in the evolution of Education for Sustainable Development, a UNESCO programme launched a decade ago to strengthen public commitment to reduce global warming and the depletion of natural biodiversity.

The move to expand Education for Sustainable Development, or ESD, into higher education under a Global Action Plan starting in 2015 was marked in the Nagoya Declaration on Higher Education for Sustainable Development unveiled on 9 November in Japan.

The 9 November conference was organised by the United Nations University in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, UNESCO, the International Association of Universities and the Japanese Ministry of Education.

It came ahead of the Lima Climate Change Conference starting on Monday 1 December in Peru, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Nagoya declaration was presented to the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, also held in Aichi-Nagoya from 10-12 November, marking the end of the UK Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014 and looking ahead at commitments to carry on to 2020.

The five-year initiative will be conducted with the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, or UNU-IAS, in Tokyo.

HE and ESD

A key message from the Nagoya conference, which was attended by 750 participants from 66 countries, was the ‘whole institution’ approach in ESD for engagement beyond boundaries and disciplines in higher education.

Kazuhiko Takeuchi, senior vice-rector at the United Nations University, said the institution was committed to advancing ESD beyond 2014 by promoting sustainability science, conducting policy-relevant research, implementing capacity development for leadership, and strengthening networks.

The declaration also serves as a call to world leaders to support the transformative role of higher education towards sustainable development, and to recognise the essential role and responsibility of higher education institutions towards creating sustainable societies.

Professor Yuji Suzuki of Hosei University in Tokyo, who is advocating the role of higher education in ESD, explained to University World News that the integrated approach is aimed at closer collaboration between disciplines in sciences and the humanities.

“Sharing expertise across disciplines and research on sustainable development will bring education for sustainable development onto a stronger platform and lead to better results,” he said.

ESD is commonly associated with the protection of biodiversity, but experts pointed out that achieving sustainable development is not restricted to environmental science.

Rather, ESD has been earmarked as a crucial step in attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. UNESCO is described as mainstreaming sustainable development through innovative practices in teaching and learning to create sustainable societies.

Some sustainability projects

Some projects are already being implemented. For example, the UNU-initiated ProSper. Net – the Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network – launched in 2013.

Under the project, universities develop global partnerships for research – in July 2014 five higher education institutions in the Asia-Pacific, including Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia and Hosei University, began collaborating on sustainability in the region.

Similarly collaboration has been undertaken in the Copernicus Alliance, a European regional university network on sustainability, and the MESA – Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in Africa – initiative under the UN Environment Programme.

Professor Kitamura of the University of Tokyo told University World News that the concept of ESD that also promotes sustainability through arts and at the local community level, is taking root in Japanese universities under unique programmes.

One example is Iwate University in the north, which established the ESD Miyazawa Kenji programme in 2009, named after a famous poet who expounded respect for nature through his literary work.

The programme has launched the Galaxy of Learning project that provides environmental management expertise to local small- and medium-sized companies under the umbrella of collaboration between industry, government and local people.

“ESD in higher learning is a crucial step in the innovative spread of sustainable development based on the culture of sharing research. This concept is also capable of changing the closed culture of universities and bringing research to communities,” explained Kitamura.