Tomorrow Today

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brings together students and regional actors from different professions,

including retirees; and cooperation with the national focal point of the

UN Global Compact Network to intensify the connection between the

university and business partners around topics such as human rights,

ESD and supply chain management.

Seeking synergies and establishing platforms for ESD dialogue

Building on its capability for international collaboration, UNU,

together with its close partners and champions of ESD, have brought

together universities in different continents for collaborative alli-

ances. These differ from more conventional academic partnerships

in that they are formed with an understanding that in order to

contribute meaningfully to societal challenges, they have to address

the challenge of transforming the whole (higher) educational

system. A complex work of contributing to change while changing

themselves is unfolding among universities that are ESD champions.

European higher education networking for sustainability

In the past several years, a group of European universities, most of

which are involved in the UNU’s RCE initiative, have made an effort to

reactivate COPERNICUS, the European Network on Higher Education

for Sustainable Development.

In the course of a founding workshop

organized by the University of Lüneburg and the University of Graz,

university representatives from across Europe were invited to work

together on further development of the European Network on HESD.

Outcomes of this workshop included the establishment of seven

working groups, each aiming at different aspects of moving European

higher education towards sustainable development. Groups that organ-

ize workshops such as this one provide meeting points and platforms

to share experiences. For example, participants in the

‘innovative teaching and learning’ group exchange tools

and teaching materials. The ‘student involvement’ group

highlights the importance of students in the implementa-

tion of sustainability in relevant institutions and provides

a Europe-wide platform for students.

The vision of the COPERNICUS Alliance is based on the

aims of the COPERNICUS Charter that was developed in

1993 by the European Rectors Conference. To ensure the

continuity of European progress in this field, the Alliance

is managed as an NGO, with a secretariat serving the

members. One of the services provided by the secretariat is

the funding of working groups so that they can carry out,

among other work, studies focusing on the sustainability

progress of European higher education.

University members of the RCEs engage in collective

efforts to create platforms to support university collabora-

tion in interdisciplinary research and teaching, policymaking,

capacity-building and technology transfer. Universities that

play major roles in RCE Rhine-Meuse and RCE Graz-Styria,

together with other European universities, have developed

an EU-funded project called 3-Lensus (Lifelong Learning

Network for Sustainable Development), which is devel-

oping a database of innovative projects promoting ESD.

The 3-Lensus project focuses on the knowledge triangle of

education, research and innovation for regional sustainable

development. One of the important aims of the project is to

facilitate collaboration between higher education institutions

and regional partners.

Symposium and Workshop on Education for Sustainable Development in Africa (ESDA), Nairobi, Kenya, 1-2 March 2010

Image: UNU-ISP