Issue 40: March 2016

Message from the ProSPER.Net Secretariat:

Dear colleagues and friends,

Mark your calendar! The ProSPER.Net Secretariat is delighted to announce that the Sustainability Forum and Joint Meeting of the ProSPER.Net Tenth General Assembly and Sixteenth Board Meeting are scheduled to be held on10th and 11th July 2016, at United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan. The meeting will be a wonderful opportunity for members to exchange information and develop the network.

Applications for new membership will be reviewed prior to the meeting and approved at the meeting itself. Institutes interested in becoming members of ProSPER.Net may apply for the membership following the procedure indicated onProSPER.Net. More details will be shared in the next bulletin.

Sincerely,

ProSPER.Net Secretariat

Upcoming Events

Changwon/UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Education Conference9-11 May, 2016, Phuket, Thailand

The main purpose of this conference is to provide an opportunity for discussion and collaboration with local government education policy makers, educational experts and stakeholders to create new development pathways for local societies through community learning center and on-line Lifelong Learning in both rural and urban area of Asia and Pacific region.Read more

International Conference on Ensuring Greater Impact of TVET for Sustainable Development1-2 June 2016, Brunei Darussalam

The conference, organised by the Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education and Training of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO VOCTECH), aims to establish links for national, regional and international TVET initiatives, policies and practices in response to the need of the ASEAN economic community as well as to identify strategies to integrate sustainable development with TVET, and to promote innovative ideas of TVET. Abstracts can be submitted until 31 March.Read more

ICSBE-2016 – 7th International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment16-18 December 2016, Kandy, Sri Lanka

Organized by one of the UNU-IAS/ESD ProSPER.Net members, the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, the conference is running the theme “Innovation for Resilience Environment”. Read more.

World Education Congress: Quality education for sustainable and inclusive growth23-24 June, 2016, Mumbai, India

During the World Education Congress participants will discuss “Evolving Trends in Education”. The congress will examine modern as well as traditional knowledge systems.Read more

For more events visit our ESD calendar.

Open Calls

Online Course: Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities, Lund University, Sweden

Runs April 25 – June 6, 2016. Read more

IPBES Call for nomination of experts and fellows for the Global Assessment and experts for the scoping of the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

Governments and other relevant stakeholders are invited to nominate experts to participate in the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the workshop to further scope the thematic assessment of the sustainable use of Biodiversity. In addition, governments and relevant institutions and organizations are invited to nominate fellows to the IPBES Fellowship Pilot Programme, to participate in the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.Deadline for all calls: 5 May 2016. Read more

UN calls on Local Business Leaders, Changemakers to ‘Pioneer’ Action on SDGs

The “Local SDG Pioneers” programme will honor selected business leaders and change makers who can demonstrate business success through the advancement of sustainable development in their country. Individuals acting on new SDG business opportunities can nominate themselves until April 30, 2016. Read more

Latest News

Okayama becomes a Learning City!

Congratulations to Okayama for joining the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities which reinforces its partnership with the UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD. Read more

ESD experts discuss education and SDGs

Over 750 participants from 22 countries shared their thoughts on the role of education in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, at the international conference ‘Education as a Driver for Sustainable Development Goals’, which began at CEE, on 11th January, 2016. Read the full UNU-IAS report and several individual reports on different SDGs. Read more

Referencing Guide for Social Learning

The Learning for Sustainability (LfS) site is 10 years old this year! It provides a reference guide to on-line resources for those working to support social learning and constructive action. Read more

ESD Books, Publications and Other

Transformations for Sustainable Development: Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Asia and the Pacific

The report aims to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific. Developed by ESCAP together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations University (UNU), and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), it shows that the SDGs will only be achieved when Asia-Pacific megatrends are managed to create opportunities for achieving development outcomes that are in line with environmental limits.Read more

Critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level

The report of the Secretary-General on the “Critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review of the 2030 sustainable development agenda at the global level” includes a proposal of themes for the future, with Cities for example being featured for 2018. Read more

SDG reports from the Commons Action Commons Cluster for the United Nations

The Nature Group Task Force of the Commons Cluster now completed their report on integrating Nature into urban environments. So far reports on Integrating Nature into Education (SDG 4) and into Gender considerations (SDG 5) have been produced. Reports and other related documents from the group Commons Action Commons Cluster for the United Nations can be downloaded here.

This is a publication of UNU-IAS ProSPER.Net Secretariat.

Please send your comments, suggestions and materials to prospernet@unu.edu.

Visit ProSPER.Net regularly for up-to-date news and event information

ProSPER.Net Secretariat 

United Nations University 
Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability 
5-53-70 Jingumae, 
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925 
Japan