Issue 42: May 2016

Message from the ProSPER.Net Secretariat:

Dear colleagues and friends,

As announced in the previous bulletin, the Joint Meeting of the ProSPER.Net Tenth General Assembly and Sixteenth Board Meeting will be held on 11 July 2016 at the United Nations University (UNU) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Invitation letters and registration forms have been sent to all ProSPER.Net representatives in member institutes. As the new board members and chair will be elected during the General Assembly, this meeting is of particular importance for the future of the network. If your institute has not yet registered to the events, please submit the registration form you received earlier to the ProSPER.Net secretariat at ProSPER.Net, at your earliest convenience.

ProSPER.Net Forum: Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

We are also delighted to announce that this year’s ProSPER.Net Forum titled “Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” will be held on 10 July, back to back with the ProSPER.Net Board Meeting and General Assembly as well as ISAP2016.

The Forum will showcase some of UNU-IAS’ contributions to the SDGs, highlighting how higher education initiatives can be used as a mechanism for sustainable development, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. As one of the largest and most diverse regions, Higher Education Institutes in Asia-Pacific have considerable potential to innovate and collaborate on how their teaching and research can advance sustainability. Researchers will present on how their cross-institutional research projects address a number of SDGs, such as health and nutrition, climate change, urbanization, and energy. Details on ISAP2016 can be found below. The programme of the Forum and details on how to register have now been posted on ProSPER.Net.

4th ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme

The fourth ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme will be held in Labuan Island and Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia from 7 to 14 August 2016 under the theme “Nurturing Local Leadership toward Sustainable Development”.

The programme is jointly organized by ProSPER.Net and the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), Malaysia, in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS). During the programme participants will receive the necessary inter-disciplinary skills to lead sustainable development initiatives appropriate to local, regional and global contexts.

Participants will go through a unique experience during the programme with a special focus on collaborative efforts, leveraging networks and involving multiple stakeholders. Registrations close 10 June, 2016. To find out if you are eligible to apply and to register please check ProSPER.Net.

Sincerely,

ProSPER.Net

Upcoming Events

International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) 201612-13 July, Yokohama, Japan

The Forum, which is co-organized by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and UNU-IASprovides a platform for discussions on how the international community can ensure effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement at the international, national and local/community levels, under the theme of “Translating Knowledge into Actions towards 2030 and beyond”. Registrations are open until 30 June. Read more

18th UNESCO-APEID International Conference, In Pursuit of Quality Education: The Past, Present and Future26-28 October, Bangkok, Thailand

The event aims to facilitate leading-edge discussions about the quality of education, and to identify gaps where more research and efforts are needed to achieve inclusive and quality education by 2030. Read more

For more events visit our ESD calendar.

Open Calls

ESD Okayama Award 2016

Run by Okayama City and the ESD Okayama Award Steering Committee, the Award will reward outstanding ESD practices in local communities around the world to showcase ESD and to support organizations carrying out ESD activities. Deadline for application is 29 July 2016. For more details check their website.

Grants in Agriculture and Medicine

Since 1999, Ekhagastiftelsen has awarded more than 113 million Swedish Krona to different research projects in agriculture and medicine. Check their website on how you can apply for their grants. Read more

Norway’s Research Council offers KLIMAFORSK Grants

Norway’s Research Council’s large-scale Climate Programme KLIMAFORSK is a 10-year initiative for climate research (2014-2023). With an annual budget of 140 mio NOK, they accept applications from universities, institutes and other research groups also in industry and the NGO sector. Read more

Green Gown Awards

The Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the world. Deadline is 8 June. Read more

More open calls and vacancies can be found in the CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT section on ProSPER.Net.

Latest News

Video of ProSPER.net’s Young Researchers’ School 2016

Watch the latest video by ProSPER.Net member TERI University on the outcomes of the Young Researchers’ School held in New Delhi, India in February 2016. The School’s theme for 2016 was “Sustainable Energy for Transforming Lives: Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability.” For presentations, videos, photos and other outcomes of the School, please visit ProSPER.Net.

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UNU-IAS expands its cooperation with ASEAN in ESD

During the review of the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan (2014-2018) held in conjunction with the 8th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education in Singapore on 11-12 April 2016, UNU-IAS attended in a consultative role. In addition to UNU-IAS’ contribution since 2008, particularly in the offering of the ASEAN+3 Leadership Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), two further potential areas of collaboration were identified:

(1) The ASEAN green higher education programme, where ASEAN plans to review the state of green campuses across higher education institutions in its Member States. Here UNU-IAS could potentially assist ASEAN by sharingProSPER.Net joint project outputs and collaborate in certain activities such as piloting of sustainability-oriented curricula, capacity building and influencing policymaking.

(2) Empowering youth in promoting environmental protection. Here ASEAN intends to collaborate with UNU-IAS’ RCEs in the region. The RCE youth network for example could be instrumental in supporting regional youth initiatives such as the ASEAN Youth Environment Forum, and in developing a recognition scheme for youth eco-champions. The Global RCE Service Centre and the Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee are expected to further explore potential contributions of RCEs with ASEAN.Read more

Video: Inter-university competition leads to integrated Water Resources Management proposal

Since June 2014, around 500 youth champions from 75 teams presented action-oriented, practicable and community participative proposals to address water and sanitation problems. Watch the video on ‘Strengthening Water and Sanitation in Urban Settings: Inter-University Competition on Water Resources Management’. This project by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and TERI University has helped develop a multi-stakeholder, evidence-based, participative and practically implementable Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) proposal.

Webcast on Localizing the SDGs: How Cities Can Help Achieve the 2030 Agenda

The discussion organized by the Habitat III U.S. National Committee together with the Wilson Center, Urban Institute, and USAID to examine local strategies for realizing the 2030 Agenda can be seen here.

Green Olympiad

Participate in the Green Olympiad organised by TERI to increase environment awareness of students age 14 and above. Any school can participate. Examinations are on 30 August and 22 November 2016. Read more

ESD Books, Publications and Other

UN issues new Urban Agenda

The New Urban Agenda will be the outcome document agreed upon at the Habitat III cities conference in October 2016. In turn, it will guide the efforts around urbanization of a wide range of actors — nation states, city and regional leaders, international development funders, UN programmes and civil society — for the next 20 years. Read more

UN Habitat World Cities Report 2016

The report clearly demonstrates that the current urbanization model is unsustainable. It conveys a clear message that the pattern of urbanization needs to change in order to better respond to the challenges of our time, such as inequality, climate change, informality, insecurity, and the unsustainable forms of urban expansion. Read more

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