ProSPER.Net E-Bulletin Issue 71 (December 2018)

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Message from the ProSPER.Net Secretariat

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

As 2018 draws to a close, we would like to thank all of our members for their continued support and dedication to the ProSPER.Net alliance over this past year. We wish you all a Happy Holidays and look forward to an exciting 2019 ahead!

Please note that the ProSPER.Net Secretariat will be closed during the UNU’s official vacation period (24 December, 2018 – 2 January, 2019). We will process your requests and emails when we return in the New Year.

Sincerely,
ProSPER.Net Secretariat

2019 ProSPER.Net Young Researchers’ School

(Photo credit: dougsyme / CC BY 4.0)

Applications have now closed for the 2019 ProSPER.Net Young Researchers' School (YRS), to be hosted by Universitas Gadjah Mada, from 3-12 March, 2019 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, under the theme ‘Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation’. Thank you to all of those who applied. Selected applicants will be notified by January 2019.

Open Calls

Applications Open: 2019 UNU-IAS Master’s and Doctoral Programmes

(Photo credit: Kenichi Tanaka)

UNU-IAS is now accepting applications for September 2019 admission to its postgraduate degree programmes: the Master of Science in Sustainability and the PhD in Sustainability Science. The application deadlines are 28 February, 2019 for the master’s programme, and 19 April, 2019 for the doctoral programme. Both programmes start in September 2019. Read more

Latest News

UN General Assembly Proclaims 24 January International Day of Education

On 3 December, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with consensus a resolution proclaiming 24 January as the International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. In doing so, it demonstrates the key role education plays in building sustainable and resilient societies, as well as its contribution to the achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals. Read more

Publications

2019 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report

With a focus on the theme of migration and displacement, the 2019 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report continues its assessment of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and its ten targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda.

Read more about the report here or take a look at the section on Target 4.7 here.

New Online Courses on Global Citizenship Education (GCED)

New lectures and materials have been released on the GCED Online Campus, an e-learning platform by UNESCO-APCEIU providing free courses and content on Global Citizenship Education (GCED).

These include special lectures from GCED experts, short videos on pedagogy and topics of GCED, interviews with young global citizens, and online courses on Global Justice and Peacebuilding, Human Rights in the context of GCED, Youth Advocacy for GCED, and Curriculum Development for GCED Educators, among others. Explore the online campus here.

Paving the Road to Education: A Target-by-target Analysis of SDG 4 for Asia and the Pacific

This publication from UNESCO Bangkok delivers a snapshot of SDG 4, including its targets and its indicators, through the lens of inequality. It also assesses the progress countries have made and sets benchmarks for the Asia-Pacific region in terms of achieving SDG 4. It is hoped this resource can assist Member States in identifying what steps can be taken to ensure that the region will achieve the new education agenda. Download the publication here.

Sustainable Development Goals – Resources for Educators

Designed for educators, education planners, and practitioners, this resource bank from UNESCO contains pedagogical materials, ideas for classroom activities, multimedia education resources, good practices for each of the 17 SDGs and more. The resources detail how best to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into teaching and learning. Access the resource bank here.

An Analysis of Environmental Content Found in English-Language Textbooks in Japanese Higher Education Using a Corpus

UNESCO defines Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a means of addressing present and future worldwide challenges by creating sustainable and resilient societies. ESD content and approaches have been applied throughout Higher Education, but one area that lags is English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Although environmental topics are useful for raising student awareness of critical issues, EFL lessons dedicated to these topics often fail to engage students. This research examines the role environmental topics play in EFL textbooks through an analysis of a corpus of more than 55,000 words garnered from EFL textbooks commonly used in Japanese higher education. The research aims to discover themes and patterns found in the corpus by the novel application of text analysis, data mining techniques, and corpus analysis tools. The author proposes a framework to support and improve EFL lessons that integrate environmental content with the ultimate aim of strengthening ESD mainstreaming. Read more

This is a publication of UNU-IAS ProSPER.Net Secretariat. The bulletin is a great way to share your activities, events and news as a ProSPER.Net member with the rest of the network. Feel free to send us any information you may deem relevant for the rest of the community by completing this form and emailing it to prospernet@unu.edu. We look forward to your inputs! 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