Welcome to the February 2025 edition of the York University UNESCO Chair Newsletter!

A Happy New (Lunar) Year! We hope that this message finds you in good health and you are motivated for a busy year ahead. While it - at times - feels that the world is changing quickly for the worse, there are many opportunities to contribute to a more sustainable and just future and to make a difference.

This newsletter highlights key events happening soon, an overview on selected conferences in the first half of 2025, as well as two calls for submissions for you to get engaged in order to advance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), a key enabler of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Do you know colleagues that may be interested in also receiving the newsletter? Please feel free to share this newsletter and invite them to sign up for future editions of ESD essentials in one email per month.

Charles Hopkins & Katrin Kohl

UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability

York University Canada

Positive news from our own campus: York University has been named the UN Academic Impact (UNAI) Hub Chair for SDG 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries, 2025-27), recognizing its commitment to social justice. York’s DEDI Strategy, Indigenous initiatives, and global partnerships highlight its leadership in tackling systemic inequalities and fostering positive change in higher education and beyond. In the coming years, York University will focus on actively promoting research and teaching to advance SDG 10 and to raise awareness by leveraging the power of community and networks to create positive change.

Next week, the Partnership Forum of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will be held under the theme Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind. The Forum will highlight forward-looking actions to advance the 2030 Agenda through innovative partnerships and thought leadership.

On 4 February 2025 at 9am EST, this side event will serve as a preview for a special issue of the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, co-edited by the SDG Academy and the UNESCO Chair at York University. The special issue, representing scholars in 9 countries from 21 institutions, presents a range of perspectives on ESD and encourages an ongoing, critical dialogue needed to advance inclusive evidence-based solutions.

Held as a hybrid event on 4-5 February 2025, the ECOSOC Partnership Forum offers a number of events for those who are interested in hearing more about latest trends and developments in the efforts towards achieving the SDGs. Many stakeholders will offer side events while special focus is given to the 2025 priorities, namely SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being); SDG 5 (Gender Equality); SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); SDG 14 (Life Below Water); and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). ESD is relevant for the 2025 priorities as a key enabler to all SDGs.

On 5 February 2025 at 8am EST, this next side event during the ECOSOC Partnership Forum will focus on public-private partnerships that are needed to curate and use SDG knowledge as a global public good, e.g., addressing the outcome of the 3^rd World OER Congress, the Dubai Declaration on Open Educational Resources (OER) on digital public goods and emerging technologies for equitable and inclusive access to knowledge and therefore enhancing public awareness as an element of ESD.

Be quick if you want to join the next SDG Bergen Conference on 5-6 February 2025. Under the theme Sustainable Health in Turbulent Times, the event will explore critical interconnections between health, people, and the planet. Emphasizing integrated and accelerated solutions, education, training, and public awareness, - in short: ESD - have an important role to play.

On 18 February 2025 at 2pm EST, the Centre for Global Higher Education (Canada) will offer a webinar, shedding light on the persistent inequalities in higher education around the world, emphasizing the challenges faced by marginalized groups, including Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and those from low-income backgrounds. Advocating for higher education as a fundamental right, the presentation introduces a new UNESCO report, Reaching for the right to higher education: Evidence from 15 countries, that employs a social justice framework and a new typology to explore policies aimed at enhancing access and promoting equity in education systems.

UN Women calls for more Rights. Equality. Empowerment for the upcoming International Women's Day 2025.

On 5 March 2025 at 10am CET, The European Women Rectors Association (EWORA) and the International Association of Universities (IAU) will offer a platform to discuss how higher education institutions can empower staff to take action in favour of gender equality – through teaching and learning, research, campus initiatives, or when engaging with the wider community. Experts will share their perspectives on policies, institutional approaches and partnerships to advance gender equality in holistic ways.

On 12 March 2025 at 8am EST, this next ANGEL regionally focused webinar will present the research results of the international project Teachers for a Sustainable Future. The session will include several studies that explore various dimensions of how global learning (inherent in ESD) is incorporated into teacher training. Researchers from Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia will share their findings on the opportunities and challenges of integrating global learning into teacher education programs in the Visegrad countries.

Huge congratulations to our colleague Michael Kakande from Uganda! A youth advocate, speaking out for the importance of education and awareness raising to prevent climate change, he was recognized with a spot among the TOP 100 Most Influential Africans in 2024, in the category of civil society. Michael is a strong voice for climate justice and is currently organizing the International Climate Justice Caravan in the lead-up to COP 30 to be held in Brazil later this year. Again, congratulations!

Meet Michael Kakande, Founder and Chairperson of The Resilient 40, a youth organization based in Uganda, promoting inclusion of African youth in the climate conversation.

Call for papers: Transforming Our World - Shaping the Path Forward 

Call for submissions: University Climate Action in the Global South and Caribbean

The next IAU Horizons vol. 30.1 Call will address Transforming Our World: Shaping the Path Forward. A decade after adopting the 2030 Agenda, progress on the 17 SDGs remains insufficient. With only five years left, mounting crises demand urgent action. The 2023 SDG Summit, the 2024 UN Pact for the Future, and upcoming UN forums highlight key challenges. In 2027, the UN will decide on the path beyond 2030. The IAU invites higher education leaders from member institutions to reflect on achievements, gaps, and the evolving role of universities in shaping a sustainable future.

Abstract submissions are possible on or before 20 February 2025 with full opinion pieces due on 15 March 2025. 

Hosted by the University of the West Indies, a new book is set to explore how universities, with a specific focus on the Global South and the Caribbean, use their teaching, research, and partnerships to leverage activities to tackle climate change. Editors seek contributions that highlight interdisciplinary strategies and successful activities that foster a collaborative approach to climate action to be scaled or amplified in other contexts. Abstract submission is possible until 31 March 2025.

The next SDG Action and Awareness Week is only one month away! Every year, the University Global Coalition invites university students, staff, faculty, and partners from around the world to plan and host SDG-focused events during SDG Action & Awareness Week. In Canada, the higher education community will pivot to an entire SDG Month in March 2025. Join the action!

Mark your calendar to register for the next Academic Network for Global Education & Learning Conference on 4-6 June 2025.

The event will bring together academics, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners with an interest in research on Global Education and Learning, Education for Sustainability, and Global Citizenship, will take place in Berlin (Germany). Stay tuned to find out more on the tentative programme.

Co-hosted by Times Higher Education and Türkiye's Council of Higher Education, the next Global Sustainable Development Congress will take place at the Istanbul Congress Center on 16-19 June 2025.

Over four days, keynote speakers, panellists, and representatives from global content partners will share their insights on health, sustainable cities, clean energy, AI, gender equality, the environment and much more.

York University's UNESCO Co-Chairs Charles Hopkins and Katrin Kohl will be hosting one of the six thematic core tracks, Education, Gender and Inequality: Equitable Higher Education for an Inclusive Future, throughout the four conference days. This track will focus on innovative approaches and partnerships to ensure that education is accessible to all and is adapting to the evolving needs of society, supporting sustainable development, and reducing inequalities within and among countries.

Celebrating the historic launch of the Earth Charter 25 years ago, this conference under the theme Planetary Consciousness, the Ethics of Care, and Intergenerational Justice, dedicated to mark this milestone, will be held in three different venues in the Netherlands on 1-3 July 2025. Early Bird discounts are available until 28 February 2025.