Plenary II - Keynote Speech: RCE Engagement in National and International Sustainability Processes in GAP and SDGs Dr. Mee Young Choi, Head of Education Unit, UNESCO Jakarta 11th Global RCE Conference 7-9 December, 2018 Cebu, the Philippines

1. RCE Engagement in National and
International Sustainability Processes in
GAP and SDGs
Cebu, the Philippines
07 November, 2018
Mee Young CHOI, Ph.D.: Head of Education Unit
UNESCO Jakarta Office

2. UNESCO Jakarta Office
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/jakarta/about-this-office/office-functions/
Jakarta, Indonesia

3. Education Unit/UNESCO Jakarta Office
• Inclusive Education
• Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
• Teachers and Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT)
• Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (TVET)
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
2018-2019 Education Programmes

4. Presentation Outline
1. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
2. UNESCO Role & ESD Actions and Global Action Plan (GAP)
3. Introduction of SDG 4 and Target 4.7
4. RCE Engagement in National and International Sustainability
Processes in GAP and SDGs

5. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
• ESD empowers learners to take informed decisions and
responsible actions for environmental integrity,
economic viability and a just society, for present and
future generations, while respecting cultural diversity.
It is about lifelong learning, and is an integral part of
quality education. ESD is holistic and transformational
education which addresses learning content and
outcomes, pedagogy and the learning environment. It
achieves its purpose by transforming society.” (UNESCO
Roadmap for implementing the Global Action
Programme on ESD, 2014)

6. UNESCO’s role and ESD actions
1. Global Leadership
2. Coordination and Implementation
3. Technical Support
4. Monitoring

7. UNESCO-Role 1: Global Leadership
• UNESCO leads the global ESD agenda by providing guidance to Member
States and other stakeholders, and by facilitating policy dialogue on ESD
through the organization of international meetings and events.
• UNESCO was the lead agency for the UN Decade of ESD (2005-2014), and is
leading its official follow-up, the Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP),
which was launched in 2014 at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (Aichi-
Nagoya, Japan) and acknowledged by UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/211. In
2017, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed UNESCO’s role as the lead agency
on ESD in its Resolution 72/222.
• To plan for the period following the GAP, which ends in 2019, UNESCO has
drafted a post-GAP position paper on the basis of expert symposia and
consultations with stakeholders and partners. The draft position paper was
discussed by Member States at the Technical Consultation Meeting on the
Future of ESD, 9-10 July 2018, Bangkok, Thailand. Eventually, the post-GAP
position will be submitted to the UNESCO Governing Bodies and the UN
General Assembly for approval.

8. • UNESCO coordinates the implementation of the Global Action Programme on
ESD (GAP) with 5 Priority Action Areas:
1) Advancing policy.
2) Transforming learning and training environments.
3) Building capacities of educators and trainers.
4) Empowering and mobilizing youth.
5) Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level.
• To implement the GAP, UNESCO has established a global network of Key
Partners as Global Community of Practice with more than 90 major ESD
stakeholders from all world regions.
• In the framework of the GAP, UNESCO also showcases ESD good practices
through the UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD, which annually rewards three
outstanding ESD projects or programmes with USD 50,000 each. UNESCO’s GAP
work and the Prize are generously funded by the Government of Japan.
UNESCO-Role 2:Coordination and Implementation

9. • UNESCO continuously provides technical support to
Member States on ESD, through specific materials,
capacity building, or knowledge management.
• One thematic focus of its technical ESD work is
climate change education, but UNESCO also
addresses other sustainable development challenges.
UNESCO-Role 3: Technical Support

10. • As part of its leading role on ESD, UNESCO spearheads the monitoring of
progress towards Target 4.7 of SDG4 on Education. This is linked to Global
Citizenship Education (GCED), which UNESCO promotes as a complementary
approach.
• The agreed global indicator for Target 4.7 is: “the extent to which GCED and ESD,
including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed in (i) national
education policies, (ii) curricula, (iii) teacher education and (iv) student
assessments.” To collect data on this indicator, UNESCO uses the monitoring
survey of the implementation of the 1974 Recommendation concerning
Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and
Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the principles
of which are closely aligned to Target 4.7.
• UNESCO has developed a dedicated website which publishes reports providing
evidence and links to data sets that indicate progress achieving this target in
collaboration with leading institutions:
• https://en.unesco.org/gced/sdg47progress
UNESCO-Role 4: Monitoring

11. UN initiated 17 SDGs in 2015 to achieve
Sustainable Development by 2030
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

12. SDG 4: Quality Education
Goal
“Ensure inclusive and
equitable quality
education and
promote lifelong
learning opportunities
for all”
Key Feature
Access
Equity and inclusion
Gender Equality
Quality
Lifelong Learning

13. SDG 4.7
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire knowledge
and skills needed to promote sustainable
development, including among others, through
education for sustainable development and
sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality,
promoting of a culture of peace and non-violence,
global citizenship and appreciation of
cultural diversity and of culture’s
contribution to sustainable development

14. 4.7 Indicative Strategies
• Interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder approach
• Policies and program to promote ESD
• Global Action Programmed on ESD
• Lifelong learning focused on knowledge, skills,
values and attitudes
• Sharing ESD good practice
• Education and culture
• Assessment system for ESD

15. ESD’s response to global challenges
• Political regulations/financial incentives not enough to
achieve SD.
• Learning to live sustainably requires everyone’s
attention and involvement.
• ESD prepares societies for global changes.
• ESD raises awareness and promotes behavioral change.

16. Sub-regional Challenges in Southeast Asia
• Government ownership on SDGs, especially
SDG4 is still weak.
• ESD is still needed to integrated into the
education system through “ a whole approach”
• The SDG 4.7 Global targets and Indicators are
still not clear.
• Budget constraint or limited budget availability
on ESD.

17. RCE Vision
• RCEs aspire to translate global objectives into
the context of the local communities in which
they operate.
• Upon the completion of the DESD in 2014, RCEs
are committed to further generating, accelerating
and mainstreaming ESD by implementing
the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD, and
contributing to the realization of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
http://www.rcenetwork.org/portal/rce-vision-and-mission

18. RCE Mission - Indicated Areas
• […] the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) mission is to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions globally, keeping in mind action need to happen
at the local level;
• The 10 Year Framework Programme on Sustainable
Consumption and Production (10YFP on SCP) which is
examining ways how consumer behaviour and industrial
production patterns can shift towards a more sustainable
use of the planet’s resources;
• [and] the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well
as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (IPBES), both platforms bring scientists
and policy makers together in a mission to protect the
world’s biota. http://www.rcenetwork.org/portal/rce-vision-and-mission

19. RCE Mission- Indicated Actions
• […] RCEs help prepare local leaders of tomorrow with
the tools and information they need to make smart and
sustainable choices for the future.
• RCE efforts encourage innovation and new approaches
to sustainable development.
• […] translate existing knowledge into concrete actions
and empower individuals to make sustainable choices
for themselves and their communities.
• The success each RCE achieves on the local level is
brought to scale through the global RCE Network
worldwide.
• Local knowledge, expertise, and best practices are
shared globally through the network and can be
adapted and applied successfully in other regions […].http://www.rcenetwork.org/portal/rce-vision-and-mission

20. GAP/ESD-SDG 4.7-RCE Missions
http://www.rcenetwork.org/portal/rce-vision-and-mission
SDG 4.7 Strategies GAP- 5 Priority Areas RCE Missions
Interdisciplinary multi-
stakeholder approach
Building capacities of
educators and trainers
Innovation and new
approaches to SD
Lifelong learning focused on
knowledge, skills, values and
attitudes
Policies and program to promote
ESD
Advancing policy
Translate global objectives
into the context of the local
communities
Transforming learning
and training environments
Global Action Programmed on
ESD
Empowering and mobilizing
youth.
Translate existing knowledge
into concrete actions and
empower individuals
Sharing ESD good practice
Bring up local good practice
into global level through RCE
network world-wide
Education and culture Accelerating sustainable
solutions at local level
Prepare local leaders of
tomorrow
Assessment system for ESD

21. Recommendations for RCE Engagement in National and
International Sustainability Processes in GAP and SDG 4.7
Relevant Areas RCE Engagement into Changes
Policy
Formulation
Process
Identifying policy
area
Providing concrete evidences/data/good practices, which
can be transformed into nat. and int. policy
Testing proposing
policy
Testing proposing policy within local contexts
Implementing policy Monitoring impacts of the implementing policy
Institutional
Changes
Capacity building Developing local mechanism collaborated by local
institutions and RCEs for research (especially for
Assessment System for ESD), case studies, trainings, etc.
Individual
Changes
Competency
Development
Educating people for SDG learning topics and approaches
through cognitive, social-emotional and behavioral
domains
Community Empowerment Advocacy on public support and results enabling
communities to be aware of their ownerships &
responsibilities through development of individual and
collective capacities in controlling their lives to be
sustainable

22. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR
Education for Sustainable
Development Goals
Learning objectives

23. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 23
 Publication developed by UNESCO together with a
research team at the University of Vechta, Germany
to provide guidance on how to address each of the
17 SDGs through Education
 Peer-reviewed by experts on ESD and on each of
the SDGs from around the world
 Launched at the UNESCO Week for Peace and
Sustainable Development in Ottawa, Canada in
March 2017
 So far available in 4 languages (English, French,
Spanish, Portuguese); translation into other
languages (Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Serbian…)
ongoing
Background

24. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 24
 Provide orientation on how to use ESD for learning
for the SDGs
 Outline indicative learning objectives as well as
suggestions and examples for topics and learning
activities for each SDG
 Describe implementation on different levels from
course design to national strategies
 Support education officials, policy makers,
educators, curriculum developers and others in
designing strategies, curricula and lesson plans
 Contribute to developing all learners’ capacity to
contribute to the achievement of the SDGs within
their timeframe until 2030
Aims of the Publication

25. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 25
Structure of the Publication
Part I Introduction to the SDGs, ESD, and the possible
contribution of ESD to achieving the SDGs;
Part II Recommendations for cognitive, socio- emotional
and behavioural learning objectives, topics and
pedagogical approaches for each of the 17 SDGs;
Part III Recommendations and examples of strategies for
how ESD can be implemented at different
educational levels and in different settings.

26. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 26
 Systems thinking competency
 Anticipatory competency
 Normative competency
 Strategic competency
 Collaboration competency
 Critical thinking
 Self-awareness competency
 Integrated problem-solving competency
Promotion of key competencies for sustainability
ESD enables all individuals to contribute to achieving the SDGs by equipping them
with the knowledge and competencies which are needed to not only understand what the
SDGs are about, but to become engaged in promoting the transformation needed.

27. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 27
 cognitive domain:
comprises knowledge and thinking skills
necessary to better understand the specific
SDG and the challenges in achieving it
 socio-emotional domain:
includes social skills that enable learners to
collaborate, negotiate and communicate to
promote the SDGs as well as self-reflection
skills, values, attitudes and motivations that
enable learners to develop themselves
 behavioural domain:
describes action competencies
Recommendations for SDG learning topics and approaches

28. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 28
Recommendations for implementation
 Integrating ESD in policies, strategies
and programmes
 Integrating ESD in curricula & textbooks
 Integrating ESD in teacher education
 Promoting a whole-institution approach
 Applying action-oriented transformative
pedagogy

29. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 29
Example: No poverty (SDG 1)
 Definitions of poverty
 Global, national and local distribution of extreme poverty and extreme wealth
and their reasons
 Importance of social welfare protection systems and measures
 Interrelation of poverty, natural hazards, climate change and other economic,
social and environmental shocks and stresses
 Development cooperation
Suggested topics:
 Develop partnerships between schools and universities in different regions of
the world (South and North; South and South)
 Plan and run an awareness campaign about poverty locally and globally
 Plan and run a student company selling fair trade products
 Provide internships within organizations addressing poverty
 Develop an enquiry-based project around: “Is poverty increasing or decreasing?”
Suggested learning approaches and methods:

30. UNESCO EDUCATION SECTOR 30
Ex: Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Cognitive
learning
objectives
The learner understands…
• how individual lifestyle choices influence social, economic and
environmental development
• dilemmas/trade-offs related to and system changes necessary for
achieving sustainable consumption and production
Socio-
emotional
learning
objectives
The learner is able to:
• differentiate between needs and wants, and to reflect on their
own individual consumer behaviour in light of the needs of
nature, other people, cultures, countries and future generations
• feel responsible for the environmental and social impacts of their
own individual behaviour as a producer or consumer.
Behavioural
learning
objectives
The learner is able to:
• evaluate, participate in and influence decision-making processes
about acquisitions in the public sector
• take on a critical stand as an active stakeholder in the market

31. UNESCO Office, Jakarta
Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific
Cluster Office to Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines & Timor-Leste
Jalan Galuh II No. 5, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta, Indonesia
Telephone: +62-21-7399818
Fax: +62-21-72796489
Email: jakarta@unesco.org
Website: http://www.unesco.org/jakarta
This presentation are cooperated with references contributed by ED/PSD/ESD/HQ and ESD/BKK