Education for Sustainable Development: Research overview

This discussion paper outlines some of the main characteristics of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), particularly in the context of ‘development’ and ‘globalization’. It addresses the various interpretations and meanings of ESD, shows how these relate to environmental education and emerging educations that overlap with SD-issues and introduces sustainability competence as a key outcome of ESD. The paper also outlines some regional trends that affect the way ESD manifests itself in the various countries and regions around the world. Some key developments affecting ESD are introduced, including globalization, the rise of the information and knowledge society, the utilization of diversity and the need for the inclusion of marginalized groups and perspectives

Integrating Sustainability in Asian Business Schools

This chapter discusses the ProSPER.Net initiative to integrate sustainability into business schools in the Asia-Pacific region. The project deserves scrutiny, as it led to positive change within each of the partner universities, involving innovative research, curricular transformation and the development of regional case studies. As such, the project is an instructive case in its own right, highlighting the successes, as well as the obstacles encountered, in introducing and coordinating education for sustainable development (ESD) in diverse organizations. The experience of the project clearly shows that whereas there is a recognized need to promote ESD in business schools throughout Asia, the process of achieving this is difficult and complex. Through a consideration of the achievements and frustrations of the project, it is hoped that this chapter will contribute to a better understanding of these issues, and will help in subsequent efforts to integrate sustainability in business education

Youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

Young people ages 15 to 24 are 1.2 billion of the world’s human capital. Around the world, many of them are already making contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and their work should be further acknowledged and strengthened. Increasingly, youth are recognized as key participants in decision-making and development, as reflected in the growing presence of non-governmental youth organizations and the upsurge of youth advisory boards and committees to international institutions and programmes. Yet building the capacity of and creating sustained partnerships with young people are crucial strategies to achieving the MDGs that have not been fully realized by the international community. This paper aims to provide an overview of youth participation as it currently exists, to outline the ways in which youth are directly involved and affected by each Goal, to demonstrate the ways in which young people are contributing to the MDGs, and to provide ‘Options for Action’ that governments, the United Nations system, donors and other actors can harness, support, and scale-up in order to support young people in making significant contributions to achieving the MDGs. Part I outlines the existing mechanisms for youth participation in development policy. These channels can be used by governments and institutions to strengthen and mobilize young people as partners in policy formulation. Successful modes of participation should be recognized and replicated, and also adapted to the challenging political and socio-economic realities facing many youth-led and youth-serving organizations. Part II presents youth participation as it relates directly to the MDGs. Each goal is analyzed with respect to its effect on young peoples lives as well as how young people can play – and indeed are playing — a role in its implementation. Under each goal are a number of “Options for Action” that governments, the UN and multilateral organizations can use to fully harness the contributions that youth can make to achieving the MDGs. Part III outlines the synergies between the Options for Action presented in this report and the Quick Wins proposed by the Millennium Project. The Options for Action are complimentary and provide a process to implement the Quick Win actions, using young people as key implementing agents and service providers. Part III also outlines a number of youth-focused Quick Wins that can make a significant and measurable difference to the state of young people in target countries. Part IV elaborates on how youth can participate in achieving the MDGs and contains cross-cutting recommendations on youth engagement in all 8 Goals. Overall, the report demonstrates that investing in youth will provide the longest and most effective dividend towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by building the social capital needed to foster pragmatic development. Indeed, without the involvement of young people, a demographic that comprises one fifth of the world’s total population, the full achievement of the MDGs will remain elusive and their long-term sustainability will be compromised. Youth participation is currently quite varied, ranging from effective, to sometimes tokenistic, to often non-existent. There are specific ways in which youth and youth organizations can contribute to the design and implementation of MDG-based strategies, some of which are outlined in this document. Many projects are already happening, but there is much work left still to be done.Youth participation; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Poverty Eradication

Teaching about HIV in schools: the missing link?

HIV continues to affect millions of people worldwide. While significant progress has been made in a number of countries, advances have not been uniform, and the 2.3 million new infections in 2012, point to the need to redouble our efforts. From the beginning, the education sector played a central role in responding to the epidemic, notably by providing school-based HIV education, which has been the subject of much debate. UNESCO new publication, Charting the Course of Education and HIV, builds on the experience of UNESCO staff and contributions from key thinkers and practitioners to examine emerging challenges and opportunities that need to be harnessed to reach the internationally agreed targets related to HIV. . It proposes a way forward for the education sector to contribute to the prevention of new infections, treatment and care, and the reduction of stigma and discrimination. The publication points out how education and health, two basic human rights, are intrinsically linked, as healthy learners learn better, and better educated learners have the skills to be healthy. Education develops the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills required to make informed choices and adopt healthier behaviours. While knowledge is usually insufficient on its own for behavioural change, it is a prerequisite for the adoption of safer sexual behaviours and thus the foundation for an effective HIV response. Education can address harmful gender norms and help to reduce gender-based discrimination and violence which are important both in their own right for equal, fair and prosperous societies and as critical enablers for an effective HIV response. Early on in the epidemic, the rapid spread of the virus and lack of treatment options required urgent action to prevent new infections. Most education approaches were characterized by teaching about HIV as a science topic or as a moral issue. In many contexts, formal education used scare tactics in an attempt to prevent young people from engaging in sexual activity, or promoted ‘abstinence-only’ messages. These methods did not have the intended effect, and infection rates continued to rise. As a result, skills-based approaches such as life skills education, which emphasize cognitive, communication and coping skills, were adopted and the importance of structural and environmental factors such as poverty, gender, culture, values, beliefs, power and policy were recognised and started to be integrated into the HIV response. Evidence laid-out in the book shows that good quality comprehensive sexuality education, including HIV, does not lead to early sexual initiation; instead, it helps delay sexual debut, increase safer sexual behaviour, and improve HIV knowledge. We know what needs to be included in the curriculum and how HIV and sexuality should be covered. However, many existing curricula have weaknesses, including inadequate reference to key aspects of sex and sexuality, lack of information about where to access services, and limited attention to social and cultural factors, sexual rights and sexual diversity. In addition selective teaching is a challenge, particularly in situations where teachers do not feel mandated or supported by the school or community to teach about sexuality and relationships or are unprepared to address them. As such, many adolescents and young people do not receive even the most basic sexuality education and leave school without adequate knowledge. The authors put forward a new approach for HIV education which requires, inter alia, the reframing of HIV education; rethinking teacher training and support; improving implementation; strengthening the links with school health programmes; adaptation to an evolving epidemic; and meeting the increasing demand by young people and their parents for comprehensive sexuality education

Use of social networking in the Middle East: student perspectives in higher education

This study aims to determine the benefits, risks, awareness, cultural factors, and sustainability, allied to social networking (SN) use in the higher education (HE) sector in Middle Eastern countries, namely Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Using an online survey, 1180 complete responses were collected and analyzed using the statistical confirmatory factor analysis method. The use of SN in the Middle Eastern HE sector has the capacity to promote and motivate students to acquire professional and personal skills for their studies and future workplace; however, the use of SN by tertiary students is also associated with several risks: isolation, depression, privacy, and security. Furthermore, culture is influenced by using SN use, since some countries shifted from one dimension to another based on Hofstede's cultural framework. The study new findings are based on a sample at a specific point in time within a culture. The study findings encourage academics to include SN in unit activities and assessments to reap the benefits of SN, while taking steps to mitigate any risks that SN poses to students. Although other studies in the Middle East examined the use of Learning Management System and Facebook in, HE as a means of engaging students in discussions and communications, however, this study contributes a better understanding of the benefits and risks, awareness, culture, and sustainability, associated with the use of SN in the HE sector in the Middle East. Finally, the paper concludes with an acknowledgment of the study limitations and suggestions for future research

Education and outreach activities within the biological weapons convention

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IYV Global Evaluation

This is a report on the global evaluation of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV)

Forests, peaceful and inclusive societies, reduced inequality, education, and inclusive institutions at all levels : Background study prepared for the fourteenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests

This substantive background paper presents an overview of the challenges, opportunities and priorities to enhance contributions of forests to the achievement of SDG4, 10, 16 and relevant GFGs as well as the relevant policy measures under article V paragraph 6 of the UN Forest Instrument. The key messages are: 1. Small-scale and community forestry foster equitable and inclusive development Governments should enact a simplified regulatory framework for small-scale and community forestry that incentives local added value and investments in sustainable forest management including simplified management plans and tax regimes, fiscal stability and tax deductions, and infrastructure to facilitate market access. Technical support, capacity building (organizational, technical, financial, commercial) and inclusive finance are key in catalysing local small-holders and community forestry initiatives. 2. More effort is needed to advance gender equality and youth engagement Governments should mainstream gender and youth perspective into policies, support women-led businesses, peer-to-peer mentoring, business incubation, networks and partnerships at the national and regional level, and enable spaces and channels for dialogue including digital technology. 3. Secure forest tenure and access rights have a positive impact on local livelihoods and equality and provision of ecosystem services Governments should promote the cadastral registration of community land tenure arrangements and customary rights and enforce women’s forest land tenure and access rights by means of awareness raising, leadership development and operationalisation of constitutional provisions. Resilient provision of ecosystem goods and services could benefit from flexible and agile payment for ecosystem services (PES) systems rewarding forest stewards’ contributions and ensuring their financial sustainability through predictable sources of revenue such as fiscal instruments, blended finance and support to CSO initiatives (e.g. crowdfunding). 4. Networking and cooperation are key to meet global and regional challenges Improved networking is needed in order to efficiently meet the global challenges for forestry. At global level a working group within International Collaborative Partnership on Forests is required. International congress on forest education is appropriate to exchange ideas and enhance networking. Strengthen regional and subregional cooperation to meet needs for education, especially teachers’ trainings and education networks 5. Development of forest education requires research, innovation and learning Forest education needs evidence based innovative solutions similar to any other sector. Research on education requires scientific establishment such as international associations and journals. Research is a necessity on curricula needs, pedagogical methods, teaching materials and high-tech teaching and learning innovations. Forest educators need both theoretical pedagogical training and possibilities to familiarize themselves with the forestry practices. 6. Forest education should meet decision makers and provide life-long learning opportunities for professionals Executive training for decision makers can provide efficient policy results. Training courses consist of highlevel lectures, excursions, discussions and networking. Establishing MBA type master's degree for those professionals not having background in forestry is an efficient solution for Life-long learning. 7. Forest education needs public engagement and empowering vulnerable groups. There is a need for new ways of providing forest knowledge to non-expert and people who are vulnerable. Entrepreneurship programmes for elementary education provide useful basics for forestry and other branches of economy. Social learning, informal learning and nano degrees can reach easier than before new groups of learners. There is also a need for new scholarship programmes for students coming from developing countries. 8. Ensure responsible, inclusive and transparent forest institutions for democratic decision-making. Governments should enable policy dialogue spaces and forest stakeholders’ participation in decisionmaking processes ensuring inclusion of vulnerable groups including women and youth. Decentralisation provides an opportunity to advance democratic involvement of local communities in sustainable forest management. Governments should secure a level playing field and transparency in land planning processes. 9. Address challenges in forest governance and foster timber legality Governments should adopt robust legal frameworks and provide for their effective enforcement to curb illegal logging and trade. The EU FLEGT initiative provides a strong blueprint that should be advanced by mobilising partnerships for development in the terms of SDG 17. Forest voluntary certification systems, labelling and codes of conduct are valuable measures to enhance sustainable forest management, provided they are combined with consumer awareness. 10. Access to public information improves institutional quality and accountability Governments should implement Open Government Data policies to advance transparency and accountability, create awareness and enhance social innovation. Moreover, governments should develop effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms including policy research and critical data generation as an input for evidence-based policy making, impact evaluation and adjustment. The adoption of institutional performance measurement through a results-based approach and the implementation of key performance indicators will enhance institutional quality

Understanding Public Online Donations on Social Media during the Pandemic: A Social Presence Theory Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the global economy and health care, but online donations from the public on social media have increased significantly. However, the role of social presence in motivating people to donate online during the pandemic has been largely unexplored. This study examines the relationship between social presence on social media and online donation behavior during the pandemic using social presence theory. We explore the interplay between social presence, perceived threat, social properties of social media, and donation intentions. The results showed that social presence based on social media, perception of others and social interaction significantly affected social media online donation participation, and the perceived threat of COVID-19 significantly moderated online donation participation. Our research contributes to the understanding of online donation behavior during a pandemic crisis and provides insights into how social media can be leveraged for effective donation campaigns