“Fellow travelers”: UNESCO IESALC and National Geographic Learning signed pioneering agreement to promote greening higher education globally

In celebration of the World Environment Day 2024, we would like to announce that on 18 April 2024, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) and National Geographic Learning (NGL) signed a Strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly promote initiatives in Greening Higher Education. By leveraging UNESCO IESALC’s extensive network and methodology to support capacity building in higher education and National Geographic Learning’s expertise in creating immersive educational content, this meaningful collaboration is one essential step forward for wider higher education stakeholders to benefit from better relevancy in the content of Education for Sustainable Development and upgraded greening education methodology and delivery into the space of higher education and beyond.

The Signing Ceremony of UNESCO IESALC-NGL Strategic MOU was applauded as a highlight at the session “Greening Higher Education Institutions: bridging SDGs 4 and 13”, conveyed as a side event during the 2024 ECOSOC Youth Forum (April 16 – 18, 2024) among diverse global audiences. Hosted at the Doha Conference Room at the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) in New York and virtually, the event was co-organized by UNESCO IESALC and UNOSSC and gathered various stakeholders from National Geographic Learning, UNESCO SDG4 Youth & Student Network, UNICEF, University of Helsinki, Education Above All Technological University Dublin to elaborate on existing actions and forward-looking avenues in greening higher education.

The main scope of the partnership launched by both institutions is capacity-building for integrating sustainability into higher education curricula, through online educational resources, such as a one-hour introductory course on greening higher education directed at all major higher education stakeholders and a 10–15-hour teaching training program targeting both pre-service and in-service teachers, across all five UNESCO regions. Additionally, this partnership envisions the establishment of a Multistakeholder Advisory Board consisting of diverse sectors—academia, industry, civil society, and other partners – to share best practices and recommendations, support dialogues and consultations, and mobilize resources towards the common goal of a greening higher education ecosystem.

Together, UNESCO IESALC and NGL aim to equip teachers and higher education stakeholders with the tools and knowledge to incorporate greener contents and practices, as well as to infuse them with enduring inspiration and motivations as lifelong learners and explorers in the field of sustainability.

Representing the signing entities, Erik Gundersen, Global Partnerships Senior Director at National Geographic Learning, and Francesc Pedró, Director at UNESCO IESALC, both highlighted the significance of this joint effort and expected impacts of this partnership.

In his remarks, Gundersen indicated that National Geographic Learning has more than 7 million teachers inspired to “bring the world to the classroom and classroom to life”. With most teachers working in K-12, and it is essential to expand NGL’s role in higher education and to bridge through teacher training to further reinforce the quality and strength of NGL’s content to collaborate with UNESCO IESALC as “fellow travelers”.

Pedró highlighted the Institute’s two key visions on greening higher education: on one hand, every institution, especially in the Global South, shall implement an institutional strategy to green its operations; and, on the other hand, every student, no matter what his or her academic program entails, shall be trained in sustainability contents. Through this partnership, Pedró asserted that both visions would be supported, thanks to the excellence of NGL’s content and its inspirational capacity.

Closing the signing ceremony, Bosen Lily Liu, Head of Partnership and UN Liaison Unit at UNESCO IESALC, thanked all partners present and extended a heartfelt appreciation to the strong leadership and the shared vision of Gundersen and Pedró. She emphasized to partners and audiences that Greening Higher Education can only be achieved through concrete and collective actions of EVERY ONE OF US and that the significance of the UNESCO IESALC-NGL Strategic Partnership, once again, reflects an important and exemplary path of public-private partnerships and to further inspire potential partners to join hands through action-oriented engagements towards our common journey in sustainability in higher education and beyond.

Happy World Environment Day – let’s move higher education to supporting the co-creation of a livable planet for all “fellow travelers”.

UNESCO IESALC

The UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) advances the right to higher education through capacity building, concerted advocacy, and policy research and foresight. As the only UNESCO specialized institute with a mandate in higher education, it has primary responsibility in the promotion of inclusive, quality and equitable higher education for all, as well as the transversal role of the higher education system in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In Greening Higher Education, UNESCO IESALC efforts are structured around four key pillars: Greening Teaching Training Institutions and Curriculum; Greening Technology; Greening Jobs and Skills and Greening Higher Education Institutions. For more information, click here.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LEARNING

National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Group business, is a leading educational publisher for the English Language Teaching and School markets worldwide. At National Geographic Learning, we believe that an engaged and motivated learner will be a successful one, and we design our materials with a highly interactive storytelling approach which is a great way to invoke these connections. To learn more, visit: eltngl.com.