The critical role of education for sustainable development and getting every learner climate-ready
A special event on education for sustainable development and climate change, featuring the award ceremony of the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for sustainable development and a panel discussion on greening education.
Education for a sustainable future
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) reorients education to empower learners of all ages to act for environmental integrity, economic viability and a more equitable society. As part of the ongoing work on ESD, UNESCO will hold a special side event during the 42nd General Conference, highlighting the critical role of ESD through good practice and activities relating to greening education. The event will feature the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development award ceremony, where the 2023 champion laureates will present their project or initiative on sustainable development and receive a cash prize of 50 000 USD to further develop their mission and objectives.
Following the conferral of the award, H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma, Burkina Faso, Chair of the International Jury of the UNESCO-Japan Prize and Chair of the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation, will moderate a panel discussion on greening education and getting every learner climate-ready, as part of the Greening Education Partnership’s mission and work.
ESD-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development
The UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for sustainable development, funded by the Government of Japan, consists of three annual awards of USD 50,000 for each recipient. It was awarded for the first time by the Director-General of UNESCO in November 2015.
The Prize and award winners recognize the role of education in connecting the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It was established by the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 195th session within the framework of the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD and officially announced at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (10-12 November 2014, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan).
Greening Education Partnership
Climate change is one of ESD’s longstanding thematic areas. The Greening Education Partnership was launched in 2022 as one of the global initiatives of the Transforming Education Summit. 80 Member States and 1000 member organizations have joined the Partnership to work together to collectively address the climate emergency. The Partnership aims to respond to the urgent call for education to get every learner climate-ready through its four pillars of transformative education: greening schools, curriculum, teacher training and education systems’ capacities, and communities.
Education for sustainable development
The UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for sustainable development
