IRIS INVITED TO PARIS TO EXPERT MEETING ON NEW CULTURAL POLICY
Prof Daniella Tilbury has been invited to Paris to attend a 'UNESCO Experts Meeting on Developing the New Cultural Policy Profile for Sustainable Development and Cultural Cohesion'. The intention is to strengthen links between Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)and intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity. The meeting will take place in Paris from 6 to 8 July.
The new policy intends to propose innovative concepts, planning approaches, and flexible strategic infrastructure to provide new orientations to public policy deisgn and programming for sustainable development.
Around thirty participants from around the world are expected for this expert exchange including (i) twelve to fifteen researchers; (ii) policy-makers who have worked for policy change and innovation in the field of culture and development and (iii) UNESCO colleagues from field offices who have actively been involved in accompanying such policy renewal.
IRIS INVITED TO UN GLOBAL ESD CONFERENCE
Ministers, government officials and experts gather in Bonn on the 31st March for a four day United Nations World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The invitation only conference marks the mid-term point of the UN Decade in Education for Sustainable Development and is an opportunity for government and intergovernmental agencies to discuss ESD matters. The focus of the Conference is the First UN Global Report on ESD which seeks to map progress and capture issues associated with advancing ESD across the sectors.
Professor Daniella Tilbury Chair’s the UN Global Expert Group in Monitoring and Evaluation which was responsible for framing the research and identifying indicators that informed this Report. The Expert Group also advises UNESCO Paris on matters associated with capturing progress and reporting on ESD. She will speak on ‘A Global Framework for Mapping Progress in Education for Sustainable Development’ on the 1st April and introduce the report. Ingrid Mula (IRIS PhD student), Roel Van Rajii (IRIS Visiting Fellow) will join Professor Tilbury at a capacity building workshop on ESD indicators offered at the Conference on the 2nd April. IRIS colleagues will facilitate this workshop which will be attended by over 70 participants from around the world.
IRIS CONTRIBUTES TO UNECE REPORT ON INDICATORS
IRIS Visiting Fellow, Paul Vare has written a chapter in a forthcoming publication by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
The publication is designed to provide access to various materials related to the implementation of the UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The final chapter, ‘The Learning Within’, draws on research consisting of interviews and written submissions from members of the UNECE Expert Group on Indicators for ESD. It provides a background to the convening of the group and its mandate as well as the working arrangements and explores the Expert Group as a learning arena, demonstrating how the group dynamics and composition contributed to the success of their work. The chapter ends with some suggested guidelines/recommendations for subsequent working groups in the area of ESD indicators.
The publication will also serve as a contribution to the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (Bonn, 31 March – 2 April 2009).
UNESCO CULTURE COMMISSIONS IRIS (January-July 2009)
Prof Daniella Tilbury and Ingrid Mula have been commissioned by UNESCO Paris to undertake research into Education for Sustainable Development policy frameworks.
The research will review national and international policies in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) from a cultural diversity or intercultural dialogue perspective. IRIS has been asked to elaborate a framework of analysis which maps the connectivity between ESD and culture. The research will report on levels of integration and benchmark policies from across the globe. The researchers have been asked to provide global, regional and country-specific recommendations.
The IRIS research will generate a report as well as a research paper to be presented by UNESCO at the UN World Congress of Education for Sustainable to be held in Bonn in March 2009.
ENSI COMMISSIONS IRIS TO WRITE EUROPEAN REPORT (NOVEMBER-MAY 2009)
Moving Forward in ESD across Europe
ENSI (Environment and School Initiatives) is an international body which brings together representatives from government agencies and academics to advance environmental and sustainability education. It has commissioned IRIS researchers to write the report for a seminar held at the Conférence Internationale de Bordeaux ‘Working toghether on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)’ on the 27-29 October, 2008.
IRIS researchers, Professor Daniella Tilbury and Ingrid Mulà were invited to attend the Bordeaux Conference. The Conference provided a platform for reviewing progress in education across Europe during the initial phase of UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The report which captures the discussions and recommendations arising out of the conference workshop streams, will propose recommendations to be discussed at the World ESD Congress held in Bonn in March-April 2009.
ESD Indicators Workshops
Bonn - Workshop at First UN Conference in ESD, 2nd April 2009
This was an official and invited workshop of the Bonn Conference. The workshop, which was attended by over 80 people from across the globe, provided opportunities for participants to be actively engaged in issues associated with monitoring and evaluating of ESD during the DESD. They were asked to engage in a scenario planning situation and fish bowl exercises as well as in group discussions and analysis. The workshop activities confirmed the importance of M&E; contextualized the realities, issues and limitations of monitoring and evaluation of ESD given the current lack of established monitoring systems for ESD; discussed possibilities for evidence based evaluation; explored mechanisms for multi-stakeholder participation and, sought new insights and perspectives on how to improve and develop better data collection systems in ESD.
The interactive workshop also provided opportunities for capacity building as various ESD indicators types were explored and group activities helped develop new skills for the establishment of M&E systems.
For more information of about the workshop visit
http://www.esd-world-conference-2009.org/fileadmin/download/workshops/ESD2009WS17ME_EN.pdf
For a series of photos from the event see this Powerpoint presentation
The workshop was facilitated by Professor Daniella Tilbury and Ms Ingrid Mula was the rapporteur
Barcelona - Workshop at IUCN Congress World Conservation Congress, 5th October 2008
Is Education for Sustainable Development making a difference?: Indicators for Evaluating Learning and Change for Sustainable Development.
What difference is education making to the achievement of sustainable development? Are we making progress towards a more sustainable world through education during the UN Decade in Education for Sustainable Development (DESD)? Effective monitoring and evaluation processes can provide answers to this question.
The workshop will briefly refer to the UNECE ESD Indicators, the UNESCO Global Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for DESD and the Asia Pacific ESD Indicators Project. However the focus of the workshop is on developing an understanding of ESD indicators – their value, limitations and potential use. Participants will consider through participatory learning exercise, a variety of indicator types and develop their own indicator frameworks. Key experts will be invited to discuss differences between performance indicators and learning indicators and provide valuable insights into experiences in ESD monitoring.
This workshop will be of interest to education professionals who are engaged in education, communication and learning based change processes; policy- and decision-makers who invest in change for sustainable development as well as evaluators and others keen to assess progress towards sustainable development.
The workshop is facilitated by Professor Daniella Tilbury and Ms Ingrid Mula
View photographs from the workshop
Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4, Picture 5, Picture 6, Picture 7, Picture 8
Bordeaux -Workshop at the International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (October 27 - 29, 2008)
As part of the French presidency of the European Union, the French National Committee of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is organising an international conference in Bordeaux, from October 27 - 29, 2008, gathering French and international stakeholders in education, training, information relating to sustainable development.
The workshop will focus on the progress and learning of ESD in France and other European countries during the Decade. It will inform the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development - Moving into the Second Half of the UN Decade, which will take in Bonn (Germany), March 31 March - April 2.
The workshop is facilitated by ENSI with Professor Daniella Tilbury and Ms Ingrid Mula invited as Speakers and workshop facilitators. UNESCO Portal
Ahmedabad – Workshop at the 4th International Conference on Environment Education ( 24 to 28 November, 2007), Ahmedabad, India.
CEE was the nodal and host agency The Conference was organized by Government of India with UNESCO and UNEP as co- sponsors. The workshop funded by UNESCO was attended from participants from Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Oceania. Participants explored possibilities and challenges related to ESD indicators.
The workshop report provides a summary of the event and recommendations arising.
The workshop was co- facilitated by Prof Overson Shumba and Professor Daniella Tilbury with Guest Speakers from UNESCO Bangkok and UNESCO Paris.
Hiroshima - Workshop and Review Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Guidelines for National DESD Indicators (10-11 August 2006), Hiroshima Japan
Workshop at the Peace Dome in Hiroshima, Japan
The Review Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Guidelines for National DESD Indicators offered an opportunity to collaborate on the practical nature of the Asia-Pacific Guidelines for the Development of National DESD Indicators.
Twenty-five participants, consisting of UNESCO National Commission representatives from the Asia-Pacific and international experts provided feedback and suggestions for improving the practicality of the Guidelines document.
The meeting also provided a platform for learning more about the ESD programme goals and priorities of several countries in the Asia-Pacific, in addition to the experiences of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) indicator project, which developed a set of ESD indicators and a reporting framework for monitoring ESD in Europe and North America.
Discussions identified challenges and resources for developing national ESD monitoring systems and clarified UNESCO-IUCN CEC Asia-Pacific DESD Project strategies and priorities.
The meeting was hosted by UNESCO Bangkok and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima Office for Asia and the Pacific (HOAP).
During the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in the Asia-Pacific region. The first phase of the project produced a set of Guidelines that provide UNESCO Member States with a practical resource for developing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Indicators at the national level. Project planning commenced in November 2004 when the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication and UNESCO Bangkok signed an agreement to develop guidelines to assist countries in the Asia-Pacific with developing monitoring systems for ESD. The Asia-Pacific DESD Indicators Project was officially launched in March 2006 responding to the DESD International Implementation Scheme's (IIS) recommendation to develop indicators for ESD.
The second phase of the project aims to take stock of the challenges, lessons learned and next steps UNESCO Member States in the Asia-Pacific are taking to develop their national DESD monitoring systems. This undertaking has been named the Country Update process which evolved from discussions during the Workshop for the Development of Asia-Pacific National DESD Monitoring Systems held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 2-4 April 2007.
The workshop was facilitated by UNESCO Bangkok. Professor Daniella Tilbury was one of the guest facilitators and author of the guidelines document.
IRIS offers an annual PhD Studentship for Sustainability Research. This year the studentship went to Ingrid Mula for research into ESD Indicators.