“Low-Carbon Sustainable Lifestyles: scaling up and mainstreaming innovative approaches”

Submission deadline: Sunday 13th March 2016 11.59 pm Paris time

Early this year an online platform was launched by the United Nations to assist cities to become more sustainable. It aims to identify challenges that are having an impact on urban development across the world. The launch of the Smart Sustainable Cities online community comes ahead of the first World Smart City Forum to be held in Singapore in July.

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On 6 November 2015 the United Nations University organized the symposium “Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, as part of a series of events celebrating 40 years of UNU’s academic work. The symposium considered the adoption of the 2030 Agenda by UN Member States and the challenges faced by this ambitious global plan and the 17 SDGs.

Sometimes all it needs is a kick-start to make things happen! The EcoChallenge is an annual community event that does exactly that. For two weeks, individually or in teams, people chose actions to reduce their environmental impact.

This article is based on a report submitted by Detlev Lindau-Bank.

The conference "Bridging Education and Science for Sustainable Development" held in Daugavpils, Latvia on 2-3 December 2015, was organized by the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO in cooperation with the UNESCO Chair at the Daugavpils University, Ilga Salite and the National Centre for Education.

The ESD Okayama Award was established by the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board and City of Okayama in 2015, to showcase and promote ESD worldwide. 50 applicants applied for the ‘ESD Okayama Award’ with 29 applicants from 27 countries and 21 national applications from Japan. 30 applications were received for the ‘Okayama Regional Awards’. The initial screening left the jury with nine finalists for the global award and five finalists for the regional award. Finally the judges selected two winners for each award. However, the judges managed to select two winners for each award category.

This article is based on a report submitted by Detlef Lindau-Bank.

ACEWild (Alternative Curriculum Education out of the Wild) is an initiative that shows schools with pupils aged 11-16, how they can support disadvantaged or more vulnerable young people in gaining experiences, qualifications and work opportunities in the outdoors. The aim is to connect these young people to the environment. The focus of this project is on Vocational Education, Learning and Training. ACEWild is an Erasmus funded project with partners from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

The Climate Change Challenge Badge is designed to help children and young people understand the vital role our climate plays in supporting life on Earth and how our daily lives impact the Earth’s climate.

Most of all the Challenge Badge will help you better understand why climate change matters and motivate you to take action and become positive drivers of change in your communities and within international arenas.

Find it online at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5216e.pdf

Jonathan Yee, a committed Youth representative within the Global RCE Network attached to RCE Saskatchewan, Canada, member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and a strong advocate on sustainability issues, recently co-founded Ahlain - an educational platform that aims to address the challenges Canada is facing by the escalating influx of refugees.