Higher Education Institutions - key drivers of the Sustainable Development Goals

19th Jul 2017 15:00 – 17:00

The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI), a partnership between United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNESCO, United Nations Environment, UN Global Compact’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative, United Nations University (UNU), UN-HABITAT and UNCTAD, was created in 2012 in the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). With commitments from over 300 universities from around the world, HESI accounted for more than one-third of all the voluntary commitments that were launched at Rio+20. Through its strong association with the United Nations, HESI provides higher education institutions with a unique interface between higher education, science, and policy making.

On the occasion of the 2017 session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development - United Nations’ central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - and in conjunction with the 2017 Global Forum for Responsible Management Education - the partners of HESI, in collaboration with United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), are organizing an event for higher education institutions to showcase how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the SDGs, is being integrating into sustainability strategies, research, teaching, pedagogy, and campus practices, and to position higher education institutions as key drivers for achieving the SDGs.

In support of the follow-up and review framework of the 2030 Agenda, UN DESA has collaborated with a flagship initiative supported by HESI – The SULITEST – and has include questions around the SDGs in the Sulitest assessment platform for assessing knowledge of students of Higher Education Institutions around the world. To date, over 60,000 tests have been administered. The results, which will be presented at the event, followed year after year, will help to identify gaps in knowledge on sustainable development.

Participants of the HESI event will include government officials, academia, university administrators, UN representatives, sustainability professionals, major groups and other relevant stakeholders.

For details of the event, click here. 

To register for the event, click here. View this event on the EAUC website →