Updates from the Global RCE Network: 2018-2019 Dr. Philip Vaughter, UNU-IAS 8th Americas Regional Meeting 23-25 September, 2019, Burlington, USA

1. Updates from the Global
RCE Network: 2018-2019
Dr. PhilipVaughter – United Nations University – Institute for
the Advanced Study of Sustainability
September 23rd, 2019

2. Overview of Presentation
1)Development of the RCE Network to date
2)Overview of RCE-related activities implemented since 2018
3)Update from UNESCO
4)Strategic Directions

3. Background of UN platforms related to ESD
1992
• Rio “Agenda 21”
2000
• Launch of Millennium
DevelopmentGoals (MDGs)
(2000-2015)
2005
• Launch of UN Decade on ESD
(2005-2014)
2012
• Rio +20 “The FutureWeWant”
2014
• Launch of Global Action
Programme (GAP) on ESD
(2015-2019)
2015
• Launch of the Sustainable
DevelopmentGoals (SDGs)
(2015-2030)

4. Development of the RCE Network
2005
Launch of UN DESD
First RCEs Acknowledged
2006
1st Global RCE
Conference
2007
2nd Global RCE
Conference
2008
3rd Global RCE
Conference
2009
4th Global RCE
Conference
2010
Midpoint of UN DESD
5th Global RCE Conference
2011
6th Global RCE
Conference
2012
7th Global RCE
Conference
2013
8th Global RCE
Conference
2014
9th Global RCE
Conference
2015
Launch of SDGs
Launch of GAP
2016
10th Global RCE
Conference
2017
1st Thematic RCE
Conference
2018
11th Global RCE
Conference
2019

5. Development of the Americas RCE Network
2005
Launch of UN DESD
First RCEs Acknowledged
2006 2007
2008
Regina, Canada
2009
2010
Midpoint of UN DESD
2011 2012
2013
Lima, Peru
2014
Guadalajara, Mexico
2015
Launch of GAP
Grand Rapids, USA
2016
Curitiba, Brazil
2017
Vancouver, Canada
2018
Posadas, Argentina
2019
Burlington, USA

6. RCE Network & Newly Acknowledged RCEs
• Global Network: Over 160 RCEs around the world clustered into 4 regions
• African RCE Community: President – RCE Buea,Vice-President – RCE Eswatini
• Asia-Pacific RCE Community: Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee
• European RCE Community: CommunicationCoordinators – RCE London & RCEOldenburger
Münsterland
• Americas RCE Community: Regional Meeting host convenes RCEs
• New RCEs: 5 RCEs were acknowledged since December 2018 until now
• Asia-Pacific: RCE Sundarbans (Bangladesh), RCE Qingdao (China), RCE Sakon Nakhon (Thailand)
• Americas: RCE NorthTexas (USA), RCE Gran Caracas (Venezuela)

8. RCE Awards 2018 – Outstanding Flagship
Projects
• RCE Borderlands – From poverty to plenty: El
Ranchero Solidario Farmer’s Cooperative (SDG 1)
• RCE Borderlands – The mobile living lab (SDG 4)
• RCE Georgetown – RISE youth corps (SDG 17)
• RCE Greater Western Sydney & RCEYogyakarta –
Asia-Pacific SDG youth challenge 2018 (SDG 13)
• RCE GreaterYenagoa – Women’s empowerment
initiative (SDG 5)
• RCE Minna – School empowerment and nutrition
through agriculture (SDG 2)
• RCE Severn – The pop-up sustainability village (SDG
17)
• RCE Scotland – Values and learning for sustainability
in initial teacher education (SDG 4)
• RCETongyeong – Change the world through quality
education (SDG 4)

9. Overview of RCE-related activities
October 2018 • 7th Americas RCE Meeting • Posadas, Argentina
November 2018 • 10th Tongyeong ESD Forum
• International Association of
UniversitiesConference
• Tongyeong, South Korea
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
December 2018 • 11th Global RCE Conference &
Ubuntu Committee Meeting
• Cebu,The Philippines
January 2019 • Announcement of newly
acknowledged RCEs
• Tokyo, Japan
February 2019 • Japanese RCE Meeting
• 2019 APYouth SDG Challenge
Starts
• Kitakyushu, Japan
• All RCEs in Region

10. Overview of RCE-related activities
June 2019 • 12th Asia-Pacific RCE Meeting • Hangzhou, China
July 2019 • UNESCO Forum & GAP Partner
Meeting
• Hanoi,Vietnam
August 2019 • 9th African RCE Meeting • Kwaluseni, Eswatini
September 2019 • 2019 European RCE Meeting
• 8th Americas RCE Meeting
• Heraklion, Greece
• Burlington, USA
November 2019 • World Environmental Education
Congress (WEEC)
• Bangkok,Thailand
December 2019 • Ubuntu Committee Meeting • Tokyo, Japan

11. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

12. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

13. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

14. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

15. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

16. Stock-taking of GAP initiatives

17. Education for Sustainable Development:Towards
Achieving the SDGs (ESD for 2030) ~ 2020-2030

18. Examples of Inter-RCE Cooperation:
Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee
• The Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee is the coordinating and advisory
group for collaborative activities within the Asia-Pacific RCE community
• In cooperation with the Global RCE Service Centre, the Asia-Pacific Coordinating
Committee serves the AP RCE community by:
I. Providing advice on the agenda and programming of the Asia-Pacific RCE Meetings;
II. Being a sounding board of ideas that might lead to collaborative projects for the Asia-
Pacific community;
III.Coordinating inter-RCE activities, and proactively responding to particular needs of RCEs,
if necessary.

19. Examples of Inter-RCE Cooperation:
Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee
• Typically, the Committee is comprised of 5-7 members, representing RCEs from across the Asia-
Pacific region – however, the size is flexible depending on number of volunteers and regional
balance.
• Efforts need to be made to have representation from the youth community.
• The Committee elects one from amongst themselves as the Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinator, who
chairs the Committee and liaises with the Global RCE Service Centre on behalf of the
Committee.
• The term of office for the Coordinator and all Committee members is two years and renewable.
• The Coordinator and all Committee members act in their individual capacities, not necessarily
representing RCEs

20. Examples of Inter-RCE Cooperation:
Asia-Pacific RCE Coordinating Committee
• Committee meetings and discussions are held on a needs basis but should
be at least once a year, and can be conducted though teleconferencing, as
well as outer virtual means should face-to-face be infeasible.
• Appointments of Committee members are made at Asia-Pacific RCE
Regional Meetings

21. Strategic Directions – American RCE Network:
Some Suggestions for Next Steps
• Publication of national cases – similar to
Japanese publication
• Publication of regional cases – similar to
UNESCO publication
• Youth Network Projects – similar to AP RCE
Youth Network
• 12 month plan for engaging
municipal/provincial government(s) on ESD
campaign
• Review and analysis of curriculum on ESD
within Americas (research project)
• Non-formal ESD guide for implementing
SDG(s)