UNESCO-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).

The 2025 call for applications is open until 18 April 2025 (UTC+1, Paris time)

Nomination process

• Who can be nominated?

Institutions, organizations or other entities engaged in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Nominations must focus on a specific ESD project or programme of the nominee, meeting the eligibility criteria.

• Who can submit nominations?

Nominations can be submitted to the Director-General of UNESCO by Governments of Member States via their Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, and by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or foundations in official partnership with UNESCO (such as IAU). Each Permanent Delegation, NGO or foundation can make up to three nominations for any edition of the Prize. Self-nominations are not accepted.

IAU members interested to apply/be nominated through IAU are invited to contact IAU (contact@iau-hesd.net) at least 5 working days ahead of the deadline:  18 April 2025 (UTC+1, Paris time). More information about the prize can be found here.