Responsible Futures is a whole-institution approach to embedding holistic sustainability across the formal and informal curriculum in higher education. It is a supported change programme and accreditation mark that works to put sustainability at the heart of student learning. The Responsible Futures framework assists in creating an environment for staff and students to work together, in partnership, to embed sustainability throughout teaching and learning. The programme legitimises and mainstreams education for sustainable development (ESD), ultimately helping to ensure students leave education with the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to create a more just and sustainable society. The framework facilitates a close working partnership between student representatives and their institutions through a set of criteria drawn from good practice across the sector. Thirty-nine partnerships across the UK have joined Responsible Futures since its launch in September 2014. Collectively, they represent nearly 700,000 students. For more information see the RF programme website.

International Pilot Launch Workshops
With two workshops taking place online on 3rd and 5th October, the IAU and SOS UK successfully kicked off the international pilot of the RF programme with the first group of universities. The universities participating in the pilot are IAU members who have been invited on board in recognition of their existing commitment to sustainable development and working with an SD strategy at the whole institution. Pilot universities will play a leadership role in working with IAU and SOS to co-create an international RF framework and shape how the international programme is designed and delivered. Around 35 participants joined over the two days, next to SOS UK and IAU facilitators, staff and students from the following universities:

• Murdoch University, Australia
• Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
• Queens University, Canada
• The University of the West Indies (UWI), Caribbean
• Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Women’s University of Africa (WUA), Zimbabwe

Furthermore, representatives from the University of Derby and the University of West of England, both institutions have been involved in the UK Responsible Futures for a number of years, shared how RF created new possibilities and developed initiatives with lasting impact for coordination of institution-wide sustainability engagement.
Participants reported on existing sustainability activities and challenges to reach all part of the institution. The programme aims to support them in overcoming institutional barriers and putting systems in place that will encourage the development of lasting sustainability initiatives. In addition to introducing participants and defining aims and objectives, the workshops served to review of the RF framework and exchange experiences.

Next steps

Next steps will include further individual meetings with institutions, support consultations, and preparing a possible audit. This first round of the IAU-SOS Responsible Futures pilot will conclude in summer 2024, and its results will be presented at the IAU International Conference 2024 in November 2024 (more details will be announced shortly). IAU Members interested in participating in the Responsible Futures International in 2024 are invited to contact Isabel Toman to receive further information on requirements and timelines.

More Information

The IAU and University World News have partnered to support the work of universities by providing them with adequate and constructive visibility though the UWN’s SDGs Hub.

In view of the critical importance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), University World News dedicates a news section of their website to highlighting the work that universities, and the higher education sector as a whole, do to contribute to the achievement of the Goals. In light of the IAU’s leadership on Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD), IAU and UWN have partnered to further bring visibility to good practices, new research, and important initiatives in the sector. IAU is thus an official SDGs Hub partner.

IAU Members interested in publicizing their sustainable development achievements on the UWN SDGs Hub are invited to contact the IAU.

To learn more about IAU’s work on HESD, click here, or discover the IAU HESD Portal.

Learn more about the IAU - UWN Partnership here.

Subscribe to the UWN SDG Newsletter here.

How it works: 

Pledge - Pledge at head-of-organization level to reach (net) zero GHGs as soon as possible, and by mid-century at the latest, in line with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5C. Set an interim target to achieve in the next decade, which reflects maximum effort towards or beyond a fair share of the 50% global reduction in CO2 by 2030 identified in the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C. You have one year after you sign to set your targets.

Plan - Within 12 months of joining explain what actions will be taken toward achieving both interim and longer-term pledges, especially in the short-to-medium term. You have one year after you sign to set your action plan.

Proceed - Take immediate action toward achieving (net) zero, consistent with delivering interim targets specified. You have one year after you sign to set your targets.

Publish - Commit to report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as the actions being taken, at least annually. You have one year after you sign to develop your annual report.

Persuade - The 5th P was introduced through the 2022 Criteria Consultation in recognition of the importance of aligning each actor’s influencing capacities with their net zero commitments. The Race to Zero campaign will prioritize, with its Partners, the implementation of ‘Persuade’, building on findings of the Pivot Point report launched on 21 September 2022.

Making An Impact: 

You... 

• Decide it's time universities and colleges take action now.
• Sign up and say that your institution wants to be zero carbon. Once signed you have up to one year to set your target and agree your action plan.
• Tell Race to Zero what actions your institution is already taking and what you plan to do next.

Race to Zero... 

• Shows commitment - they will send you your Race to Zero certificate so you can show that your university or college is leading the way in the climate crisis.
• Keeps you updated with ideas and projects to reduce your carbon even further.

Together...

• We all unite to represent the voice of universities and colleges to global governments.

• We show global governments that there is a vital need for their support each year at COP to make every university & college zero carbon by 2030.

Helpful Links

• Browse the Race to Zero campaign or sign up here. 
• Not a University or College? Check out other Race to Zero campaigns by following the link here. 

Can your ideas help to reimagine urban spaces? 12 global cities and @C40cities have launched the 2023 edition of Students #ReinventingCities.

C40 Cities is calling on university students and youth to share their visions and ideas to build a resilient and inclusive future, making the #15MinuteCity a reality. 

12 global cities are participating in this competition: Amman, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Freetown, London, Salvador, Toronto, Tel Aviv-Yafo & Wuhan.

Take part in this unique opportunity to collaborate with cities across the world and share your ideas to transform neighborhoods.

Important dates:

• 26 October 2023 | Third edition of the competition launched
• 28 November 2023 | All information about sites live on website
• 21 March 2024 | Deadline to register your team*
• 20 June 2024 | Deadline to submit your project*
• July 2024 | Jury composed of C40, city & experts to assess all projects
• August/September 2024 | Announcement of winning project

---> Register now!  https://www.c40reinventingcities.org/en/students/

The 17th PASCAL Conference will take place on from 4-6 July 2024. It will be hosted by the University of Taipei, Taiwan University of Education and Datong Community College of Taipei City. The venue will be the Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei.

The sustainable development goals have been an important benchmark for the development efforts of policy makers, academics and practitioners for almost a decade now. Yet, many structural changes and major shocks have altered their context since 2015 when they were first decided upon as a plan to be reached by 2030. The global COVID-19 pandemic brought traditional classroom-based face-to-face education to a sudden halt and sped up the process of online teaching and learning and, generally, the digitization of many other functions of society.

Another challenge - not only for education and learning – is the artificial intelligence revolution. The launch of the latest ChatGPT algorithms, pose many challenges for learning, and the development of a world respectful to aims of the SDGs with their economic, social and moral dimensions.

At the Taipei conference what was learned, and still needs to be learnt in order to harness these challenges successfully as we move to 2030 shall be discussed.

We invite submissions of papers, panels and posters concerning the following sub-topics:

• Climate change - its impact on growth, human rights, inequality and ecology, and the transformations that come with mitigation and abatement;
• Pandemics and human-made threats – impacts on peace, human rights, migration and economic resilience;
• Diversity and social protest in cities in relation to issues of inequality, human rights and economic development;
• Cities and regions – changing economies and implications for employment, enterprise and  entrepreneurship;
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) – risks related to learning, security and peace.

Detailed Call for Submissions: 4 September 2023;

Submission Deadline: 4 March 2024;

Final Registration: 3 June 2024

Learn more about the New Challenges for Higher Education, Cities and Regions: Addressing SDGs in Changing Contexts Conference.

Discover the new report on SDGs activities carry out by the IAU HESD Cluster members in 2022-23:

• Higher Education Partnerships to accelerate action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (final version 09/2023)

What is the HESD cluster?

Unlike other projects in this area, the IAU Global Cluster on HESD brings HEIs from all continents together, and encourages them to develop joint initiatives and synergies. This project is more than just about north-south, south-south, or north-north connections; it is also about bringing in universities wishing to get involved further to work together on an equal footing.

The Cluster works on all dimensions of the SDGs, combining economic, social, cultural, and environmental sustainability. Especially the cultural dimension of SD will be at the core of this Cluster, since this is an area not touched-upon a lot by others. Yet, due to the diverse nature of the IAU, the association believes that this is the key to successful partnerships and a holistic understanding of the Global Goals.

The Cluster is composed of 16 lead Institutions, each championing and working on one specific SDG while at the same time linking it to other relevant SDGs. Work on goal 17, which consists of multiple organizations working together, is led by IAU. Gradually, additional institutions will be invited on board. The Cluster will be supported, monitored and steered by the IAU Working Group on HESD. Initiatives developed by the Cluster will be made available to all IAU Members.