Accelerating Climate Action and Sustainability in Education

After education, research and innovation, universities now have a fourth mission, which is to co-create sustainability in collaboration with society and address the most pressing sustainability challenges such as the climate crisis, sustainable energy access, mass extinction of biodiversity and more sustainable consumption and production patterns. Universities are increasingly being recognized as key players in dealing with today’s development challenges due to their role as promoters and generators of innovation, knowledge, capabilities and skills.

Indeed, by training and educating people, strengthening human capital and fostering public awareness about sustainable development, the next generation of citizens and professionals will be better prepared to face fast-changing, complex global challenges. To better integrate sustainable development into the curricula and operations of universities, as well as to overcome compartmentalization, a systemic, multi- and transdisciplinary perspective is necessary. There is a need to focus on skills development that lie at the interface between technical, socio-economic and cultural factors, and where quantitative and qualitative methods intersect in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ultimately shift the world on a more sustainable path.

The ISCN 2020 conference will provide a timely opportunity to exchange ideas on how climate action and sustainable development at universities can be fostered from an academic, operational and student perspective.