From the 31st of March – 1st of April, the International Advisory Board (IAB) met at UNESCO HQ to discuss progress of the third phase of the UNESCO Chair on ESL (2024-2027).
On Monday 31st March, board members provided updates from their institutions and their work, before discussing the renewal of the International Partner Network (IPN) of the UNESCO Chair on ESL for the new commitment period 2025-2028. The aim of the IPN is to build international cooperation and encourage collaboration in research and education that promote sustainable lifestyles. While the renewal of IPN institutional members is nearly completed, it was reported that 29 institutions have already renewed their membership in the network and 12 new institutions have joined.
In addition to INN University’s UNESCO Chair, members of this network include an additional 7 UNESCO Chairs from around the world:
- Kenyatta University – UNESCO Chair on Higher Education Development for a Green Economy and Sustainability, Kenya
- Helwan University – UNESCO Chair on Cultural Heritage Education, Egypt
- Okayama University – UNESCO Chair in Research and Education for Sustainable Development, Japan
- York University – UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, Canada
- Leuphana University of Luneburg – UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, Germany
- University of Ljubljana – UNESCO Chair on Teacher Education for Sustainable Development, Slovenia
- The Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development, University of Peace – UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter, Costa Rica
The second day of meeting
The second day of the meeting was used to discuss how the UNESCO Chair can support further research collaboration within the Network, to identify hot topics for innovative research and future resources, to review the financial status of CCL as the UNESCO Chair secretariat, and to review the six priority areas and consider strategies and actions in each area. The IAB members were eager to discuss, suggest and recommend ways forward.
At the end of the meeting, it was time to say goodbye to our friend and colleague, Bernard Combes from UNESCO, who will retire at the end of April. Bernard has been the Centre’s go-to-person at UNESCO for more than 20 years and has supported the work of CCL, our former networks CCN and PERL, and INN’s UNESCO Chair. We thank Bernard for all his dedication throughout the years, it has been very much appreciated!
International Advisory Board
The IAB meets twice per year – once in-person and once digitally – to advise the Secretariat of the UNESCO Chair at INN University on strategies and priorities for achieving the action plan of the UNESCO Chair.
Members from the IAB represent different educational institutions around Europe in addition to regional representatives from Asia, Africa and South America.
The International Advisory Board has 12 members. These are:
Luis Flores Mimica, The Organization of Consumers and Users of Chile (ODECU), Chile
Masahisa Sato, Tokyo City University, Japan
Gregor Torkar, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tunnie Srisakulchairak, UN Environment Programme
Bernard Combes, UNESCO
Jørgen Klein, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Daniel Fischer, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany
Amanda Mc Cloat, Atlantic Technological University, St Angelas College, Ireland
Victoria W. Thoresen, Emeritus professor at INN University
Suzanne Piscopo, University of Malta
Shepherd Urenji, educational consultant
Robert Didham, UNESCO Chair holder, INN University
Contact information
Centre director at the Centre for Collaborative Learning for Sustainable Development
- robert.didham@inn.no
- Phone
- +47 62 59 79 63