Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD)

#SDGAction40401

Description

The IAU portal on HESD is an interactive web-based platform which showcases a growing number of HEIs and research bodies and their actions and initiatives for sustainable development. It lists news, events and resources on Sustainable Development in relation to Higher Education and Research. It provides tools for decision-makers, academia, staff and students as well as for other HE stakeholders. The aim is for it to become a global reference portal, increasing, connecting and showcasing actions and institutions, giving them global visibility and, ultimately, creating a global network of actors raising awareness and fostering north-south, south-south and south-north cooperation. Online assistance is provided to help the user in order for the tools listed to be used to the full, fostering networking, sharing, scaling up initiatives, and giving the opportunity to create the space for out of the box cooperation between stakeholders.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

1. Desk top research: 1.a. Systematically monitor and search the internet for sustainable development networks, HEI, resources, conferences, actions and initiatives of member institutions and organisations involved with SD in order to regroup and connect them through this common platform;1.b. To collect HESD news, assessment tools, research, declarations, reports and initiatives worldwide in order to showcase them, link them and facilitate exchange and partnership. 2. Member surveys. Curate, edit and upload information received;3. Maintain a global calendar of events for the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.4. Advocate for the need to strengthen the whole institution approach in order to integrate Education for Sustainable Development fully and to engage beyond boundaries and disciplines in higher education.

Capacity

To organise targeted events to support the global agenda. Next : the IAU 15th General Conference on Higher Education: A catalyst for innovative and sustainable societies www.etouches.com/iau2016

Governed

1. IAU HESD team works under the leadership of the IAU President, Professor Pam Fredman, Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gothenburg, and IAU Working Group of experts mostly composed of eminent Members of the IAU administrative Board. With one Director working half time and one Programme Officer working full time. 2. The IAU HESD Portal was used by UNESCO during the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development; information provided was used to inform the final Decade Report. The portal now is to showcase HE & R work in support of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and associated SDGs. IAU adopts Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development as an overall conceptual frame, involving its 650 institutional and organisational Members and reaching out to the higher education community and HE stakeholders globally.3. There are three main mechanisms for impact evaluation: 3.a. measuring and monitoring the number of HEIs, events, actions and resources listed on the portal (the growing of numbers) registered. The HESD Portal is the only forum of its kind. 3.b. Hits and contact messages received.3.c. Review by IAU board members as part of the sustainable development action of IAU 4. The HESD Portal provides information on resources produced by scholars and researchers and other practitioners from around the world and includes references and direct access to statements, surveys and reports, publications.

Evaluation

1. A recent evaluation listed more than 1700 items published in two languages, 400 HEIs from a wide variety of countries and continents, more than 160 news and resources, almost 370 actions and events and the number is growing. The portal provides support to around 1250 people per month. The information published is used extensively by UNESCO and other UN bodies and organisations as a source of information and to draft several reports on SD (e.g. The Decade Report, The World We Want). 
 
 2. Conference programmes are being developed using the experts listed in the portal. As well, through the portal, IAU sees the number of partnership and networking offerings grow. 
 
 3. The HESD Portal was prominently featured at the following global events: UN Decade on Education for sustainable development and UNESCO World Conference on ESD, Aïchi Nagoya, 2014 where IAU advocated for higher education and research for sustainable development. 
 
 4. The portal is being used to support the UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD as IAU is one of the key partners of the GAP and assist UNESCO in reaching the goals set. IAU is a Partner Network on Priority Action Area 2: Transforming learning and training environments.

Partners

UNESCO, Copernicus Alliance, the Ubuntu Committee of peers, UNEP, GUPES, HESI Members, PRME, among others.

SDGS & Targets

Goal 4

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

4.1

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

4.1.1

Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex

4.1.2

Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

4.2

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

4.2.1

Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex

4.2.2

Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex

4.3

By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

4.3.1

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex

4.4

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

4.4.1

Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill

4.5

By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

4.5.1

Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated

4.6

By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

4.6.1

Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex

4.7

By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

4.7.1

Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment

4.a

Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

4.a.1

Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service

4.b

By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries

4.b.1

Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study

4.c

By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

4.c.1

Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level

Goal 16

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

16.1

Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

16.1.1

Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

16.1.2

Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause

16.1.3

Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months

16.1.4

Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live after dark

16.2

End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children

16.2.1

Proportion of children aged 1–17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month

16.2.2

Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age and form of exploitation

16.2.3

Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18

16.3

Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all

16.3.1

Proportion of victims of (a) physical, (b) psychological and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms

16.3.2

Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population

16.3.3

Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism

16.4

By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime

16.4.1

Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in current United States dollars)

16.4.2

Proportion of seized, found or surrendered arms whose illicit origin or context has been traced or established by a competent authority in line with international instruments

16.5

Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms

16.5.1

Proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and who paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials, during the previous 12 months

16.5.2

Proportion of businesses that had at least one contact with a public official and that paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials during the previous 12 months

16.6

Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

16.6.1

Primary government expenditures as a proportion of original approved budget, by sector (or by budget codes or similar)

16.6.2

Proportion of population satisfied with their last experience of public services

16.7

Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

16.7.1

Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups

16.7.2

Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group

16.8

Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance

16.8.1

Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

16.9

By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration

16.9.1

Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age

16.10

Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

16.10.1

Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months

16.10.2

Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information

16.a

Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime

16.a.1

Existence of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles

16.b

Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development

16.b.1

Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law

Goal 17

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

17.1

Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection

17.1.1

Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, by source

17.1.2

Proportion of domestic budget funded by domestic taxes

17.2

Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries

17.2.1

Net official development assistance, total and to least developed countries, as a proportion of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee donors’ gross national income (GNI)

17.3

Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources

17.3.1

Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources

17.3.2

Volume of remittances (in United States dollars) as a proportion of total GDP

17.4

Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress

17.4.1

Debt service as a proportion of exports of goods and services

17.5

Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries

17.5.1

Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries

17.6

Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism

17.6.1

Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed

17.7

Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed

17.7.1

Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies

17.8

Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology

17.8.1

Proportion of individuals using the Internet

17.9

Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation

17.9.1

Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries

17.10

Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda

17.10.1

Worldwide weighted tariff-average

17.11

Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020

17.11.1

Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports

17.12

Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access

17.12.1

Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States

17.13

Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence

17.13.1

Macroeconomic Dashboard

17.14

Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development

17.14.1

Number of countries with mechanisms in place to enhance policy coherence of sustainable development

17.15

Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development

17.15.1

Extent of use of country-owned results frameworks and planning tools by providers of development cooperation

17.16

Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

17.16.1

Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

17.17

Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

17.17.1

Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure

17.18

By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts

17.18.1

Statistical capacity indicators

17.18.2

Number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

17.18.3

Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding

17.19

By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries

17.19.1

Dollar value of all resources made available to strengthen statistical capacity in developing countries

17.19.2

Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration

Goal 13

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

13.1

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

13.1.1

Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

13.1.2

Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030

13.1.3

Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies

13.2

Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning

13.2.1

Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

13.2.2

Total greenhouse gas emissions per year

13.3

Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

13.3.1

13.a

Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

13.a.1

Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025

13.b

Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities

13.b.1

Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

SDG 14 targets covered