Higher Education Summit 2023 - Student Takeover: Call for Contributions open
How can the education system become an effective driving force for a more sustainable future? Preparing for the future entails a paradigm shift towards a more learner-driven education, which means that not only students, but also teachers and other educational and societal stakeholders learn by closely collaborating – a real Copernican Revolution in Higher Education. This year’s Higher Education Summit aims to explore how we can foster collective transformative learning and integrate it into higher education. Taking this ambition seriously, we teamed up with the students from oikos International to co-organize this event. Together we'll host a 3-day online conference from 23-25 November 2023. The Call for Contributions is open until 6 October 2023.
While we are looking forward to the upcoming 2023 Higher Education Summit from 23-25 November 2023, we are delighted to announce that next year's conference will be held in Italy: From 8-10 September 2024, University of Padua will host a three-day face-to-face conference on its beautiful campus. Please save the date – more information will follow. 
The 15th biennial International Transformative Learning Conference (ITLC) will be held at the University of Siena from 11-13 September 2024, dedicated to the topic: "Getting transformation into good trouble: Making new spaces of possibility with community and in practice". Proposals for paper presentations, experiential sessions, symposia, roundtables and Pecha Kucha performances can be submitted by 31 October 2023.
Education and culture can play an important role towards social transformation. But, how can they promote this change? The summer course "Education and Culture for Sustainable Development" of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), which took place from 3-4 July 2023 in Bilbao and San Sebastian-Donostia, sought answers to this and other questions.
Urban Shift proudly presents seven green startups that resulted from the first round of this transdisciplinary and international education programme. Young creative professionals pave the way toward a sustainable future by developing green, out-of-the-box business ideas and prototypes. Shortly, there will be a second round, focusing on extreme weather events and mobility. Are you an expert in the field and happy to help green business ideas with insights from the field? 
A recent survey conducted by University of Maribor examined the status of CA member universities on their journey towards achieving sustainability goals on campus, with a focus on climate actions. The survey shows that there is progress towards sustainability goals, but there are still obstacles to overcome. Universities are interested in guidelines, best practice exchange, and expert advice. The detailed results are summarized in a report.
After 14 months of intensive work, the EU Erasmus+ project TRACCskills has published a draft compendium for educators entitled "Unlearning for a Thrivable Future". It supports educators in designing and delivering transformative adult education, both formal and non-formal, to convey competences that cover in a cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral way the behavioral aspects of sustainable development.
The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) teamed up with an NGO to address the problem of marine litter. In joint activities involving the entire university community they collected waste and contributed to water pollution awareness and research.
With the ESD-chair of Prof. Heike Molitor, the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) sets impulses in research and practice of Education for Sustainable Development. The working group Sustainability at Brandenburg Universities, which is headed by Dr. Jennifer Krah under the professional direction of Prof. Dr. Heike Molitor, has released two publications to support the curricular integration of HESD and the capacity building of teaching staff and multipliers in this field.
To counteract the climate crisis, BOKU Vienna has set itself the goal of achieving net-zero-emissions by 2040! This means a 90 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and an offset only for the residual emissions (max. 10% from the base year). As a mid-term goal the university aims to reduce 2/3 of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, which is outlined in a roadmap. The baseline for the BOKU path to climate neutrality is the BOKU greenhouse gas balance of 2019 and it is in line with the science-based targets (SBTi).
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the Climateworks Centre, and Monash University have developed the Net Zero on Campus Initiative. It consists of a "how-to" guide and an accompanying online toolkit that will enable universities and colleges to accelerate the planning and implementation of net zero strategies, and act as living laboratories for testing solutions. The official presentation including the launch of a community of pactice will take place on 20 April alongside the Earth Day Celebrations. 
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) have launched a free massive open online course (MOOC) on "Nature-based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Resilience" designed for everybody wanting to develop the theme of environment, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The course is available until August 2023 and can be completed with a certificate.
Urban Shift is an experimental, impact-based, and transdisciplinary education programme that focuses on creating lasting change by bringing together stakeholders from Higher Education Institutions, a Vocational Education Institution, urban experts, and business partners. Aspiring entrepreneurs will create green business solutions for tackling urban challenges.
For decades, scientists have been trying to draw attention to the threats of the climate and environmental crisis through classic science communication. Nevertheless, the long overdue transformation of society is a long time coming. Given the urgency of the situation and the slow pace of politics, it is time for scientists to step out of their ivory towers and engage in more direct forms of action to position themselves in the public discourse. Researchers at the BOKU Vienna took action.
The University of Graz aims to foster environmental measures at all levels. "Green Buddies" are departmental volunteers who promote activities related to energy, waste, procurement, resources and mobility in their departments and exchange with the environment and sustainability team of the university.
From 14-15 December 2022, the Ubuntu Committee of Peers for the Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) met in Tokyo. The CA was represented by CA Advisory Board member Jana Dlouhá. The RCE network is an important partner of the CA and some CA members also coordinate an RCE.
The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is a partner in the new Erasmus+ project ATTUNE (Activate the University for Climate Change). The project addresses climate change on the university campus and promotes and encourages action by all members of the university community. It includes an innovative learning programme that helps Higher Education Institutions become more sustainable.
A recent paper by the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA), a climate research-related alliance of Austrian Universities and other research institutions, provides a scientific basis for climate policies. It underpins the urgency of immediate systematic climate action measures and defines carbon budgets for Austria.
Higher education for sustainability urgently needs to convey soft skills. The project TRACCskills puts a focus on "people skills" and explores transformative practice-based teaching tools. During an online workshop on "Soft skills for hard decisons" on 25 January 2023, an international audience gained insights into the project and was able to test transformative methods live.
The 18th IRDO International Conference "INNOVATIVE SUSTAINABLE and SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE SOCIETY 2023: Empowering Society, Environment and Economy for Sustainability", organized by the University of Maribor, takes place from 8-9 June 2023, online. Researchers, consultants, experts, practitioners, as well as students are invited to submit contributions. Abstracts can be submitted by 10 February, full papers by 10 April 2023.
MERGED is a new joint programme developed and implemented by universities in Denmark, Italy, and Poland. All are partners in the 4EU+ Alliance. Students of the programme benefit from interdisciplinary knowledge, direct sector exposure, practical field experiences, specialized abilities to target sustainability problems, and thus high employability. MERGED is unique in educating graduates who can deal with interdisciplinary challenges at the nexus of renewable environmental resources and sustainable development. Application deadlines for interested students: Outside EU/EEA/Switzerland applicants: 15 January; EU/EEA/Switzerland applicants: 1 March.
From 6-8 December 2022, the partners of the TRACCskills project facilitated a pilot course on "Transformative Decision Making: Teaching Cross Cutting Skills for the SDGs in Higher Education". 20 educators and trainers gathered at Leuphana University of Lüneburg to test various tools and facilitation methods by applying them to their individual decision-making cases – a truly transformative experience for both facilitators and participants!
Green Offices stand for institutionalizing sustainability in higher education by empowering students and staff as changemakers. From 21-22 October 2022, students and staff from Belgian Green Offices – including several CA members – gathered for a meet-up. The two-day meeting served for knowledge exchange between well-established Green Offices and newer ones as well as for joint workshops with partner organizations.
The COPERNICUS Alliance was invited by three other networks to represent our European network on higher education for sustainable development at their events: The international week of the Top Management Programme for senior higher education leaders organized by Advance HE, the Annual Meeting of PRME’s chapter France & Benelux, and the Summit for Future Generations of the Foundation for Future Generations. We provide a brief overview of the key messages given and taken during these three events.
From 10-11 November 2022, the SDG-iLevel project partners met in Rijeka, Croatia. Current activities involve interviews with decision makers at universities and a large survey among European academics. SDG-iLevel Maps will connect specific tasks performed by employees in major university staff groups and academic domains with specific individual contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals at macro, meso and micro (individual) level. 
For university lecturers in Austria, there is currently a lack of both adequate further training offers on sustainable development and suitable incentives to participate in them. How can sustainable development in its various forms be integrated into schools, if student teachers at universities have so far received too little insight into the topic? Against this background, the "Alliance of Sustainable Universities in Austria" developed the 2-semester further education program "ESD-Certificate" for university teachers.
From 6-8 September 2022 Hasselt University opened its doors to the conference highlight of the year: Well over a hundred participants gathered at the Higher Education Summit 2022 in Hasselt, Belgium. Under the theme "Daring to transform learning for a future-proof economy" the summit brought together changemakers in the field of transformative learning for sustainable development within higher education. The program offered plenary sessions, interactive workshops, inspiring talks, onsite excursions, lots of networking opportunities and thought-provoking keynotes b
"Wake Up – The Lao Coffee Game" is a Swiss–Lao co-production co-created by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern. Aimed at 17–23-year-old students, the game can be played in person or online. It combines interactive, face-to-face role play with digital gaming trajectories. Using the example of coffee, its purpose is to offer an in-depth learning experience of the system dynamics of global agricultural commodity value chains and the implications for sustainable development. 
