International

RCEs: A Global Network

The Regional Centre of Expertise (opens in a new window) (RCE) is a network of existing formal, non-formal and informal education organisations, mobilised to deliver Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) outcomes to local and regional communities. To date 175 RCE's have been endorsed globally and constitute a Global Learning Space for Sustainable Development. The global RCE network is coordinated and delivered through the United Nations University and aspired to achieve the goals of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005 - 2014). The focus is now to contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (opens in a new window). The Global Action Programme (GAP) (opens in a new window) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is the follow-up to the DESD which seeks to generate and scale up concrete actions in ESD.

The global network is divided into regions: African and Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Europe and The Americas. RCE-GWS works closely with our colleagues in the Asia-Pacific region to work on colloborative projects and provide local students - primary, secondary and tertiary - from Western Sydney a unique engagement experience. View all RCEs around the world (opens in a new window).

11th Asia-Pacific RCE Regional Meeting and Symposium

RCE Greater Western Sydney (RCE-GWS) and Western Sydney University’s Learning Futures (opens in a new window) hosted the 11th Asia-Pacific RCE Regional Meeting (A-P RCE Meeting) in Parramatta in September 2018. This was held in conjunction with the Symposium ‘Mainstreaming the SDGs: Impact and Education’ on 26 September and commenced with the first Asia-Pacific Youth Virtual Summit 'Youth for the Goals: Climate Action and Life Below Water' as part of the first Youth SDG Challenge 2018. Field trip visits followed the 2-days. Participants visited Sydney Olympic Park (Smart and Green Cities) and the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment EucFACE Experiment and Brewongle Environment Education Centre (Climate Change and Culture). This event is an initiative of the University's 21C Project (opens in a new window), which supports our cross disciplinary flagship sustainability work. Watch the RCE-GWS highlight (opens in a new window) video.

All the events are hosted by RCE Greater Western Sydney and Western Sydney University with the support of the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS).

RCE SDG Youth Challenge: Youth for the Goals

The RCE Asia-Pacific SDG Youth Challenge “Youth for the Goals” is an international, place-based initiative run annually that connects youth leaders working in their own communities to a larger global platform. The aim of the SDG Youth Challenge is to mobilise and motivate youth across the region to get involved and take action. Each project is distinctive yet are all working towards a common goal which unites them. The program has run for 4 years now, engaging thousands of youth across the region.

This Challenge has a global impact and models how to successfully mobilise existing sustainability networks to engage with youth in a meaningful and empowering way. It takes on the global agenda for sustainable development directly through education and partnerships to localises the goals for each place. The initiative targets youth at all levels of learning and from a wide range of social contexts and cultural backgrounds, to transform education delivery and to develop knowledge, skills, values and behaviours needed for sustainable development. Youth leaders of each project are connected via a weekly virtual mentoring platform run by RCE-GWS (Western Sydney University), in partnership with RCE Yogyakarta (University of Gudja Mudja). Find out more about the RCE SDG Challenge.(opens in a new window)