The Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development; abbreviated RCE is a global network of 200 institutional networks acknowledged by the United Nations University (UNU) which focus on the development and practices of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in local regions across the world. Established and coordinated under the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), these regional networks address local sustainable development challenges through research and capacity development, with a focus on translating its global objectives into the context of the local communities in which they operate.
History In response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), the United Nations University called for the development of regional networks for the promotion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). These networks address local sustainable development challenges through research and capacity development. As a result of the Ubuntu Declaration signed in 2002, RCE was introduced, with This was the birth of RCE. RCEs are acknowledged by the UNU based on recommendations of the Ubuntu Committee of Peers for the RCEs, which consists of signatories of the Ubuntu Declaration signed in 2002.
RCEs aspire to achieve the goals of the DESD by translating its global objectives into the context of the local communities in which they operate. This is then accomplished by acting as a catalyst for institutions that promote ESD through formal, non-formal and informal education, and by providing suitable platforms to share information and experiences and to promote dialogue among regional stakeholders through partnerships for sustainable development. They also develop regional knowledge bases to support ESD and promote its goals in a resource effective manner. This can be achieved through the delivery of training programmes, by facilitating research into ESD, through public awareness raising, and by increasing the quality and access to ESD in the region.
An RCE should have four core elements:
Governance - addressing issues of RCE management and leadership Collaboration - addressing the engagement of actors from all levels of formal, non-formal and informal education Research and development - addressing the role of research and its inclusion in RCE activities, as well as contributing to the design of strategies for collaborative activities, including those with other RCEs Transformative education - contributing to the transformation of the current education and training systems to satisfy ambitions of the region regarding sustainable living and livelihood.
RCEs also have four major ESD goals to be promoted in an effective way:
Re-orientating education towards SD, by covering integrating SD and ESD into the current curriculum and tailoring it to address issues and local context of the community in which they operate; Increase access to quality education that is most needed in the regional context; Deliver trainers’ training programmes and to develop methodologies and learning materials for them; Lead advocacy and awareness raising efforts to raise public awareness about the importance of educators and the essential role of ESD in achieving a sustainable future. RCEs promote the long-term goals of ESD, such as environmental stewardship, social justice, and improvement of the quality of life.
RCEs are not only significant for the region itself, where they provide a unique opportunity to promote learning and development for SD, but also important at international level where they help to constitute the Global Learning Space for Sustainable Development. Globally, RCEs are facilitated through the United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) who provide a framework for strategy, best practice and techniques for success, which can then be translated to the regional level.
RCEs have recently been acknowledged in the 2009 Bonn Declaration which calls for action to “develop knowledge through ESD networking” through “networks that could serve as centres of expertise and innovation”.
RCEs around the world As of January 2023, there are 170 RCEs in the Global network including:
In Africa: Buea, Cameroon Cairo, Egypt Central Kenya, Kenya Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Gauteng, South Africa Ghana Greater Eastern Uganda, Uganda Greater Kampala, Uganda Greater Masaka, Uganda Greater Mbarara, Uganda Greater Nairobi, Kenya Greater Pwani, Kenya Harare, Zimbabwe Jordan, Jordan Kaduna, Nigeria Kano, Nigeria Kakamega-Western, Kenya Khomas-Erongo, Namibia KwaZulu Natal, South Africa Lagos, Nigeria Lesotho Lusaka, Zambia Mau Ecosystem Complex, Kenya Makana and Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa Maputo, Mozambique Minna, Nigeria Mount Kenya East, Kenya Mutare, Zimbabwe North Rift, Kenya Nyanza, Kenya Port Harcourt, Nigeria Senegal South Rift, Kenya Swaziland Zaria, Nigeria Zomba, Malawi
In Europe and the Middle East: Açores, Portugal Barcelona, Spain Basque Country+Navarre, Spain Albania, Middle Albania Bordeaux-Aquitaine, France Brittany, France Central Macedonia Crete, Greece Creias-Oeste, Portugal Czechia, Czech Republic Denmark, Denmark Dublin, Ireland East Midlands, UK Espoo, Finland Euroregion Tyrol Galicia, Spain Graz-Styria, Austria Greater Manchester, UK Hamburg, Germany Ireland London, UK Munich, Germany Nizhny Novgorod, Russia North East Centre for Transformative Education and Research (NECTER), UK North Sweden Nuremberg, Germany Oldenburger Muensterland Paris Seine Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal Rhein Meuse Cross Border Rhine-Meuse region Netherlands/Germany/France Ruhr Samara, Russia Scotland Severn, UK RCE Skane, Sweden Skane, Sweden Southern Black Forest Southern North Sea, Belgium/Netherlands/France Uppsala-Gotland, Sweden Vienna, Austria Vilnius, Lithuania Vojvodina, Serbia Wales, UK West Sweden Yorkshire and Humberside, UK
In South America and the Caribbean: Bogota, Colombia Chaco, Argentina Cuenca del Plata, Argentina Curitiba-Parana, Brazil Lima-Callao, Peru Rio de Janeiro, Brazil São Paulo, Brazil
In North and Central America: Atlanta, USA Borderlands Mexico, USA British Columbia, Canada Detroit-Windsor (USA and Canada) Georgetown, USA Grand Rapids, USA Greater Burlington, USA Greater Sudbury, Canada Greater Portland, USA Guatemala Montreal, Canada North Texas, USA Peterborough-Kawarthas, Canada Salisbury, Maryland, USA Saskatchewan, Canada
Tantramar, Canada Toronto, Canada Mauricie/Centre-du-Quebec, Canada Western Jalisco, Mexico
In the Asia-Pacific region Australia, Western Australia; Perth and Albany. Anji, China Arunachal Pradesh, India Bangalore, India Beijing, China Bogor, Indonesia Bohol, Philippines Cebu, Philippines Central Semenanjung, Malaysia Cha-am, Thailand Chandigarh, India Changwon, Korea Chennai, India Chubu, Japan Delhi, India East Kalimantan, Indonesia Gippsland, Australia Goa, India Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh Greater Gombak, Malaysia Greater Phnom Penh, Cambodia Greater Sendai, Japan Greater Western Sydney, Australia Guwahati, India Hohhot, China Hokkaido Central, Japan Hyogo-Kobe, Japan Ilocos, Philippines Incheon, Korea Inje, Korea Iskandar, Malaysia Jammu, India Kitakyushu, Japan Kodagu, India Kunming, China Kyrgyzstan Lucknow, India Maha Sarakham, Thailand Mumbai, India Murray-Darling, Australia Northern Mindanao, Philippines Okayama, Japan Penang, Malaysia Pune, India Shangri-la, China Pacific Island Countries Southern Vietnam Srinagar, India Tasmania, Australia Thiruvananthapuram, India Tianjin, China Tirupati, India Tongyeong, Korea Trang, Thailand Ulju, Korea Waikato, New Zealand Yogyakarta, Indonesia Yokohama, Japan
References
External links The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development United Nations University Headquarters United Nations University - Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability