Update: Direct from COP27 -2-

The Role of Tertiary Education in finding solutions

Colleges and Universities have a key role to play in helping to solve global issues: including the climate crisis.

In this video, Philip Vaughter, from the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, shares his reflections from COP27. He perceives a shift from simply talking about education as the acquisition of knowledge and skills to actually applying them in practice and evaluating progress. Not just talking about what we should do, but what we are doing – and how well we’re doing it.

The potential of Universities to facilitate change is both local and global. In the video below Henry Ibitolu, who is attending COP27 as part of the delegation from the University of Edinburgh, shares more about his participation in the panel discussion convened by the global U7+ Alliance, which examined the concept of ‘Universities as key solutions providers: leveraging our local and global networks for innovation’.

But, as is often the case, funding to realise these aims remains crucial. In advance of COP27, the urgency to fund universities in Africa to advance science for climate action was highlighted. Resources are needed to do research that speaks to the continent’s specific challenges, in particular in the areas of health, agriculture and food security, that have been affected by climate change.

Colleges also have a vital role in equipping learners with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to embed sustainability in everyday life and learning. David Rangan from the Danish UN University-recognised Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development, shares more about ‘Apprentices for Sustainability’ in the video below. This initiative enables young people to develop the competencies needed to ‘contribute to a green transition and sustainable development in the construction industry’.

We have presented some perspectives on the role of the tertiary sector and encourage you all to share other examples.