by Brianna Crandall — May 25, 2015—The world’s most prominent networks for sustainability in further and higher education convened at the recent U.K.-based Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) annual conference, this year at the University of Leeds, to take the next step toward developing a global alliance, after the success of the collaborative work for Rio+20.
The overarching aim of the alliance is to connect sustainability networks in the tertiary education sector and provide a collective voice to contribute to global developments such as the Paris COP21 taking place in December 2015. Each network has a unique and valuable perspective to contribute, notes the U.S.-based Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). This global alliance will work in line with United Nations activities like UNEP’s Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES).
The tertiary education networks in attendance represent global and regional organizations from Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America:
- AISHE Network, Netherlands, Europe
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), North America
- Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), Australasia
- Copernicus Alliance (European Network on Higher Education for Sustainable Development)
- University Educators For Sustainable Development (UE4SD), Europe
- Ecocampus Belgium, Europe
- Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), U.K., Europe
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES), Global
- Campus Responsables, FRANCE, Europe
- International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), Global
- EMSU and International Journal of Cleaner Production, Global
- Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in Africa (MESA), Africa
- Nordic Sustainable Campus Network (NSCN), Nordics, Europe
- Regional University Consortium Asia Pacific, Asia
- rootAbility, Europe
- Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI), Global
- Campus Sustainability Network (CAS-Net), Japan, Asia
- U.K. Youth Climate Coalition, Europe
- National Union of Students, U.K., Europe
- Studenten voor Morgen (Students for Tomorrow), Netherlands, Europe
- Alianza de Redes Iberoamericanas de Universidades por la Sustentabilidad y el Ambiente (ARIUSA), South America
As this is a collaborative effort, other tertiary education peer groups are invited to join the dialogue and contribute toward a shared vision, planned to be published in September 2015, say the groups.
