Where Next? Reimagining Further Education for the Future

On July 8, 2020, the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) hosted this special event alongside the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF).

Higher Education plays a vital role in educating the current and next generation of leaders, driving the research agenda for both the public and private sectors and plays a critical role in shaping the direction of national economies. In this era of uncertainty, the question for this year’s HESI Annual Conference at HLPF is how can we redesign higher education in support of sustainable development, a green recovery, and regenerative pathways for education. This agenda supports the theme of this year’s HLPF, which is “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.” The discussion seeks to provide insight on how COVID-19 will affect the sector and what new ideas are being considered that can enable higher education to enable radical change and regeneration.

AGENDA

Opening remarks | Master of Ceremonies: Florencia Librizzi, Co-Chair of HESI and Head of Program and Partnerships, SDG Academy, SDSN (00:00)

Welcoming remarks
- Ms. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO (02:02)
- Her Excellency Mona Juul, President of the Economic and Social Council (10:07)
- Mr. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) (14:35)

Setting the Context: The Urgency of Where we are Now | Mr. Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer for Partnership for Southern Equity (20:58)

Introduction: HESI and where we are now | Mr. Sam Barratt, Co-Chair of HESI and Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy at UN Environment (29:58)

Learning from our present context and creating regenerative pathways for the future
- Dr. Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, International Association of Universities; Executive Director, International Universities Bureau (36:34)
- Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, President, SDSN; Columbia University Professor and Director, Center for Sustainable Development (48:37)

Higher Education to Support Regenerative Pathways | Moderator: Satya Tripathi, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group (1:05:10)

A view from youth: What do students want from their Higher Education experience
- Ms. Zamzam Ibrahim - Teach the Future Youth Representative, SOS-UK (1:09:29)
- Ms. Amelie Deloche - Reveil écologique youth movement, France (1:13:06)
- Mr. Rituraj Yadav - Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), Nepal/USA (1:16:40)

A view from Education | Prof. Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University (1:20:30)

A view from Government: How are governments supporting the redesign of education | Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, India (1:37:32)

Summary and next steps | Mr. Sam Barratt, Co-Chair of HESI and Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy at UN Environment (1:56:50)

The event concludes with the announcement of the winners of the International Green Gown Awards (1:58:05), which recognize leadership of higher education institutions in integrating sustainability across their programs.