The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) has committed itself to the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which was launched on 12 November 2014 at the UNESCO World Conference in Nagoya, Japan.
ASEF actively participated in the 3-day conference that gathered more than 1,000 participants, among them 75 Ministers, 28 Vice-Ministers, representatives of UNESCO Member States, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, and the private sector, as well as individual experts and youth delegates. They jointly reviewed the achievements of the UN Decade for ESD (2005-14) and launched its successor – the GAP on ESD.
The initial round of GAP comprises 362 commitments from ESD stakeholders from around the world. Out of these 38 commitments are aimed to advance ESD policies, including ASEF’s flagship education project — the ASEM Rectors’ Conference and Students’ Forum (ARC), supported by the ASEM Education Policy Conference Series. ASEF’s commitment is among the few large-scale GAP activities that reach an inter-regional level.
Acknowledged as the Official Dialogue Partner of the ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM ME), ARC will deliver policy recommendations related to ESD directly to the education policy makers in Asia and Europe. ARC4,themedInnovative University-Business Partnership for Societal Development, will take place in March 2014 in Asia.