On the 20th anniversary of the UNEP - Tongji University Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development
On February 28th, the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) and a special event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. During the day, an education side event We Are What We Teach themed on nature and environmental education, jointly supported by Tongji University and the United Nations Alliance for Youth and Education, brought together participants from universities, sports, eSports and youth communities to facilitate in-depth and extensive discussions between ministers of education and of environment and the participants. This was another practice of Tongji University to actively promote global education for sustainable development, and was also one of the activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of UNEP - Tongji University Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD) established by UNEP and Tongji University.
We Are What We Teach
It is imperative to cultivate professionals needed for sustainable development in large numbers to address the "energy crisis" "environmental pollution" "climate change" and other major issues faced by the world today, and to promote green and sustainable development.
In May 2002, UNEP and Tongji University joined hands to establish the IESD at Tongji University, aiming to make it an important base for education, research, training and international exchange on environment for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in developing countries. It became one of the first entities in the world in UNEP’s collaboration with universities.
The international Master's and doctoral programs in education on sustainable development (ESD) were launched and the international student population has been increasing year after year. The student population is becoming increasingly diverse. A total of 595 students from 96 countries and regions have studied with IESD so far. IESD offers 15 courses in English for each academic year. Senior officials from UN agencies, professors from world-renowned universities and environmental diplomats from China were invited to participate in teaching the courses. A large number of students have embarked on broad international stages upon their graduation from IESD, and are active in international organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, government departments of various countries, and world-renowned universities and enterprises. Samuel TK Wilson, a 2017 graduate who is now the Director of the Ministry of Mines and Energy of the Government of Liberia, said, "From my two years of study with IESD, I learned academic knowledge and mastered professional skills in environmental governance, policy tendency, and sustainable development. And now I am working on the environmental management coordination of mining and energy and will apply the sustainable concepts and skills I have learned to real projects."
Graduation Ceremony
We have built a brand with persistence through both degree education and high-end short-term training. Since 2004, the annual "Leadership Program on Environment for Sustainable Development in the Asia Pacific Reagion" has become a brand training program. Nearly 500 international participants from 45 countries, mainly young and/or future leaders from UNEP and the governments, civil organizations and private enterprises in the Asia-Pacific Region, have received their training at IESD. Over the past 10 years, nearly 3,000 participants from more than 50 countries have gathered at Tongji University for the International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development on June 5, World Environment Day, to talk about environment and sustainable development. The conference has also become one of the most influential youth summits on sustainable development in the world with the largest number of participants from different countries. In 2018, Tongji University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to launch a training camp for people from international organizations. Up to now, 50 students from more than 10 colleges have been to the UN headquarters for further study, 45 students to international organizations for internship, and more than 70 students have attended UN conferences.
Tongji University Delegation at UNEP in Nirobi, Kenya
The Education for Sustainable Development program is open to all students at Tongji University, benefiting nearly 10,000 students. The concept of "sustainable development" which is wide spread among students of all disciplines, inspires the young generation with the sense of social responsibility, and motivates them to seek green solutions to the current energy and environmental problems faced by the human beings. Since 2012, the interdisciplinary elective course "Sustainable Development and the Future" available to all undergraduate and graduate students, has attracted more than 4,000 students from 30 colleges in the past 10 years. IESD works with faculty from other disciplines and jointly offers over 30 interdisciplinary elective courses in urban planning, transportation, civil engineering, environment, chemistry, life science, law, material science, mechanics, marine and mapping. A micro program in sustainability is also offered for all undergraduate students. The interdisciplinary minor program Sustainable Development has been offered to all postgraduate students, with a total of more than 2,000 students from 26 colleges and/or degree programs. "For me personally, the minor programs in sustainability is a process of interlinking the overall knowledge framework, and the understanding and application of this sustainability knowledge will play an important role in my future academic studies and sustainability career", remarked by a student from the School of Foreign Languages.
Ceremony for the minor program completion of Class 2021
Talent cultivation and interdisciplinary cooperation in sustainable development have been improved. Since 2013, Tongji University has been recruiting PhD students in "interdisciplinary sustainable development" each year. A "dual supervisor" system across disciplines is practised to better cultivate all-round and innovative talents. By 2021, 28 PhD students from different fields such as environment, urban planning, mathematics, economics and chemistry have been enrolled to explore effective ways to conduct high-quality interdisciplinary research.
Ph.D students in "Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development"
IESD has nite and lead global universities to promote sustainable development in higher education. In 2010, the Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES), jointly launched by UNEP and Tongji University, was established at UNEP headquarters, attracting 833 universities from 105 countries around the world. In 2019, GUPES was upgraded to become the United Nations Youth and Education Alliance (YEA), with Tongji University as the co-chair. with Tongji University as the co-chair unit. While building a platform for environmental talents, the University will lead the alliance in cultivating global environmental governance talents at universities both in China and other countries and regions, promoting the in-depth dissemination of the concept of sustainable development in the academia globally in the hope for sustainable development to take root in the higher education, and for higher education to become the engine of change for sustainable development.
https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1003/80094.htm
