In 2002, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution announcing the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD 2005-2014), based on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the lead agency for the UNDESD, stressed the need to reorient existing education towards sustainability.

In 2003, in response to the UN resolution on the UNDESD, the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) launched the ESD project, with funding support from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. The ESD project designs and implements research and development activities through two flagship initiatives: a global multi-stakeholder global network of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD (RCEs) and a network of higher education institutions called the Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network (ProSPER.Net(link is external)).

Moving forward, UNESCO has now presented the ESD for 2030 Roadmap(link is external) with its five priority areas of action: advancing policy, transforming learning environments, building capacities of educators, empowering and mobilizing youth, and accelerating local level actions. At all levels of society, RCEs play a crucial role in implementing these goals using their local knowledge and global network.

As of January 2023, over 170 RCEs have officially been acknowledged by the United Nations University worldwide. The Global RCE Service Centre is headquartered at UNU-IAS, where it provides assistance to individual RCEs and facilitates their communication and networking.

RCE Vision

RCEs aspire to translate global objectives into the context of the local communities in which they operate. Upon the completion of the DESD in 2014, RCEs are committed to further generating, accelerating and mainstreaming ESD by implementing the ESD for 2030 Roadmap(link is external), and contributing to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)(link is external).

RCE Mission

The planet faces a number of sustainability challenges, from climate change and the rapid extinction of species to the necessary modification of our consumption patterns. International platforms exist to tackle each of these issues: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally, keeping in mind action need to happen at the local level; the 10 Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP on SCP) which is examining ways how consumer behaviour and industrial production patterns can shift towards a more sustainable use of the planet’s resources; and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), both platforms bring scientists and policy makers together in a mission to protect the world’s biota.

Each of these global platforms needs to be implemented at a local level. With their official links to UN agencies, formal education institutions, and informal educators worldwide, RCEs are in an ideal position to do just that. The RCE network brings together multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary members who might not usually work together. As such, they are uniquely placed to help create solutions to sustainability challenges through dialogue, education and learning. They are highly influential policy advocates, able to test policies individually and work collectively to bring policy to scale and advice on future actions.

Through these efforts, RCEs help prepare local leaders of tomorrow with the tools and information they need to make smart and sustainable choices for the future. RCE efforts encourage innovation and new approaches to sustainable development. They translate existing knowledge into concrete actions and empower individuals to make sustainable choices for themselves and their communities.

The success each RCE achieves on the local level is brought to scale through the global RCE Network worldwide. Local knowledge, expertise, and best practices are shared globally through the network and can be adapted and applied successfully in other regions. RCEs also play a central role in the transfer of global technologies, knowledge, and experiences at the local level through their programmes and activities.