SDG Academy | May 2021 Newsletter
This month we are celebrating SDG learning with the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development and looking forward to a challenging Book Club conversation about the influence of processed foods on our health, economy, and environment. What do you want to learn this month?
Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs
Coming up: Robert Lustig's Metabolical
Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Robert Lustig, author of this month's featured book Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine, for a conversation about the interconnected strands of nutrition, health/disease, medicine, environment, and society. And don't forget to join the discussion on the Book Club's interactive platform!
Date: Thursday, May 27th Time: 1:00pm ET | 17:00 UTC (Convert to your time zone.)
Episode 3 of the Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs podcast is out!
In Episode 3, Professor Sachs engaged in a timely discussion with historian and fellow Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi about Khalidi's book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, the long history of Palestinian disenfranchisement, and the remarkable family history that led Khalidi to upend accepted interpretations of the conflict. Available now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Rate, review, and subscribe!
Book Club Recap
In April, the Book Club welcomed Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and author of Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, for a discussion about the importance of boldly reimagining the capacities and role of government to solve today's "wicked problems."
Watch the recording, and look for the podcast episode in early June!
What's New at the Academy?
Join us at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD
The SDG Academy is proud to join our SDSN colleagues and Mission 4.7 partners at the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, which will highlight the crucial role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a key enabler for the successful achievement of all SDGs, the COVID rebuilding process, and to create momentum for strengthening ESD in policy and practice.
If you are attending the conference, be sure to visit SDSN's virtual booth to learn about our work supporting ESD in K-12 schools, universities, and beyond!
Everyone is invited to launch of the Global Schools Country Reports on May 17! Presented by our colleagues at the Global Schools program, the event will showcase the outcomes of a six-stage research pilot with the mission to align the national curricula of Morocco, Ghana, and Turkey with Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education frameworks. Register now!
Academic Advisory Committee meets for spring updates!
On April 28, the SDG Academy's Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) convened for its biannual meeting to hear about our progress over the past six months and discuss our plans for the future. We were especially proud to announce that SDG Academy courses have surpassed 800,000 total enrollments since 2014!
The AAC supports the design and dissemination of educational materials for sustainable development and advises the SDG Academy on education initiatives and new opportunities in educational offerings. It comprises 15 representatives from academia, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society, all of whom are drawn from different parts of the SDSN community. We are immensely grateful for their continued support and guidance!
MDP Corner
University of Pretoria MDP and MRL alumni participate in Zeppelin University’s International Student Research Conference Five alumni from the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute at the University of Pretoria presented the research they conducted in 2020 at the online Zeppelin University International Student Research Conference from the 21st to the 22nd of April. This included three alumni of the global Master’s in Development Practice Programme (MDP), as well as two alumni of the MPhil in Responsible Leadership (MRL), both hosted in the Department of Business Management in the Economic and Management Science Faculty. Read more about the topics and conference at mdpglobal.org!
The SDG Academy is the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, creating and curating free educational resources on sustainable development for learners around the world. Do you have questions or comments about SDG Academy resources? Do you want to use SDG Academy material in your classroom? For these and any other inquiries, please email us at sdgacademy@unsdsn.org.