International partnership for Rio+20

14th February 2012

Following your response in the recent Rio+20 consultation, we are delighted to announce that the EAUC has recently entered an exciting new international partnership. Alongside the EAUC, this partnership includes:

• the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in North America,
• Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) in Australia/New Zealand,
• Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi),
• Korean Association for Green Campus Initiative (KAGCI) in South Korea
• the Copernicus Alliance in Europe
• Fondaterra – Fondation Europeenne pour des Territoires Durables
• Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research network (ProSPER.NET)
• United Nations Environment Programme – Environmental Education and Training Unit (UNEP-EETU) in Nairobi

This partnership is looking to provide a collective, co-ordinated approach to the Rio+20 Earth Summit taking place in June. Following the consultation and further discussions with these organisations, it became clear that action was needed to raise the profile of tertiary education at the summit, something that is vital to a green economy. To this end, the partnership is looking to hold a side event at the conference on the importance of tertiary education in sustainable development, combined with recommendations on the role the sector can play in realising sustainability, directly to the delegates as part of the summits proceedings.

Here in the UK, the EAUC has been lobbying the Government to ensure the tertiary education sector is considered in UK’s response to Rio+20 and to push for the Prime Minister to attend the Summit to upgrade our presence. We are also supporting an online petition dedicated to persuading David Cameron to attend the conference and lead the way on Rio+20. Please add your name to the petition to show how important this event is for everyone, not just our sector https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20371.

If you would like to learn of other ways you can help raise the profile of education at the Rio+20 Summit, please email info@eauc.org.uk.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the EAUC to provide an international voice for the sector and to raise the profile of the role tertiary sector in sustainability on a global platform. We will keep you updated of these exciting developments – watch this space!