Asia-Pacific Post-GAP Updates Ms. Ushio Miura, Programme Specialist, UNESCO Bangkok Asia-Pacific Regional RCE Meeting 2018 25-27 September, 2018, Parramatta (Sydney), Australia

1. Asia-Pacific Post-GAP Updates
Sustainable
Development
Goals
 Technical Consultation on the Future of ESD, 9-10 July
2018, Bangkok
 Future of ESD Asia-Pacific discussion
 Draft Position Paper on the Future of ESD

3. Technical Consultation on the Future of ESD
9-10 July 2018, Bangkok
Over 270 participants from 116 UNESCO Member States and
Associate Members gathered in Bangkok, Thailand on 9 and 10 July
2018 to discuss which future direction governments and UNESCO
should take in promoting ESD.
GAP will end in 2019.
GAP evaluation revealed:
Strengths: Sharing, co-learning and joint projects
Weaknesses: Ownership and leadership by governments, and fund-
raising.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and UNGA
Resolution 72/222.
From
the People
Of Japan

4. The ‘Making Of’: The Future of ESD Position Paper
https://youtu.be/jIKSDEUR_b4

5. Draft Position Paper
• Title: Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG) Programme
Timeframe: 2020‐30
• Transformative action: what facilitates, enables, triggers?
e.g. critical inquiry, exposure to realities, relevance to one’s life, the
presence of influential peers, non-formal and informal learning,
community, citizenship, etc.
• The five priority action areas remain, but will be named “action areas”.
The five partners networks will be one inclusive network.
 An updated position paper, revised after the Bangkok meeting,
will be available soon for online consultation.
 The version discussed at the consultation

6. Asia-Pacific Discussion
Sub-regional group work
- Community we would like to see in 2050
- Challenges and opportunities
- What needs to be done?
Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
East Asia: China, Japan, Macau/China, Mongolia, Republic of Korea
Pacific: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu
South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Mekong South-East Asia: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam
Insular South-East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines

7. East Asia
• Key word is ‘sustainable
community’
• Diverse population including
people of all ages, migrants,
cultures, religions living
together
• Dynamic and diverse forms of
education including formal,
informal and non-formal
• Disaster-resilient and climate-
ready communities
• Green production of food
• Sustainable values combined
with traditional wisdom and
ICT

8. Central Asia
• Improved situation of sea
drying up leading to lack of
clean drinking water
• Peaceful society with no war
in spite of hundreds of
different ethnic groups
• Green economy: alternative
sources of energy, produce
less waste, use of natural
products
• Education, families, and
communities play key roles
• Continuing to preserve
traditional values
• Environmentally-friendly
schools

9. Insular South-East Asia
• Focus on simple things: ‘less is
more’
• Unclear whether AI and robots
are good or not – the choice is
up to the government
• Inclusive civilized society with a
balanced life, zero waste,
disaster-resilience and
prosperity
• Have innovations while
sustaining rural communities
• Inter-faith collaboration –
Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and
Hindu

10. Pacific
• First priority is rising sea-levels – we must ensure Pacific islands still exist
• Use of renewable and clean energy in all island states
• Sustainable infrastructure – merging existing traditional sustainable buildings with new technologies
• Management of marine resources, thriving aquaculture and more arable land as some existing land is not safe for farming
• Similar to other groups: organic lifestyle, conservation practices, green spaces
• Maintain tradition and culture
• Active youth and community at large – battling the challenge of non-communicable diseases
• Sustainable means of travel and eco-tourism

11. Asia-Pacific Discussion
 Common aspirations across different sub-regional groups e.g.
peace, diversity, happiness, balance, inclusivity.
 Emphases placed across groups on community and family, traditional
and indigenous knowledge and wisdom, cultural heritage as
opportunities for advancing ESD.
Common challenges: limited resources, weak institutional and
leadership capacities, lack of coordination and cooperation among
different stakeholders.
See the Asia-Pacific session report here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pjvXdbmDTupBTkY_nkS6bLip7LW92ccJ

12. on UNESCO Bangkok, please visit:
http://bangkok.unesco.org/
THANK YOU!
For more information