The United Nations University (UNU) acknowledged the Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development for the greater Dublin area (RCE Dublin on ESD) in March 2013.
RCE Dublin has six projects that will be implemented in the greater Dublin area from 2014-2018:
- ECO-UNESCO is the lead partner for Project 1 ‘Green Teen Transitions’, which aims to enable youth transitions towards further education and/or employment, through the use of a blended online model of learning and an internship programme.
- Project 2 centres on a schools’ competition within the theme of ‘What-if: Disaster Mitigation’, making use of social media in a problem-based learning context.
- Project 3 creatively examines urban sustainability through the lens of Irish literature, and uses ‘World Café’ style forums to ‘crowd-source’ solutions to sustainability issues.
- Project 4 uses innovative means, such as foraging competitions, to help map indigenous horticultural practices that support bio-diversity, sustainable consumption and eco-management within the built environment.
- Project 5 and Project 6 involve the design, delivery and evaluation of two blended online course within the themes of Ethical Sustainability and the Earth Charter for students within primary, post-primary and higher education.
These projects centre on the promotion of authentic and transformative learning experiences, with action projects that enable change agency towards sustainability within the RCE Dublin region.
The Launch of RCE Dublin took place in the HELIX, Dublin City University, on Thursday 27th of November 2014. The aim of RCE Dublin is to address the key economic, environmental and societal challenges that have been identified within the Dublin region, and promote Education for Sustainable Development locally, regionally and globally.
It is coordinated by DCU and it’s partnership includes ECO-UNESCO, educational institutions (DCU, Educate Together, Primary/ post-primary schools), Public bodies (An Taisce, Dublin City Council), NGOs (JustForests, FightingWords), and industry-academia networks (The Green Way).