The UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Peter Thomson and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova held a joint meeting to discuss opportunities to raise awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Similarly, the UN University (UNU) has worked to increase understanding on the SDGs, including through a recent event that aimed to raise public awareness on the transformative power of the SDGs.
18 November 2016: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Peter Thomson and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova held a joint meeting to discuss opportunities to raise awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similarly, the UN University (UNU) has worked to increase understanding on the SDGs, including through a recent event that aimed to raise public awareness on the transformative power of the SDGs.
UNGA President Peter Thomson and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova discussed opportunities to mobilize the global education system to increase public awareness of the SDGs and underscored the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), and the New Urban Agenda as opportunities for collective action to build momentum and deliver on commitments. Thomson highlighted the UN’s collaboration with education systems around the world to increase public awareness of the SDGs and launched a follow-up campaign to teach the SDGs in schools as part of his strategic plan, ‘A Universal Push to Transform our World.’
Bokova highlighted the role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Education for Global Citizenship as opportunities to ensure that “each and every person” is aware of their rights and responsibilities, as outlined in the 2030 Agenda. She called for pursuing a “systemic and sustainable approach to reach beyond single projects and involving institutions and individuals alike.”
The UN Office at Geneva (UNOG) celebrated World Science Day for Peace and Development at ‘Pop Up Muse,’ an event that aimed to mobilize innovative thinking around the SDGs and highlight the role of science in daily life. Pop Up Muse aims to invigorate innovative thinking around the SDGs and initiate a mindset on how society thinks of and understand the SDGs.
As part of the event’s efforts to increase understanding on the SDGs, the UNU introduced its Jargon Buster App to help participants understand the specialized language used by UN agencies and others on the SDGs and facilitate a wider understanding of both the SDGs and the UN’s work. The glossary application clarifies hundreds of economic, political and social terms to help both experts and the general public to understand official discussions on the SDGs. Participants considered how to better understand, visualize and tell the story of the SDGs through a series of “mindealist” sessions on understanding storytelling, envisioning and materializing the story of the SDGs. The event took place on 10 November. [UNESCO Press Release] [UNESCO ESD Website] [UNU Press Release] [UNU-FLORES Press Release] [UNU Website on Jargon Buster App]