More than 60 Learning Institutions Worldwide Agree on How Best to Provide Education and Training for a Sustainable Future

16-18 December, Paris, France – At OECD headquarters this week, more than 100 individuals from over 60 institutions gathered at the 1st Global Forum on Green Economy Learning. Participants discussed global and national approaches to green economy learning and explored opportunities to collaborate with the goal of up-scaling it.

Participants of the Forum included policy-makers, development partners as well as representatives from education and training institutions, NGOs and business associations. The event was organized by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) in collaboration with the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

Day 1 featured sessions on the concept of green economy learning and the need to invest in it as well as a review of lessons learnt from existing international initiatives that support countries in promoting green economy. A rich panel discussion among representatives from PAGE, OECD, UNESCO-UNEVOC, GGKP and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was followed by group exercises which looked into the objectives and expectations of participants from the Forum. At the end of the day, participants presented specific green learning activities carried out by their institutions at a designated Knowledge Fair.

On Day 2, best practice examples of national green economy learning initiatives were explored, followed by a series of breakout sessions which examined practical solutions to greening university curricula, educating key change agents, delivering effective vocational education and training, and enabling entrepreneurship.

Day 3 captured the momentum and input from the Forum resulting in the draft of the “Paris Summary Statement on Inclusive Green Economy Learning” as a final outcome.

The Global Forum on Green Economy Learning was the first of its kind. Participants expressed great interest in continuing collaboration on this important issue. With this goal, possibilities for the creation of a Global Network of Learning Institutions, as well as organizing the Forum as a recurrent event, will be further explored and considered.

Photo 1: Knowledge Fair

Photo 2: Group picture of participants