Education for all by Citizen Zero

EDUCATION FOR ALL

SOCIAL

EDU C AT ION ISN ’ T A P RI V IL EG E, I T ’ S A B IR T HRIG H T. I T ’ S A L S O A F U NDA MEN TA L B U IL DING B LOCK F OR ACHIE V ING T HE SDG S A ND CRE AT ING A MORE S U S TA IN A B L E F U T U RE, A S CI T IZEN ZERO DIS C OV ERS

hen the Incheon Declaration, a framework for action on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all – was signed

in 2015 it set out a landmark vision for global education and its role as a key driver of sustainable development. The declaration builds on 2000’s Education for All and Millenium Development Goals with a strategy for education based on human rights and dignity, social justice, inclusion, protection, diversity, and shared responsibility and accountability. It represents a powerful statement of commitment from the global education community to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

“THERE’S AN URGENT NEED FOR ALMOST 7 0 M I L L I O N O U T- O F - S C H O O L C H I L D R E N A C R O S S T H E G L O B E T O G E T A N ED U C AT I O N T H AT EN A B L E S T H EM T O B E T T ER C O N T RI B U T E T O A S U S TA I N A B L E F U T U RE ”

— D R M A R Y JO Y P IG O Z Z I , E X E C U T I V E DIR E C T OR , E DUC AT E A C HIL D

Said then UNICEF Executive Director

attaining basic reading skills by the end of

Anthony Lake to the gathering of more than

primary school is forecast to rise from 51%

1,600 participants from 160 countries:

to 67% between 2015 and 2030, but 300

‘Education is the key to a better life for every

million children and young people will still

child and the foundation of every strong

lack basic numeracy and literacy skills by

society – but far too many children are still

2030. An estimated 84 million will still be

being left behind. To realise all our develop-

out of school by the same date.

ment goals, we need every child in school and learning’. The message of both the dec-

Women and girls remain one of the most

laration and the SDGs was clear: education

affected groups. Around 40% of countries

is not a privilege, it is a birthright.

still haven’t achieved gender parity in primary education – a disadvantage that

There has been progress since 2015, yet

starts a lifetime of less access to skills and

much work is still needed across all levels

fewer opportunities in the labour market.

to meet the target outcomes of SDG 4 and

Persistent challenges include economic

all the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

constraints, issues with learning outcomes

Development’s 17 SDGs. Between Incheon

and dropout rates in marginalised regions,

in 2015 and 2021 worldwide primary school

and low levels of information and communi-

completion, lower secondary completion,

cations technology skills. Multiple global

and upper secondary completion increased

crises are also impacting progress. UNICEF

albeit, according to the UN, progress over

says children in conflict-affected countries

the period was notably slower than the

are more than twice as likely, and adolescents

15 years prior. The percentage of students

two-thirds more likely, to be out of school than in non-conflict affected countries;

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

“The pandemic laid bare disparities in education that need immediate attention, and highlighted the critical importance of the sector,” Pigozzi states. “There’s an urgent need for almost 70 million OOSC across the globe to get an education that enables them to better contribute to a sustainable future, and millions more are not learning due to lack of, or misplaced, investment. Furthermore, what’s on offer often fails to deliver what is necessary for a sustainable life in this century. The effects of climate change and the increasing number of conflicts are only exacerbating the challenges faced by many frail and faltering education systems.” Pigozzi points to education financing and national investment – acknowledged by disruption from COVID-19 caused learning

the UN as essential in implementing SDG 4

loss in four out of five countries, says the UN.

– noting an estimated $97bn is needed annually at global level to meet 2030 targets.

EDUCATION AND THE SDGS

“COVID saw decreases in education funding

“We’re at the halfway mark to the SDGS and

that only the poorest countries have since

education, a key enabler of many of the goals,

tried to rectify,” she explains. “Domestic

is in a deep crisis,” Educate A Child (EAC)

funding, by far the largest source of funds

Executive Director, Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, tells

for education, is ill-equipped to meet needs,

Citizen Zero. EAC is a global programme of

and those at the bottom of the pyramid con-

Education Above All Foundation, an organi-

tinue to have fewer resources invested in

sation working to ensure equal access to

them. Additional funds are key to any major

education and use the power of quality learn-

fixes at scale so we must innovate with fi-

ing for positive, sustainable, and inclusive

nancing, address the debt crisis, and move

change. EAC makes a material difference

away from current finance models if we’re

in the lives of children by providing access

to reach the SDGs and build a peaceful,

to quality primary education to millions of

sustainable planet.”

the hardest to reach out of school (OOSC) children around the world.

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

In the context of sustainable development, education is a public good and a human right, and must focus on inclusion, equity, and giving everyone an equal opportunity, in particular those in marginalised or in vulnerable situations. As a standalone goal, SDG 4 comprises seven outcome targets for universal primary and secondary education, early childhood development and universal pre-primary education, equal access to vocational and higher education, relevant skills for decent work, gender equality, universal youth literacy, and education for sustainable development and global citizenship. Beyond this, however, a strong and effective education system underpins the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is

“ W I T H O U T ED U C AT I O N, MANY OTHER GOALS LIKE POVERT Y REDUCTION, N O H U N G E R, G O O D H E A LT H, G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y, A N D PEACE AND JUSTICE, B E C O M E S I G N I F I C A N T LY MORE CHALLENGING — IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE — T O AT TA I N ”

recognised as essential for success across all of the SDGs, particularly those focused on growth and unemployment, building decent

— DR M A R Y JO Y P IG O Z Z I

and fair work environments, health and wellbeing, climate change, sustainable consumption, innovation, and production. “As a catalyst for individual and societal

more challenging – if not impossible – to

progress, equipping people with the knowl-

attain. It’s not standalone, but an enabler

edge and skills needed to tackle complex

of other goals that fosters cross-sector

global challenges is vital,” Pigozzi affirms.

collaboration to help tackle the complex

“Education prepares and empowers people

and interrelated nature of the SDGs.

to make informed decisions about their

Education is a fundamental building block

health and life, contributes to economic

for a more sustainable future.”

growth and social cohesion, and equips us to engage in important mandates like envi-

LEARNING AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

ronmental preservation. Without it, many

SDG 4’s target outcome 4.7, Education for

other goals like poverty reduction, no

sustainable development and global citizen-

hunger, good health, gender equality, and

ship, encapsulates Pigozzi’s point well. It

peace and justice, become significantly

looks beyond traditional academia to recognise the importance of knowledge and skills that promote sustainable development,

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

S U S TAI N AB I L ITY, DESIG N A ND EDUC ATIO N Students from Central Saint Martins,

• A versatile, modular, and interchangeable

University of the Arts London participated in an innovative sustainability and design partnership with UPM. They used a woodbased material that removes fossil fuels from plastics and reduces carbon footprint to rethink everyday products using circular and sustainable principles. The initiative directly relates to SDG 11, Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, but also

snowboard binding • A hybrid, modular, electro-acoustic synthesiser • A stylish ‘plogging’ set combining environmental care, comfort and fitness • A transformative rationing stamp setting rigorous standards to authenticate sustainability claims • A modular shoe designed to address

pioneers an innovative way to use

the prevailing issue of shoe waste

education to drive practical action. Eight winners were:

• A set of six user-friendly devices for camping

• A mono-material and modular motorcycle armour • Furniture crafted from a single sheet of bioplastic material

1 ECOFLEX: a mono-material and modular motorcycle armour for people in developing countries who rely on motorcycles but face high crash statistics. 3

2 PRIMA: weather resistant, user-friendly, and fullyrecyclable outdoor survival and camping equipment designed to connect people with nature. 3 MOUVICK ABC: a sustainable, durable, and washable alternative to plastic bags for ‘ploggers’, who combine exercise and picking litter.

1 2

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

“IT’S INCUMBENT ON

including education for sustainable devel-

US TO REDUCE OR

equality, global citizenship, and appreciation

RE VERSE THE IMPACT O F W H AT W E D O A N D TO MAKE SURE — AS F A R A S I S H U M A N LY P O S S I B L E — T H AT W H AT W E D E S I G N AND PUT OUT INTO THE WORLD BENEFITS

opment and lifestyles, human rights, gender of cultural diversity and its contribution to sustainable development. “Awareness is critical for future generations, and education gives us a view of the challenges faced by global society,” says Bryan Bibby Smith, discussing the importance of a wider world view in education. “To make a difference we must understand the challenges the world faces, from gender inequality, poverty, and hunger, through to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. Having the knowledge and awareness of these challenges, and how the consequences of our actions impact both local and global communities, enables us to contribute to positive change.” Smith coordinates the Global Citizen

HUMANITY AND

Diploma (GCD) at ACS International School

O U R N AT U R A L

foster self awareness and self-directedness

ENVIRONMENT” — N IC K R HODE S , P ROGR A MME DIR E C T OR , P RODUC T, C E R A MIC A ND INDU S T R I A L DE S IGN , C E N T R A L S A IN T M A R T IN S , UNI V E R S I T Y OF T HE A R T S , L OND ON

Hillingdon, which encourages students to in relation to their own experiences locally and globally, and in the context of sustainable development and SDG targets. The GCD is organised around key themes and recognises the importance of activities students engage with outside the classroom – volunteering with charities, involvement in student councils, community engagement, involvement with forces like the fire service, the police, or the cadets, and even athletic pursuits or creative work. “The way it contributes in terms of students becoming more globally-minded citizens is

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

global citizens, making them aware of the actions we take in our own lives and the impact they have on our own communities, broader communities, countries and, by extension, the world. Universities, internships and workplaces are seeking people with broader experience and

LEFT: MARTIN LEDWON, UPM, AND RIGHT, NICK RHODES, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON

the ability to engage beyond their grades. It’s important to show that

critical,” Smith tells us. “It provides a frame-

young people aren’t just academic, but that

work and recognition for those activities so

they’re also globally-minded citizens.”

students have a resume of experience and skills, and are better able to articulate the

Educating and developing the leadership

way they’ve developed as an individual and

skills of young people for positive change

a citizen of the world. There’s direct connec-

and sustainable development is also a foun-

tion with the SDGs, particularly during

dational element of the work being delivered

community engagement. Students identify

at Education Above All and EAC, says Pigozzi.

which of the goals they’re striving to achieve

In this instance, in the form of youth involve-

and consider how the organisation they

ment, civic engagement, and volunteerism.

want to work with addresses sustainable

“It empowers them as advocates and

development.”

peacebuilders, and is fundamental for SDG 4 and so many of the other SDGs,” she says.

A key touchstone of the GCD, says Smith,

The organisation has trained thousands

is the idea that each individual is more than

through programmes like Protecting Education

their number – we all have a role to play in

in Conflict which builds networks of peace-

building a better and more sustainable future.

builders in conflict-affected regions, and

“One of the final questions students answer is how the diploma has changed them as C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

“OUR STUDENTS ARE AWARE OF THE IMPACTS O F C L I M AT E C H A N G E, A N D O F T H E D I S PA RI T I E S IN ACCES S TO CER TA IN RES O U RCES A N D ED U C AT I O N A N D T H E Y ’ RE C O M M I T T ED TO ADDRESSING THESE CHALLENGES” —

—

— NIC K RHO DES

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all 4.1: Universal primary and secondary education 4.2: E arly childhood development and universal pre-primary education 4.3: E qual access to technical/ vocational and higher education 4.4: Relevant skills for decent work 4.5: Gender equality and inclusion 4.6: Universal youth literacy 4.7: Effective learning environments

Reach Out To Asia, a programme that instils citizenship, mobilises young people as advocates, and equips them with green skills to address future climate challenges.

EDUCATING TOMORROW’S CHANGE MAKERS At Hult International Business School’s Sustainability Lab research helps accelerate achieving the SDGs. The Lab’s ecosystem of researchers focus on changes in practice and impact in the world around five themes: how to lead sustainability transitions across entire industry sectors, how the senior executive leadership role is evolving in line with sustainable development, social entrepreneurship and innovation for the SDGs, diversity equity, inclusion and belonging, and embedding the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. “Education for sustainability is important at every educational level in all settings, especially universities and business schools educating today’s and tomorrow’s business C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

L to R: Mantas Mauricas, Runner up Design – PRIMA; Georgia Gibbs, Winner Design and Sustainability – INIM; Finnian Smith – Winner, Disruption – Synesthete; Oliver Valentine, Winner Manufacturing and UPM’s Staff Choice - Exoflex; Edward Wilkin, Winner Commercial Viability – Boarderline; Aniela Nykowska, Runner up, Commercial Viability – mouvick ABC

leaders,” Director of the Sustainability Lab,

leverage points to intervene in a system to

Matt Gitsham tells Citizen Zero, discussing

raise awareness and shift thinking about the

the importance of SDG 4 target 4.7, around

norms that have been governing our current

education for sustainability.

system, and how they need to change,” Gitsham says. “To achieve sustainability

Businesses and their leaders have a fun-

transitions at speed and scale, we need

damental role to play in delivering on SDG

significant investment in education to make

ambitions, whether through better and more

sure we’re building the next generation of

inclusive employment, driving technology

change agents.

and innovation, realising the financial investment necessary, or reducing the

“The Lab supports research that has a direct

negative impact of their activities. At Hult,

impact on influencing practice around the

research centres around equipping leaders

challenges at the heart of the SDGs,” he adds.

with the skills and knowledge necessary to

“As an example, we’ve led research projects

address these challenges and opportunities.

on corporate leadership and modern slavery.

“Education is one of the most effective

Our findings have influenced corporate practice on human rights due diligence on

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

modern slavery in supply chains, the design and introduction of modern slavery regulation in Australia and other jurisdictions, and the kinds of ESG questions relating to modern slavery asked by investors – all of these shifts in practice contribute towards achieving specific SDGs such as 8.7 and 5.2 on trafficking and modern slavery.” Sustainability is integrated across all core courses and assessments in Hult’s management education curriculum, Gitsham tells us. There’s also the Hult Prize, an annual competition for solving the planet’s most pressing social issues. It encourages a departure from deeply embedded assumptions that businesses can either do the right thing,

“TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE W E M U S T U N D ER S TA N D

or the thing that makes money. Rather, the

THE CHALLENGES

Hult Prize encourages students to innovate in the context of sustainability – previous winners include a solution turning banana crop waste to a plant-based and vegan leather, and a social impact rice brand com-

THE WORLD FACES, FROM G E N D E R I N E Q U A L I T Y,

bating world hunger and alleviating poverty.

P O V E R T Y, A N D H U N G E R ,

A recent project at Central Saint Martins,

T H R O U G H T O N AT U R A L

University of the Arts London demonstrates

DISASTERS AND

why education is imperative to equip the skills and knowledge needed to build a sus-

THE I M PA C T S O F

tainable future. The college collaborated with Finnish forestry company UPM, which found a way of upcycling and biorefining wood and forest management by-products to produce biochemical ingredients that a

CLIM AT E CH A NGE”

range of industries can use instead of fossil fuels in plastics and other materials.

— B R YA N BIBB Y S MI T H , GLOBAL CITIZEN DIPLOMA COORDINATOR, A C S HIL L INGDON

Fifty product and industrial design students took on a brief built on sustainability and

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

Our students are aware of the impacts of climate change, and of the disparities in access to certain resources and education and they’re committed to addressing these challenges. “As product and industrial designers, our contributions make a difference to the physical environment,” Rhodes says. “It’s incumbent on us to reduce or reverse the impact of what we do and to make sure – as far as is humanly possible – that what we design and put out into the world benefits humanity and our natural environment.” The students’ work directly contributes to SDG 11, Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Winning designs include an outdoors surwellbeing themes, and reappraised how

vival kit for camping made of fully recyclable

multiple industries can make the urgent shift

components, a sustainably sourced and

to renewable circularity. They considered

recyclable snowboarding binding, a fully

how the application of the material in a certain

circular furniture set, a modular shoe designed

product type may encourage greater engage-

to address the issue of shoe waste [the

ment with the natural world.

average pair of trainers generates 30 lbs of CO2 emissions and the synthetic materials

“We’re a socially engaged institution and,

used in production take years to biode-

as such, are very concerned about people

grade], and a mono-material and modular

and the environment. Education plays a

motorcycle armour.

large role in that,” Nick Rhodes, Programme Director, Product, Ceramic and Industrial

SUCCESS FOR EVERYONE

Design explains to Citizen Zero. “The univer-

The Incheon Declaration set out several key

sity has a manifesto that speaks to our

steps to deliver on SDG 4 and the other

position on the climate emergency and social

sustainable development goals. Significant

empowerment; how we view both issues

additional financing is essential, as is the

directly affects the way we teach and learn.

need for good governance, citizen-led accountability in education, increasing the numbers of teachers available, and providing safe, non-violent, and inclusive learning

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

“ TO ACHIE V E SUS TA IN A BILI T Y T R A NSI T IONS AT SP EED A ND SCA L E, WE NEED SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION TO MAKE SURE WE’RE BUILDING THE NEXT GENER AT ION OF CH A NGE AGEN T S” — M AT T GI T S H A M , DIR E C T OR , HULT S U S TA IN A BIL I T Y R E S E A RC H IMPA C T L A B environments. Achieving SDG 4, says the

crucial. “It recognises the interlinkages

declaration, ‘means that success can

among the SDGs and provides ways to

only be declared when it can be declared

approach the complex problems that need

for everyone’.

to be overcome for us to reach a sustainable future,” she says. “Working across sectors

“It comes down to two things: prioritisation

means more funds can be secured, and

and funding,” says Rhodes of the challenges

technical expertise and other support can

in providing fairer and more inclusive educa-

be shared. It also encourages innovation

tion. Gitsham points to several areas including

through exchanging ideas and practices,

identifying the learning needs, topics, and

enables policy coherence, and improves

skills that must feature in curricular, as well as

monitoring and evaluation. Protecting schools

the most effective pedagogies for enabling

and universities is also critical for SDG 4.

learning, how to motivate educators to bring

We’ve seen an alarming rise in conflicts and,

these themes to their teaching, and ways in

since 2018, more than 25,000 students

which we can overcome ‘institutional inertia’

and teachers have been harmed. Attacks on

to speed up and accelerate progress.

education are a step backwards in our journey towards a sustainable future.”

For Pigozzi, a multi-sectoral approach underpinned by collaboration that reflects the interconnected nature of the SDGs is C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E O N E

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