The 2030 Agenda, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, has at its heart the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership.
To end poverty and deprivations all around the world, it is necessary to foster strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all along with tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. This is the ambitious, but urgent, framework where SDGs are a beacon of light.
Due to their importance, United Nations has created UN SGD:Learn – an initiative «that aims to bring relevant and curated learning solutions on sustainable development topics to individuals and organizations».
Basically, the web platform is a free gateway that matches learner’s needs with learning options. The users are asked to provide some information about them and their affiliation, to select their “Mental Models” and the SGDs they are interested in. After this quick fitting test, they can get recommended courses and microlearning that best fit their pursuits.
Users can also build their own learning pathway, without taking the test, and snooping around the website. The platform enables a smart navigation through the growing wealth of various education solutions, including courses, tutorials, analysis, and the “trendy” means of communication: podcasts.
«SDG Learncast […] will share stories from individuals and organizations working on the 2030 Agenda and SDGs and how they use learning and knowledge-sharing as vehicles for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda».
How is it organized? UN SDG:Learn is powered by a community of practitioners that bring together the main providers of knowledge on the SDGs from the UN, academia, universities, and the private sectors. This network allows a regular exchange on new tools and curricula, that grants the platform to be frequently updated.
It is a fruitful communication and education programme, that helps to ensure integrated learning support to countries – UN SDG:Learn becomes a path where UN family, in collaboration with partners, can reach out to millions of people whose professional and personal learning choices can make a difference, if inspired by the SDGs framework of justice and wealth.
All the contents are available to everyone for free. UN SGS:Learn is developed by UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Thinking and Research) and the United Nations System Staff College. It is powered by an extended list of partners, and supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Sweden Sverige, and State of Qatar.
Take a look at the video introduction on YouTube!