Project Background:
- This is the first long term educational and strategic collaborative plan between Fulbright Program and a Ukrainian university.
- Fulbright Program will support bringing one American scholar specializing in the requested by the host university (NTUU “KPI”) field of SD per academic year to teach two courses –one per semester - and work with NTUU “KPI” faculty members on delivery methods: pedagogy, cases, soft skills and teaching materials to implement them at the University.
- The collaborative plan will work for five years starting AY 2013
“Education for Sustainable Development is an investment in our future” (World Summit on Sustainable Development: Plan of Implementation (2002)).
Rethinking and revising education to include more principles, knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability in each of the three realms – social, environmental, and economic – is vitally important for our future. This should be done in a holistic and interdisciplinary manner. The best chance to succeed in Sustainable Development education lies not in a separate program but in embedding its vision within initiatives engaging experience of leading world/US specialists.
The development of specialized training programs with utilizing the US leading specialists’ expertise to ensure that all sectors of the workforce have the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their work in a sustainable manner has been identified as a critical component of education for sustainable development.
The United Nations has declared the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) under the leadership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The goal is to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. This educational effort will encourage changes in behavior that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations. As a result, the leading EU Universities developed training programs in Sustainable Development.
Among the CIS countries’ universities only the NTUU “KPI” has the running Strategic Plan on global modernization of educational process focusing it on Sustainable Development of Society and introduced: Master Program “Sustainable Development and Governance: Global Regional Contexts” as the second higher education, training Candidate of Sciences in direction of Sustainable Development, course “Basics of Sustainable Development of Society” for Master students of all specialties, etc.
For further buildup of the Sustainable Development constituent in educational programs and forming interdisciplinary approach it is important to have a possibility to closely collaborate with prominent US specialists for exchanging experience and elaborating more effective sustainable development education and research concepts.