The Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) announces the ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific Innovation Programme for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This programme is to be implemented, within the framework of the ACCU-UNESCO ESD Programme, jointly with the UNESCO Member States in the region and in close co-operation with UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau of Education in Bangkok, Thailand (UNESCO Bangkok), and with other UNESCO Field Offices
The overall objective of the Programme is to initiate and support projects to serve as good examples for the implementation and promotion of ESD in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Programme is to facilitate ESD teaching/learning opportunities of quality in all forms of education to be developed, with a special emphasis on the Non-Formal Education (NFE) approach, implemented and promoted in the UNESCO Member States of the Asia-Pacific Region
It aims to accumulate and share the experiences of various countries working for the principles of sustainability, thus contributing to the achievement of the goals of United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
The specific objectives of the Programme are to:
(1) Support, technically and financially, innovative projects to be implemented at the community level/sub-national level/national level in UNESCO Member States in the Asia-Pacific Region for the realization of principles of ESD; and
(2) Reinforce the concepts of ESD through the implementation of projects in different parts of the Asia-Pacific Region and share the experiences of various projects to further strengthen the regional efforts for ESD
The Programme aims to support innovative projects, at community level, sub-national, or national level in the fields of:
The following 40 UNESCO Member States in the Asia- Pacific Region are invited to send application(s) for this Programme:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste , Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
National Commissions for UNESCO of the above mentioned countries are kindly requested to play various roles in coordination with ACCU and UNESCO for the implementation of this Programme. They will be making the final selection of projects for application(s) from the country, after due discussion and coordination with related organizations/institutions, governmental and non-governmental
This Programme is to support ﾒinnovative projects in each country which meet the objectives of the Programme. Therefore, innovation can be freely interpreted at the discretion of each country
The project may be one already being implemented in the country or a totally new project to be designed for this Programme by a newly set-up consortium/network for the project, for example
ESD consists of three pillars; environmental perspective, socio-cultural perspective, and economic perspective unified by an underlying dimension of culture. A project which deals with one of the pillars as a main theme will be given higher priority in the selection process for the 2006-2007 Programme. As most of ESD projects will be cross-cutting, sub-themes can freely be identified and incorporated in the project
Under the socio-cultural perspective, the following can be the themes: Human Rights, Peace and Human Security, Gender Equality, Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Understanding, Health, HIV/AIDS, Governance
The National Commissions for UNESCO will have to be submit all applications to ACCU on or before 8 May 2006.
For further information, visit www.accu.or.jp/en/ or contact: Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU), 6 Fukuromachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8484 Japan; ph (813) 3269-4559; fax (813) 3269-4510; e-mail: education@accu.or.jp