Promoting Children’s Interest in Science: The Children’s University Project
“At a time of rampant misinformation, climate denial, and attacks on human rights, we need education systems that distinguish fact from conspiracy, instill respect for science, and celebrate humanity in all its diversity,” said the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, on 19 September 2022, during the opening of the Transforming Education Summit. The role of institutions of higher education in instilling that respect for science cannot be underestimated.
Energy Diplomacy and the UN: Data-Intensive Research from Brazilian Universities
A group of Brazilian researchers is turning to large-scale data to answer critical questions on global affairs, including at the multilateral level. These initiatives are intended to highlight the utility of such tools to a wide range of stakeholderswhile promoting the critical work conducted in the institutions of higher education that are part of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative.
The first product, Energy Treaties Matrix ǰ, is a web platform for registering and monitoring international agreements related to energy. “It is a system that provides specialized resources, versatile solutions, and diversified analysis of energy agreements between countries and transnational organizations,” explained Henry Iure Paiva, Professor, and Coordinator of the Research Group on Energy Security at the .
Millennium Fellowship Class of 2022: Young Leaders Making the SDGs a RealityPrinciples Reality
The Millennium Campus Network (MCN) and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) are proud to present the Class of 2022, an ambitious program to help make the Sustainable Development Goals and UNAI principles a reality. The Class of 2022 Millennium Fellows have been selected among a record-breaking 31,397 applicants from over 2,417 campuses across 140 nations.
Millennium Fellows are university undergraduates selected based on their leadership on sustainable development-related projects that advance the SDGs in their communities. As Millennium Fellows, they will participate in a semester-long leadership development program to improve their student organizing, partnership building and community impact skills.
Fostering Experiential Education: Lehigh University Partners with ILO
For over a decade,, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in the United States, has collaborated with theto create a series of experiential education opportunities for its students, faculty, and staff. However, due to the challenging effects of the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant shift in how such opportunities can take place.
University Combats Xenophobia in South Africa
Imani Khumalo, a recent graduate of a university in Johannesburg, South Africa, still remembers the shock she felt during a Philosophy class in her second year.
Students were asked by the lecturer to give their opinion on whether the immigration law in South Africa should be more stringent. Imani felt her heart quiver as one of her classmates spoke up: “Laws should be stricter. All foreigners come here illegally to steal our jobs.” Imani, who asked a pseudonym to be used for personal reasons, couldn’t speak up against him. “I was afraid that people were going to gang up on me if I did.”
Saudi Students Lead Initiative to Counter Hate Speech
When launching theUnited Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speechin June 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres said that hate speech “is in itself an attack on tolerance, inclusion, diversity, and the very essence of our human rights norms and principles. More broadly, it undermines social cohesion, erodes shared values, and can lay the foundation for violence, setting back the cause of peace, stability, sustainable development, and the fulfillment of human rights for all.”
Academia Helps Farmers Balance Production and Conservation
According to the World Bank, more than 1.3 billion people globally rely on small scale livestock production for their livelihoods and nutrition. In Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa where cattle production comprises 80 per cent of agricultural gross domestic product, foot and mouth disease (FMD) has negatively impacted the livestock and wildlife sectors since the late 1950s, when beef exports were expanded in the days of colonial rule.
Foot and mouth disease is a viral disease that affects cattle, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals. The virus does does not normally infect people, but in animals it can cause blisters on the gums, tongue and feet that may eventually lead to lameness and an inability to eat, and a loss of meat and milk production.
International Youth Day: Its Origins and the Promise of Youth Leadership
This article, in line with the International Youth Day on 12 August, was written by (@samvaghar), Co-Founder and Executive Director of Millennium Campus Network (MCN). MCN and the United Nations Academic Impact partner to present the annually for university undergraduates advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
University of Oxford Brings Cutting-Edge Research to the Front-Line of Conflict Resolution
“Universities are places that nurture incubation, exchange, innovation, and interdisciplinary analysis, setting the pathway to change,” said Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in a video message in April this year. “Universities are at the intersection of knowledge and action,” she added. Certainly, the significant contribution that has been made by institutions of higher education worldwide and their research, cannot be underestimated.
University of Aberdeen Studies Healthy and Environmentally Sustainable Diets
The food we eat affects our health, and that of our planet. Food insecurity, poor nutrition and climate change are some of the global major challenges. Malnutrition for instance, which includes micronutrient deficiencies and obesity, has a devastating impact on health. According to published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, over 800 million people went hungry in 2020.
Enhancing SDGs-Related Teaching: Irish University Offers Open-Source Toolkit
Universities and colleges are critical components for implementing the, as indicated in the agenda itself. Their prominent role is even crucial as the achievement of its Goals has been severely impacted by theCOVID-19 pandemicand other global as well as regional crises. Such circumstances have created a wide range of challenges, affecting in particular developing and vulnerable countries.
University in Brazil Develops Social Cartography of an ‘Invisible City’
While restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are being eased and the new normal is a reality worldwide, for many, particularly those who are ‘socially invisible,’ the recovery might be much more challenging. For instance, prior to the pandemic at the end of 2018, many families living in areas of São Leopoldo, southern Brazil, became the target of an eviction order. A vast majority of these populations were in vulnerable areas prone to environmental hazards.
The, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Brazil, decided to partner with various stakeholders to create theMissão pela Moradia Digna or ‘Mission for Decent Housing’ in Portuguese, a movement focused on addressing challenges in vulnerable communities while liaising with authorities.
Venezuelan University Improves Environmental Management: Measuring Weather on Campus
Environmental sustainability has been one of the pillars of, a member institution of theUnited Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)in Venezuela, for advancing the. Various actions have been undertaken to raise awareness within its campuses and beyond, on critical issues like those related to environmental balance and the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change.
Diplomacy Provides Indonesian Youth with Growth Opportunities
Youth diplomacy, and its fostering by organizations such as the United Nations, has seen an uptick in its activity in the 21st century. Encouraging young people to express their voices through diplomacy gives their generation an opportunity to make an imprint on issues that have significant effects on their lives. Youth diplomacy can be defined as the participation of individuals from the ages 15-24 years (as recognized by the UN) in activities that promote interests of young people and seek to catalyze positive change in global issues that often transcend borders.
Countering Physical Inactivity During the Pandemic: Colombian University at the Forefront
In light of the many changes in the development of physical activity during theCOVID-19 pandemic, a team from the Faculty of Physiotherapy at CES University, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Colombia, led and promoted the practice of physical activity among different sectors of the population, even amid the restrictions generated by the global health emergency.
In the context before the COVID-19 pandemic, Colombia, like other Latin American countries, was characterized by low physical activity levels, with a prevalence of physical activity at 54% reported by the. Moreover, the people who practiced physical activity were, for the most part, motivated -or forced- by the need to commute to work or school, but not necessarily as a strategy to keep their good health.