Mobius Foundation Concludes 4th International Conference on Sustainability Education

Mobius Foundation, a non-profit organization working towards environmental sustainability organized its 4th International Conference on Sustainability Education (ICSE) on September 9 & 10, 2022. The two days conference was held in SCOPE Complex, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Marg, Pragati Vihar, New Delhi and featured several keynote addresses in 3 plenaries, 17 thematic sessions, exhibition, oral and poster presentations besides inaugural and concluding plenaries. The conference offered a host of special highlights with key environmental organizations such as UNESCO, UNEP, Center for Environment Education (CEE), Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE, Copenhagen), The Climate Reality Project India, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), WWF India, amongst many others as partners. It has been three continuous years that the ICSE is being organized by Mobius Foundation in partnership with 30+ organizations for focusing on various aspects of sustainability education.

Themed, 'Building Connections and Partnerships for Sustainable Future', this year's two days conference through a futuristic approach provided some great networking opportunities for making connections and strengthening partnerships. More than 300 multi-disciplinary and diverse groups of stakeholders including policy makers, teachers and educators, young professionals, representatives of schools and education networks, youth, scientists and technical experts, as well as individuals from the private sector and civil society from across countries participated in workshops, symposia, and round tables.

Special Youth Conclave online was organised pre-conference on 8th September. Shri Rajendra Singh, waterman of India and Guest of Honor addressed the session and said "Indian traditional system has sustainable knowledge. We must make use of it to build a better and sustainable future for our children. Firstly 'Indian indigenous knowledge system' should be revived and secondly 'population growth should be controlled". The conference had two special plenaries on themes, "India at 75: Lessons for a Sustainable World" and "Agenda Sustainability: The Road to Population Stabilisation". Prominent speakers and distinguished dignitaries shared great insights on 10 parallel thematic sessions. A special plenary was also held for Youth4Earth campaign winners and young professionals. Additionally, the conference offered partners and delegates an opportunity to display exhibits, stalls, projects, and practices to showcase their work toward sustainability.

"Today, Education has crucial responsibility of raising next generation who is empathetic to nature and work in harmony with nature" Ms. Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India

Speaking at the conference, Dr. Ram Boojh, CEO, Mobius Foundation said, "Sustainability education has the potential to be a major catalyst and transformative agent in making the world a more sustainable place to live. Alongside, partnerships hold the potential to become a viable mechanism to strengthen sustainability education in a way that complement our actions."

Commenting on the conference, Mr. Pradip Burman, Chairman Mobius Foundation said,'' It is imperative to empower youth, particularly young professionals and promote them as agents for change. Through these efforts, we are hopeful that we will be able to address and cater to the emerging issues at hand. With this, we are looking forward to the next edition in 2023."

The 1st ICSE in 2019 was held on a grand scale with participation of over 750 attendees from 40 countries highlighting the key role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) on multiple themes via 15 keynote addresses in 5 plenaries, 15 thematic sessions, 25 exhibitions, 45 oral and 27 poster presentations besides inaugural and concluding plenaries. Despite the covid pandemic, they continued the momentum of ICSE through theme-based Forums followed by second and third conferences virtually. While the 2nd ICSE in 2020 focused on the ways of transforming the learning systems in the new normal and role of youth as the advocates for bringing positive change towards environment, the 3rd ICSE in 2021 focused on ecosystem restoration and climate literacy.