With UNESCO, Arab and European Universities Are Committed to Promote Transformative Education

In a world where the challenges of sustainability, equity, and inclusivity loom large, education emerges as a beacon of hope, a pathway towards a brighter future. It's within this context that Transformative Education takes center stage, encompassing Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). 

Transformative Education equips the young minds of today with the tools, values, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to drive positive change and foster just, inclusive, and sustainable societies.

At the heart of this endeavor lie Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), pivotal actors with the capacity to shape the educational landscape, notably through the training of teachers who will then promote Transformative Education in their classrooms. Recognizing their crucial role, the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Beirut has been committed to promoting Transformative Education through higher education across the Arab States. 

Transformative Education is at the core of the UNESCO 1974 Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development, which was revised in 2023.

In 2022, a comprehensive study commissioned by UNESCO shed light on the efforts of HEIs in mainstreaming some components of Transformative Education in the Arab region, revealing both progress and areas requiring further attention.

Armed with the findings of this study, UNESCO mobilized its network to explore the development of university courses on Transformative Education for teachers' pre-service training, a crucial step towards institutionalizing TE within the fabric of education.

Building on the momentum generated by these UNESCO-led discussions, a number of universities expressed their eagerness to formalize cooperation in advancing TE across the Arab-European region. 

To further support this endeavor, the UNESCO Beirut Office organized a meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, in February 2024, where Saint-Joseph University (Lebanon), Institute Supérieur des Cadres de l’Enfance (Tunisia), Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) and the UNESCO Chair on GCED in Higher Education at the University of Bologna (Italy) converged to outline a joint action plan and to prepare an application for the creation of a UNITWIN university network. 

This network holds the promise of fostering sustainable actions with far-reaching impact, laying the groundwork for a brighter educational landscape in Arab and European countries.