AIFS Abroad“AIFS Abroad recently created a new, comprehensive mission and vision statement to reflect their internal purpose and their commitment to external impact relating to global education abroad. They have thoughtfully created and rebuilt their global education programs to ensure their activities, internally and externally, align with the SDGs. Their public commitments and transparent reporting on Access, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (AIDE) and their Green Initiative demonstrate leadership and accountability and should be applauded.”
IES Abroad“IES Abroad’s Global Good Commitment integrates the UN’s SDGs across all aspects of their organization, including: People & Equity; Academics & Career-Readiness; Engagement & Resources; Sustainable Operations & Services. IES Abroad is dedicated to developing courses, curriculum, experiential learning, and co-curricular programming rooted in sustainable practices in alignment with their three Global Pillars: Sustainable Living, Equitable Living, and Human Wellbeing. They introduced a Designing the Sustainable City course, which provides students the opportunity to engage in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural learning community that addresses a global issue. IES Abroad is innovating in the field of study abroad, sustainability literacy, and the ability to find innovative solutions to tackle global concerns.”
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Big Pond Education“Big Pond has dedicated their work to local, sustainable efforts, engaging students deeply in their host community. This is echoed throughout their program development, including vegan, locally sourced meals, partnerships with local, sustainable organizations, heavily reduced paper consumption, refurbished equipment, environmentally friendly buildings, tree planting initiatives, carbon off-setting for all flights where travel by more environmentally friendly alternatives is not possible, and carbon literacy micro credentials that all students and staff receive. Big Pond is a true champion of environmental sustainability within international education and has worked to educate others on this topic.”
Intercultural Outreach Initiative (IOI)“Intercultural Outreach Initiative (IOI) is creating a foundation of sustainability and UN SDGs through education, conservation, and the social development of isolated communities. IOI should be recognized for promoting human and environmental well-being through the development of the regenerative agriculture program which improves food security and reduces the carbon footprint of life in the Galapagos, protects the environment and restores degraded lands, and increases socio-economic benefits to the whole community. IOI engages students in programs that allow them to study and contribute to projects that provide long-term impacts in the community they are growing and learning in, a sustainable dynamic of give and take in academia.”
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The recipient of the 2022 Award for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad is Dickinson College.
“This acknowledgement of Dickinson’s leadership in fostering connections between sustainability, global and intercultural learning, civic engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion work is truly humbling,” said Samantha Brandauer, Associate Provost and Executive Director, Center for Global Study and Engagement. “The UN SDGs provide a guide to our collaborative work happening both on campus and across our external international education, sustainability and community engagement networks through workshops, presentations, and publications. Dickinson’s campus centers and offices dedicated to these critical areas are partnering to create more just inclusive and sustainable communities.” Dickinson was celebrated during the virtual Award Presentation of the 19th Annual Conference on March 15, 2023, and at the in-person event in Seattle on Friday, March 24, 2023. The Forum also congratulates the 2022 finalists: |
The recipient of the 2021 Award for Advancing the UN SDGs through Education Abroad was Penn State Global.
Penn State Global is proud to partner with academic units and the Sustainability Institute to implement curricular integration, programmatic updates, and operational changes to continue its mission of advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They incorporate the SDGs into all areas of their work, including:
The Forum also congratulates the following finalists for 2021: |
Section | Clause | Description of Evaluation Criteria | |
Guiding Principles | Mission and Goals | How well does your mission statement align with SDGs? | |
Collaboration and Transparency Between Partners | How well do you embed sustainability into your study abroad partnerships? | ||
Ethics | How do you incorporate ethical considerations such as wellbeing, education, equality, responsible consumption and production into your programming? | ||
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion | How do you address systemic biases and enhance equity, diversity and inclusion at every level: internal (students, faculty, staff) and external (partners, local communities)? | ||
Administrative Framework | Operations | How do your operational policies and practices reduce your programs’ carbon footprint on campus and abroad? | |
Program Planning and Development | How do your program designs impact student learning outcomes around SDGs and improve medium- and long-term wellbeing of local communities? | ||
Personnel | How do you engage, upskill and reward personnel on the basis of their SDG awareness and contributions? | ||
Partnerships and Collaboration | What partnerships have you developed and how do you engage with them to enhance progress towards SDGs? | ||
Community Engagement | How do you engage with local communities to promote awareness and achievement of SDGs? | ||
Student Learning and Development | Before Program | How do your programs integrate sustainability topics and sustainable practices into program design & promotions? | |
During Program | How do your programs try to understand sustainable development within the local context and include sustainability-related curricular / co-curricular activities? | ||
After Program | How do you encourage post-program reflection on sustainability issues? How do you reward, recognize and encourage students championing sustainability?
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