Multi-stakeholder Participation and Networking as MoI for SDG 4-Education 2030: The case of the Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD

This paper argues that the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) can serve as a means of implementation (MoI) of the Sustainable Development Goal on education (SDG4), the Education 2030 Agenda and Framework for Action, the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD, and the Programme on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education (SLE) of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production through multi-stakeholder participation and networking. It can also serve as a bridge between national education policy formulation and grassroots practice. First, the paper discusses the theoretical basis of MoIs for the SDGs, especially the MoIs relevant to education. Next, based on the results of country cases in the Asia Pacific region, the paper provides some background (practice) features of the RCEs. It showcases the RCE as a local networking platform for multi-stakeholder implementation of quality education for sustainable development that potentially has a global reach, and additionally has cross-cutting links with the disaster risk reduction, climate change and biodiversity themes. Some RCE implementation approaches that can be important vehicles for implementing SDG4 and the other international education initiatives include: 1) its ability to operate under different governing systems (due to affiliation to various entities); 2) use of its several identified practice models and vibrant and extensive networking to identify effective educational practices and disseminate them through these networks at the local, national and regional levels; 3) its multi-level engagement with decision makers and participation in sustainability policy processes; and 4) its research potential: acting as a social learning experiment that facilitates progressive learning evaluation /assessment.