UNESCO Connects Arab Educators to Shape Sustainable Learning

Morocco’s contribution connected environmental learning with activities involving students, teachers and national partners, including Eco-Schools, climate education, youth journalism and teacher training.

Making sustainability part of education depends on the choices schools make, the support teachers receive and the opportunities young people have to contribute to their communities. Those concerns brought around 100 Education for Sustainable Development Network members from across the Arab region together for a UNESCO webinar on 7 September 2026, where participants shared national experiences and discussed how to turn education commitments into practical change. The gathering helped open a regional conversation about the ideas and priorities that Arab countries will bring to the 2027 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development.

What Sustainability Looks Like in Schools

Experiences from Jordan, Bahrain and Morocco gave participants concrete examples of how sustainable development can become part of teaching and school life. Jordan presented its ESD for 2030 Country Initiative, covering curricula, sustainable learning environments, teacher development, youth participation and local partnerships. Bahrain described its whole-institution approach to green education, including a Green Education Guide and work with schools, placing sustainability within the wider operation of educational institutions rather than treating it as an isolated classroom topic.

Morocco's contribution connected environmental learning with activities involving students, teachers and national partners, including Eco-Schools, climate education, youth journalism and teacher training. Efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of rural schools showed how education programmes can address the environmental impact of learning spaces themselves. Taken together, the country presentations illustrated the range of work already under way and gave participants examples to examine through regional exchanges and peer learning.

Giving Teachers and Young People a Stronger Role

The webinar was organised by UNESCO offices in Beirut, Cairo, Doha and Rabat, in coordination with the Section of Education for Sustainable Development at UNESCO Headquarters. Representatives from Member States, ministries, education authorities, universities, civil society and youth groups joined UNESCO colleagues and other ESD-Net partners to review the ESD for 2030 framework. Its scope reaches across education policy, learning environments, educator development, youth empowerment and community action, connecting education with sustainable development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

A review of the framework's mid-term evaluation brought attention to the support needed to carry this work forward, including funding, clearer coordination and stronger monitoring of results. Participants described national initiatives as frameworks that should evolve with experience, linking existing activities and bringing different organisations into shared work. Calls for better documentation and regular regional exchanges reflected a practical need to understand what programmes are achieving and make useful experiences easier for others to learn from.

Questions about the future of education extended to artificial intelligence, digital citizenship, peace education and learning in places affected by conflict and crisis. Participants highlighted youth leadership and the need for high-quality Arabic digital learning content, identifying priorities that connect sustainability education with the realities learners face. These discussions broadened the conversation beyond environmental topics to include how education supports participation, responsible choices and communities dealing with disruption.

Bringing Arab Perspectives to Nairobi

Preparations for the 2027 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development gave the regional exchange a wider purpose. Scheduled for 13–15 January 2027 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the title Learning in Action Shaping Our Future, the conference will review six years of ESD for 2030 implementation, consider emerging global challenges and explore the direction of sustainability education beyond 2030. For participants in the Arab-region webinar, the preparations offered an opportunity to connect national experience with that international discussion.

UNESCO introduced the draft Nairobi Consensus on ESD, an expected conference outcome, and invited contributions reflecting the region's experiences and priorities through a consultation open until 30 September 2026. The discussion placed particular emphasis on collaboration that reaches national authorities, educational institutions and communities, where commitments take practical form through teaching, school management and local projects. The experiences shared by Jordan, Bahrain and Morocco provided a starting point for that work, alongside calls for stronger partnerships and clearer evidence of progress.