On 27 February, 2013, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Tongji University reviewed the ten years’  partnership as the demonstrative case of partnership between UNEP and universities.

From the establishment of UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) in 2002 to the Board Meeting of IESD held last year, UNEP and Tongji has been in sound cooperation for ten years.

During the 27th session of UNEP Governing Council, UNEP and Tongji University, signed the Agreement of Translation and Publication between United Nations Environment Programme and Tongji University, which authorizes Tongji to translate and publish influential UNEP publications, including UNEP Year Book, UNEP Annual Report, and Our Planet and so forth. Since the year 2012, IESD started to undertake the English-Chinese translation and publication of UNEP Year Book and Our Planet, which greatly disseminate sustainable development concepts, especially in Chinese spoken areas.

In the Brown Bag Meeting, Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, the Chief of Environmental Education and Training, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, UNEP, commented, “Universities play key roles in the education of policy-makers in the next generation and the construction of efficient policy implementation capability. Tongji University cooperates with UNEP on four pillars, education, training, research and outreach. This cooperation model can be  served as a model for partnership between UNEP and universities.”

Prof. Li Fengting, the Vice Dean of IESD, introduced the five-year plan and ten-year blueprint on the basis of historical review. He also explained the aim to build Tongji into a sustainability-oriented university and explored the opportunity to further cooperation with UNEP through possible activities in 2013, including photographyexhibition in the Global South-South Development Expo, the compilation and publication of Green Economy text book, and the cooperation with United Nations Office at Nairobi on interpreter training, etc.

Tongji determines to deepen researches on the seven priorities of UNEP and build the institute into an important platform integrated with the function of environmental policy-making and negotiations. Prof. Li said, “The priorities of IESD’s work also  includebuilding the key lab of climate change with cooperation with China Meteorological Administration, mainstreaming environment and sustainable development concept in higher education through the network of GUPES, establishing inter-disciplinary professorship to build international research teams and facilitate sustainable development education reform.”

In the last ten years, IESD played a significant role  in capacity building and China-African cooperation.

The Global University Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES) initiated by UNEP was officially launched in Tongji University in 2012 and established the Secretariat in IESD. Prof. Wu Jiang, the President of Tongji University and Dean of IESD was elected as the Chair for GUPES.. IESD endeavors to mainstream environment and sustainable development theory and practice in higher education with GUPES as the main platform.

Since 2010, IESD holds the annual International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainability, which attracted more than 600 international students to attend.

Cooperating with UNEP, IESD undertakes several research projects, including Technology Development and Demonstration of Safe Water Supply in Typical African Countries and Eco-Chongming Island Project and so on.

For more information of the Global University Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES): http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/gupes.asp

To download Chinese version of Green Economy: http://www.unep.org/publications/contents/GER_chinese.asp

To download Chinese version of UNEP Year Book 2012:

http://www.unep.org/pdf/UNEP2012_ch/2012UNEP_annual_Chinese.pdf

 To download Chinese version of Our Planet:

http://www.unep.org/pdf/rio20_ch.pdf