PENANG, 23 May 2018 – The Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE-ESD), also known as RCE Penang@USM recently held a roundtable discussion to reaffirm and strategise the network in planning ahead for the future.

RCE Penang@USM is located within the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) campus grounds in Penang, Malaysia and is one of the first seven pioneering RCEs launched in Nagoya, Japan in 2005.

The discussion held was related to the Regional Sejahtera ESD Network, or RSEN which is under RCE Penang. The network comprises of educational institutions, government agencies, companies/industries, NGOs and media stakeholders; from around Penang and the neighbouring states and having a shared interest in matters pertaining to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and sustainability.

RCE Penang is the host for the RSEN secretariat, and is responsible in engaging its members and coordinating activities of the network. It provides opportunities to share and exchange information and best practices in ESD, to jointly bid for ESD projects, to promote collaborative efforts, assisting teachers and school administrators in ESD-related programmes, providing ESD volunteering opportunities to students and the young generation as well as to jointly develop the Kelab Sejahtera initiative in primary and secondary schools.

At present, RSEN has close to 60 members from departments within USM, government agencies, schools (elementary, primary and secondary) and NGOs. Among the government agencies are MPSP (Seberang Perai Municipal Council), UNESCO-IHP and SEAMEO-RECSAM, while the NGOs include WWF-Malaysia, Water Watch Penang and the Astronomical Society of Penang.

The discussion was attended by close to 20 members of the network. The Director of RCE Penang, Professor Dr. Munirah Ghazali, along with the RCE staff and fellows coming from various disciplines were on hand to facilitate the sessions.

RCE Penang@USM belongs to a United Nations-recognised network of more than 100 RCEs worldwide. The Global RCE Secretariat is based at the United Nations University Institute for the Advancement of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) in Tokyo, Japan. The network provides sharing of global opportunities with regard to local knowledge, expertise and best practices which can be adapted and applied in other regions.

Text & Photos: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin