Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs), the 14th Global RCE Conference was held in Okayama City from October 21 to 23. The conference was co-organized by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Okayama City, and RCE Okayama. Since their establishment in 2005, approximately 200 RCEs worldwide have been acknowledged by UNU-IAS, with RCE Okayama being one of the original RCEs recognized at the time of their inception.

At the conference, Okayama University convened an official session entitled “Planetary-centered Universities at the Ethical Turn — Beyond SDGs toward Human & Planetary Well-being.” The session was organized and moderated by Vice President Atsufumi Yokoi (Global Engagement), UNESCO Chairholder. It brought together globally recognized leaders at the ethical frontier of higher education, a United Nations youth representative, and a student from Okayama University for in-depth dialogue.

The session began from the shared recognition that the sustainability crisis is not merely a scientific or political issue, but fundamentally a crisis of ethics and worldview. Discussions reconsidered the mission of universities in light of the expansion of modern socio-economic systems and the role of higher education in sustaining them. Speakers emphasized the need to shift perspective from viewing humanity as separate from nature toward positioning humanity as part of the Earth system—moving from a “global” to a “planetary” framework. This transition was described as a transformation of cognition itself, requiring universities to redefine their roles as ethical ecosystems for planetary regeneration.

Okayama University will continue to accelerate its research, education, and community engagement initiatives through multi-stakeholder and intergenerational collaboration, contributing to the co-creation of a desirable future for both the region and the planet.

Speakers
・Professor Rajani Naidoo
Vice-President, University of Exeter (United Kingdom)
UNESCO Chair in Higher Education Management
・Dr. Darla K. Deardorff
Stellenbosch University (Republic of South Africa)
UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Competence
Originator of the Intercultural Competence Model
・Dr. Julie Newman
Founding Director, Office of Sustainability, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Former Founding Director, Office of Sustainability, Yale University
・Mr. Ilan Enverga
Youth Representative, SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee
Presenter of the Youth Declaration to UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the Transforming Education Summit during the 2022 session of the UN General Assembly
・Ms. Azla Nazira Tachiara
Fourth-year student, Global Discovery Program, Okayama University