Let's Talk Human Rights

By Shelley Inglis

The Human Rights Center represented University of Dayton at the Geneva Trialogue: Scaling Education for the SDGs on January 21, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Geneva Trialogue took place on the margins of Davos. It inspired a round-table discussion at the Davos WEF on Collaboration for Education that took place at the Sustainable Impact Hub, organized by Elisabeth Pfund at Gluonnet. The Rector of University of Geneva, Yves Flückiger, also spoke about the Geneva Trialogue in the context of another round-table on Partnerships. 

Here are some key takeaways from the experience:

The event was designed to celebrate the collaboration of University of Geneva with the Chinese University, Tsinghua and their joint SDG Initiative. They have created together a Masters Program focused on sustainable development across the two universities and are seeking additional collaborator Universities to make a network of hubs.  The deadline for candidates to apply for the SDG Dual Degree Master Programme between University of Geneva and Tsinghua University is February 28, 2019. 

The Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Dr Joanna Newman, gave a keynote address about the network’s effort to help deliver on the SDGs. The President of George Mason, Angel Cabrera was also there representing the work related to the Declaration on University Global Engagement, which the University of Dayton has signed.

The event highlighted that many business/management schools seem to be at the forefront of efforts on the SDGs. Those present included Rotterdam School of Management, ERASMUS University in Holland, KEDGE Business School in France, and Case Western’s Weatherhead School of Management from Ohio. Key resources have emerged from these schools including:

• AIM2Flourishwhich claims to be the world’s first higher-education curriculum for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and "Business as an Agent of World Benefit" - our words for positive and profitable business. Using the UN SDGs as their lens, students research and identify an innovation and interview a business leader about it. Their stories live on the AIM2Flourish.com platform as sources of inspiration for others. In addition, Aim2Flourish is engaging with Sustainable Cleveland  regionally to promote and engage businesses with the SDGs in North-Eastern Ohio. 

• Sulitest,created by Jean-Christophe Carteron, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility – Kedge, President – Sulitest and Senior Advisor of the network- HESI. The test focuses on supporting "Sustainability Literacy", which is the knowledge, skills and mindsets that allow individuals to become deeply committed to build a sustainable future and that help them to make informed and effective decisions to this end.

The upcoming High-level political forum at the UN (July 9-18), Empowering People and Ensuring Includisveness and Equality covering Goal 4, as well as 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17 are in focus, will be an important event. Goal 4 on inclusive and equitable quality education includes specific targets relevant for higher education facilities. Human rights norms are profoundly linked to this theme. Goals 10 focuses on addressing inequality between and within countries, and Goal 16 on peace, justice and responsive institutions requires progress towards realization of many civil and political rights. 

If you are an undergraduate student at UD with interest in technology, open data and crowdsourcing, and want to get involved in education for the SDGs, register for the Open Seventeen Challenge on "Scaling Education for the SDGs". Deadline is February 10, 2019. 

Shelley Inglis is the executive director of the Human Rights Center and a professor of human rights and law at the University of Dayton.

Photo Credit: © 2019 University of Geneva (UNIGE). Geneva Trialogue