On August 16, 2019, public and educational organization representatives met at “Online Education in the field of Sustainable development of Civil Society”. The event was organized by the VUM online team and Klaudia Shevelyuk, National Advisor to the United Nations Development Program on Online Education for Sustainable Development. Our project coordinator Ostap Stasiv took part in the project as a partner and expert in the field of online education for civil society activists.
This UNDP project aims to improve access to Sustainable Development Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (CSDs) in Ukraine. It aims to increase the awareness of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and to implement it at national, regional and local levels as well. The project is funded by GIZ. It enforces the development of educational online products for three target audiences – small and medium-sized businesses, community activists and government officials. The regional training will be also a part of the educational program. They will support and enhance the skills of these target audiences offline.
During the meeting, representatives of NGOs and educational institutions identified the main challenges for Ukraine:
- irresponsible production and unconscious consumption,
- low public awareness of the nature and importance of CSDs,
- low awareness of our citizens’
During the meeting, participants worked in groups to create prototypes of three online course blocks for the public sector in three main aspects: the biosphere, the economy, and society. The participants had shared their experiences of running own sustainable projects. All the work and suggestions will be taken into account in the next project phases.
The first distance learning course “Sustainable Development: A New Philosophy of Thinking” was created on the VUM online platform and it is recommended by the experts of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine for all the interested. This course clarifies the basic concepts in the field of sustainable development and helps to understand the responsibility of each person in the consequences of our lives. A new project of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine and Open University of Maidan aims to broaden the understanding and offer practical ways of achieving CSDs – from the small community to the whole country.
Representatives of public and educational organizations. The beginning of the meeting. Discussion of current topics.
Claudia Shevelyuk, National Advisor to UNDP on Online Education for Sustainable Development
