The University of Liège is launching a training course on sustainable development. Aimed at new students enrolled in BAC1, all courses combined. This original and cross-disciplinary training course, set up in collaboration with the Foundation for Future Generations, aims to raise awareness and train young people in one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
T
he global challenges of the 21st century call for action by all generations. In 2015, in response to this historic responsibility, the United Nations defined the Global Agenda, a collective global project to find the path to sustainable development by 2030. This unique framework is broken down into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDOs), which cover the global problems on which the survival of humanity depends.
Universities play a central role in this ambitious programme, in particular by enabling actors in society to acquire the skills needed to meet these challenges. As part of this approach, the University of Liège is launching a unique, cross-disciplinary training course on sustainable development, offered to all students enrolled in a BAC1. The aim of this course is to train citizens capable of understanding the complexity of our world, of collaborating and acting constructively and responsibly in favour of positive change. Participation in this course, which is voluntary, is equivalent to one ECTS credit (30 hours of learning) "bonus" for which students will receive a certificate.
A three-hour introductory session will first be given by facilitators from the Fondation des Générations Futures, the Green Office and doctoral students from ULiège. This session will take place in groups (max 250 participants), virtually via the e-campus and collaborative platform. On the programme: raising awareness of the diversity of SDOs and their interactions, first use of a 360° analysis key through an active pedagogical approach and identification by each student of at least three points for further study. Different dates are proposed.
Students will then be invited to participate, during the academic year, in three "ULiège Sustainable Development" events - organised by members of the ULiège community (including learned societies, Eclosio, the Green Office, ...) - to explore the chosen themes in greater depth.
At the end of the course, students will receive a certificate of attendance. If they wish, a personal reflection in the form of a portfolio can be written.
Wishing to underline its commitment to sustainable development, the University of Liège, as part of the creation of this course, is committed to offering a tree to each new student enrolled in BAC1. Trees that will not be planted on the Campus du Sart Tilman, which already has an exceptional and preserved forest, but in the Luki reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This reserve was chosen by the Green Office students together with experts from the Forest is Life research group (TERRA research unit). Professors Jean-Louis Doucet, Baudouin Michel and Cédric Vermeulen from the Faculty of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech will lead this vast project to plant an exceptional forest of 4,000 trees in the DRC, which should start at the end of November, beginning of December this year.
Founded in 1998, the Foundation for Future Generations is the only Belgian foundation dedicated exclusively to the transition of our society towards a sustainable development model. A public utility foundation, it is pluralist, independent and active in the three regions of the country. As a platform for transformative philanthropy, it is active in promoting research and graduation work, facilitating dialogue on "our common future" through the creation of new spaces for deliberation and enabling its partners, patrons and donors to invest in future generations.
Veiller à ce que tous puissent suivre une éducation de qualité dans des conditions d’équité et promouvoir les possibilités d’apprentissage tout au long de la vie Le quatrième objectif vise à garantir l’accès à tous et toutes à une éducation équitable, gratuite et de qualité à travers toutes les étapes de la vie, en éliminant notamment les disparités entre les sexes et les revenus. Il met également l’accent sur l’acquisition de compétences fondamentales et de niveau supérieur pour vivre dans une société durable.
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