
The 2026 Higher Education Summit will explore how Education for Sustainable Development can empower learners to navigate complexity, embrace diversity, and drive meaningful change toward a just and sustainable future. The conference will bring together an international audience of students, educators
and changemakers providing a unique opportunity for dialogue and collaboration.
TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
Educationfor Sustainable Development (ESD) redefines how we learn, think, and act in a rapidly changing world. Grounded in the transformative learning paradigm, it cultivates empathy, critical reflection, and collective agency – skills essential for navigating complexity and driving meaningful change toward a just and sustainable future.
Informed by UNESCO’s 2030 Roadmap and the Berlin Declaration, the summit offers the opportunity to exchange ideas, embrace diversity, and explore how education itself can become an agent of transformation.
FROM CLIMATE EMOTIONS TO DECOLONIAL TRANSFORMATION
The conference explores how universities can foster climate-emotion literacy, turn eco-anxiety into engagement, and strengthen communities of care. At the same time, it challenges Eurocentric narratives, advancing decolonial and inclusive approaches that recognise diverse worldviews and local wisdoms. Transformative ESD calls for rethinking curricula, values, and success criteria – linking inner growth to societal renewal.
Participants will co-create pathways for education that not only respond to planetary crises but also cultivate resilience, solidarity, and a genuine sense of shared responsibility for our common future.

CONFERENCE TOPICS –
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
We invite you to co-create the programme with us and submit your ideas ⭢ Call for Contributions. The conference will focus on five main topics:
- ESD in less industrialised contexts where adaptation is central
- Intercultural issues in transformative ESD
- The role of universities in "leaving no one behind"
- Climate emotions in transformative ESD: From Eco‑Distress to Collective Agency
- Decolonising ESD
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
26-28 AUGUST 2026
The 2026 Higher Education Summit is organised by the COPERNICUS Alliance, the UNESCO Chair in Training of Sustainable DevelopmentProfessionals at the University Bordeaux Montaigne, the UNESCO Chair in Responsible Global Management at Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Network of Association for Developmentand International Solidarity (RADSI-NA), and Students Organizing for Sustainability International (more partners to be confirmed!).
The conference will take place from 26-28 August 2026 in Bordeaux, France. It provides a unique opportunity to foster dialogue and collaboration. It brings together an international audience of students, educators and changemakers in the field of transformative learning for sustainable development within higher education.

ORGANISERS & CONTACT
The 2026 HIGHER EDUCATION SUMMIT is organised by the COPERNICUS Alliance, the UNESCO Chair in Training of Sustainable Development Professionals at the University Bordeaux Montaigne, the UNESCO Chair in Responsible Global Management at Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Network of Association for Development and International Solidarity (RADSI-NA), and Students Organizing for Sustainability International.
If you have any questions, please contact:

