Over 70 delegates will journey to the UK to agree a complete capability constructing programme that may assist obtain the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Growth Targets (SDGs).
GEDU’s managing director for exterior relations and sustainability, Kevin McCole, can be the director of UNITAR’s London Centre, one among 33 Centres, spanning each continent.
The mission of those Centres is to ship coaching and capability constructing throughout the SDGs.
The PIE Information sat down with Kevin McCole to grasp the work of the UNITAR community, GEDU’s specific priorities, and what can be achieved within the coming days in London.
Kevin, this seems like a essential week for you and your colleagues. Are you able to inform us what’s going to occur and why it issues?
It is a crucial week. It’s thrilling too. It’s not day by day {that a} UK training enterprise hosts a delegation led by an assistant UN secretary normal and consists of different senior UN officers, in addition to enterprise, tutorial and municipal leaders from all over the world. It’s a very world gathering.
UNITAR and its community come collectively every year, and a part of the programme in London can be inner – we’ll share greatest observe, determine areas for collaboration in 2026, think about how UN 2.0 and the Pact for the Future will form the UN’s improvement agenda past 2030, agree formidable targets and the right way to obtain them.
We’ve additionally acquired vital exterior engagement too, together with with representatives of the UK authorities, parliamentarians and companies.
Whereas we’re discussing world challenges, it’s vital to deal with the native too. So we can be internet hosting the delegation on the International Banking Faculty campus in Greenford the place we’ll have interaction native politicians and council officers.
What position do universities play within the UNITAR community?
Of the 33 Centres internationally, most are led by universities. In London subsequent week there can be senior figures from York College in Canada, Newcastle College in Australia, and extra from all continents in between.
GEDU’s contribution to UNITAR is world too – it’s not restricted to London. With 13 establishments throughout 15 nations – from Toronto and Tampa within the Americas, throughout Europe and the Center East and India, to Brisbane in Asia-Pacific – we’re in a position to carry a world perspective and have a world affect.
Universities can assist obtain the SDGs in a variety of how. By way of their curricula and extra-curricula exercise. Let’s take simply three examples from GEDU establishments.
MLA Faculty not too long ago launched 17 byte sized programs – one on each SDG – in partnership with UNITAR.
Shiller Worldwide College, with campuses in Heidelberg, Paris, Madrid and Tampa provide the Seeds of Peace Scholarship to assist college students from conflict-affected areas.
And ICN Enterprise Faculty, a triple accredited inventive enterprise faculty with campuses in Paris, Berlin and Nancy, is an energetic member of the United Nations International Compact, the Rules for Accountable Administration Schooling initiative, the Collectif pour l’Intégration de la Responsabilité Sociétale et du Développement Sturdy dans l’Enseignement Supérieur (CIRSES), and the Conférence des Grandes Écoles community on sustainable improvement
After all, universities can’t reach isolation. That’s why UNITAR’s normal method, and the particular programme in London, contain nationwide and native governments, parliamentarians, companies, and civil society. All of us have to work collectively.
We hear about sustainability rather a lot, but it surely’s extra than simply environmental, isn’t it?
Sure, from the UN and UNITAR perspective we have a look at all 17 of the sustainable improvement objectives.
Many are environmental, for instance local weather motion, life on land, life beneath water, and inexpensive and clear power. However the SDGs additionally embrace peace, justice and powerful establishments, decreased inequalities and eliminating poverty and starvation.
So now we have a broad and vital agenda in London subsequent week.
It’s additionally vital to say that the UNITAR programme is giving us at GEDU the chance to think about the contribution we are able to make collectively and as particular person establishments.
As an example, how can we greatest deploy our time and experience to work in partnership with governments, companies and NGOs all over the world?
We perceive GEDU can be making an announcement as effectively?
That’s right. We’re going to launch our inaugural GEDU sustainability report at an occasion within the Home of Commons.
The report will element the work being carried out by all our establishments to deal with the entire SDGs, together with within the SDG that they’ve adopted and lead on for GEDU. It’s going to additionally define our ambitions for 2026 and past.
I’ve to say, getting ready this report has been an actual eye opener for me – I hadn’t realised simply how a lot our establishments are doing that aligns to the SDGs. And it’s been actually encouraging to study that all of them have ambition to contribute much more.
In regards to the writer: Kevin McCole is GEDU managing director, exterior relations and sustainability. Kevin, who has a ardour for training and worldwide partnerships, joined GEDU International Schooling in March 2025 and leads the group’s exterior relations, public relations and sustainability actions. Earlier than becoming a member of GEDU International Schooling, Kevin spent 16 years as managing director of the UK India Enterprise Council, the place he labored intently with governments and organisations in each nations on the UK-India FTA and, extra broadly, to carry UK buyers to India and strengthen the enterprise, training and people-to-people hyperlinks between India and the UK. Previous to this, Kevin spent 19 years within the UK’s diplomatic service, the place he served in The Netherlands, Malta, Romania, India, and in varied London postings. In India, Kevin spent three years on the British Deputy Excessive Fee in Kolkata serving to strengthen the UK’s partnership with East and North East India.
