APSCC participated in the World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSDU 2012) — a parallel event to the Rio+20 conference — presenting on sustainability literacy in universities and the pivotal role of higher education in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
A symposium at a historic crossroads
The World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities convened as a parallel event to Rio+20 — the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The timing was symbolic: 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the meeting that first placed the environment on the global political agenda, and the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Against this backdrop, the symposium offered a platform to review the progress made in the two decades since the Earth Summit, and to critically assess the trajectory of the world's sustainable development ambitions — the agenda that would later crystallise into the Sustainable Development Goals.
APSCC's contribution: sustainability literacy in universities
APSCC's contribution focused on sustainability literacy in universities — the case for embedding sustainability across curricula rather than treating it as an isolated subject. The presentation argued that higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to shape the values, knowledge and behaviours needed for a sustainable future, and that integrating sustainability into teaching and learning is essential to achieving the SDGs.
Central to APSCC's message was the importance of collaborative action: partnerships and networks operating at the grassroots level, connecting universities with the communities around them. APSCC's conviction is that education combined with genuine community engagement is what turns intention into meaningful, lasting sustainable change.
Universities are not bystanders to the sustainable development agenda — they are its teachers, its researchers, and its most powerful engines of change.
Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals
APSCC's work at the symposium speaks directly to the goals that place education, climate action and partnership at the centre of sustainable development.
