On 25 July 2025, University World News published an article on this year's Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) Global Forum, a special event of the 2025 UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) which took place in New York on the theme “Breaking Barriers in Sustainable Development Through Scientific, Inclusive, and Equitable Solutions”.
The article explores the progress of higher education sustainability. It features comments by Jonghwi Park (Academic Program Officer, UNU-IAS) on the important role that UNU, one of the co-chairs of HESI, plays in advancing higher education and sustainability.
Looking ahead, Park hopes that UNU will be able to play a longer-term, more fundamental role in influencing UN policy on higher education and sustainability. Under the UN 80 Initiative, the global body is marking its 80th birthday with a review of its mandates, structure, and efficiency. And that could include giving UNU a leading role in consolidating the UN’s research and educational initiatives, together with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
The full article is available on University World News website.
