Paris / Tokyo, 25 March 2025 — The United Nations University (UNU) and the Learning Planet Institute (LPI) today signed an agreement to establish a United Nations University Hub on the Future of Learning with Youth. This new UNU Hub will focus on creating transformative learning experiences that inspire and empower youth to shape global peace and sustainability.
At the United Nations Summit of the Future in September 2024, UN Member States adopted the Declaration on Future Generations, recognizing the need for youth voices to be considered in national and international decision-making processes. Among the Declaration’s commitments are calls to invest in education for all and build capacity to better prepare for, and respond to, future global challenges.
However, to meet these commitments, today’s youth education systems must be retooled to confront the complexity of tomorrow. Young learners must have access to educational programmes that blend collaborative problem-solving, critical thinking and sustainability science so they can be better prepared to co-create peaceful and inclusive solutions to interconnected problems.
In December 2023, UNU and LPI signed a memorandum of understanding to build and develop research programmes and improve access to education, with the aim of meeting the challenges of sustainable development in France and throughout the world. One year later, UNU and LPI — desiring to enhance and strengthen cooperation on initiatives that empower students to tackle global sustainability challenges — have committed to a close collaboration by establishing the United Nations University Hub on the Future of Learning with Youth. This UNU Hub will develop research, education and policy programmes designed to bridge the gap between youth, member states, and national and international organizations.
The UNU Hub at LPI will closely cooperate with the UNU Institute on Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) located in Dresden, Germany.
UNU-FLORES empowers scientists, practitioners, policy and decision-makers with “Resource Nexus” thinking by advancing the multi- and interdisciplinary Resource Nexus approach and raising awareness of its benefits for resilience and issues of peace, security and sustainable development. With the Knowledge Academy for the Resource Nexus, UNU-FLORES influences policy and practice by engaging with the next generation through a wide range of educational offerings, ranging from e-learning to postgraduate programmes and capacity-building workshops.
Accordingly, this new UNU Hub will focus on three main pillars:
- Research, Development and Innovation
- Education, Training and Capacity Building
- Outreach, Advocacy and Impact
Given the rapidly growing potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance learning experiences, technology must complement and support human-centred approaches. The key will be to leverage the capabilities of AI to scale effective pedagogical methods, provide personalized learning experiences and facilitate knowledge-sharing while ensuring that human educators and learners remain at the centre of the educational process.
To support this vision, the collaborative efforts of the UNU Hub will work towards:
- Enhancing Youth Participation and Intergenerational Co-design: Develop innovative methods to engage youth in meaningful decision-making and foster collaboration across generations.
- Advancing Scalable, Human-Centred Learning: Harness AI and digital platforms to expand pedagogical approaches while preserving a focus on interdisciplinary learning and social-emotional development.
- Fostering Global Partnerships and Problem-Solving Skills: Connect educational institutions, international organizations and youth to address global sustainability challenges and promote inclusive, accessible learning opportunities.
Comments from leadership
Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, UNU Rector and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations: “Today’s youth are the leaders of tomorrow, and I am delighted that UNU is joining LPI to work with youth to co-create the way we learn and solve problems, and to ensure a sustainable future for all. There is no better partner to get started on this important issue with than LPI, with its excellent researchers and students, and its location in Paris — a world capital of research and education.”
Prof. Edelraud Günther, UNU-FLORES Director: “Through our collaboration, we aim to empower the next generation in the integrated management of resources, paving the way to a more sustainable future.”
François Taddei, Founder and President of the Learning Planet Institute: “The new United Nations University Hub Dedicated to the Future of Learning with Youth is a fantastic worldwide initiative designed to transform learning experiences into a catalyst for the systemic shifts needed to achieve global peace and sustainability. It will empower young learners to become planetary citizens, able to rise to the complex challenges we (will) face and to take care of themselves, others and the planet.”
About the Learning Planet Institute
The Learning Planet Institute explores, experiments and shares new ways of learning and cooperating that respond to the needs of youth and the planet. With its activities, the Institute creates research and educational programmes based on interdisciplinarity, diversity and initiative.
About the United Nations University
The United Nations University is an autonomous organ of the United Nations. The mission of UNU is to contribute — through collaborative research, education, capacity-building and dissemination of knowledge — to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States, particularly in the Global South.
Media Contacts
Learning Planet Institute
Isabelle Merny, isabelle.merny@learningplanetinstitute.org
United Nations University
Kiki Bowman, UNU Head of Communications, bowman@unu.edu
