September & October in Review
Qatar Foundation UN General Assembly 2021 Forum
While there are examples of climate change education being implemented in selected countries, the impact of this effort is somewhat limited. There needs to be a more systemic approach within education to see our collective goals toward green innovation and building skills more heavily invested in. As part of the Qatar Foundation United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2021 forum, speakers explored how we can build more progressive education systems capable of empowering us to become more involved in climate action. Speakers included Buthaina Al-Nuaimi, President of Pre-University Education, Qatar Foundation; Carol O'Donnell, Director of the Smithsonian Center for Science Education; Diane Whitehead, CEO, International Children's Education; Jamil Ahmed, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP); Anna Roald, CEO of The Diplomatic Courier Network Moderator: Dominic Rijster, Program Director of the Salzburg Global Seminar. You can view the 90-minute panel discussion here, which was live-streamed and reached 6.4k+ views, received 1020 comments, and 890 likes!: The Qatar Tribune and The Peninsula also covered this story.
At the invitation of SSEC Advisory Board Member, Ana Rold - founder and publisher of Diplomatic Courier - O'Donnell authored an article in the recent publication for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) 2021. The #UNGA76 special edition features essays that bring attention to the slowdown of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the opportunity for interdisciplinary solution-making. To read the full publication, which includes O'Donnell's article, "A STEM Education Framework for Empowering Youth to Solve the Global Goals," go to: https://lnkd.in/eJMADiW4
9th World Sustainability Forum
September 2021 marks the 6th anniversary of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The pandemic has challenged our expectations for the future and has prompted a re-evaluation of the relationships between society, politics and the commercial world. In the 9th World Sustainability Forum, presenters will consider all aspects of these new and evolving relationships and their impact on sustainability. O'Donnell was invited to co-author a paper presented by Prof Martin Bascopé on September 14th "A Crucial First Step: Early Childhood STEM Education for Sustainable Futures."
Vaccines & US
On October 26th, the SSEC hosted a conversation with invited questions about vaccines, and how we talk about vaccines with young people. O’Donnell along with staff Hannah Osborn, Alexa Mogck, Katherine Blanchard, and volunteer Pam Divack participated, along with Panagis Galitsatos, MD, MHS from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and Melvenia Martin, Ph.D. from Ochsner Health Systems in New Orleans discussed the concerns they area each hearing in their own communities, how they have approached conversations about these concerns. The session featured Smithsonian’s Vaccines&US portal, and the SSEC’s Vaccines! How can we use science to help our community make decisions about vaccines? community research guide. 45 participants representing 15 states, 2 countries, and the District of Columbia attended live, with another 106 registrants receiving the webinar recording. The potential indirect impact is 750,000+ students. A recording of the session can be found here: https://youtu.be/4OzpirCbNz0
Images courtesy Qatar Foundation United Nations General Assembly & SSEC
