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UNESCO promotes Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through the Global Action Programme (GAP), the official follow-up to the UN Decade of ESD. The Europe and North America region was the first to officially adopt a regional strategy for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), which seeks to promote a better quality of life for populations and human settlements. Learning to live in a sustainable way and securing people’s involvement and participation in community and urban life are key factors in ensuring sustainable economic, social and environmental development. It is in this context that UNESCO, the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, with its secretariat in the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in Hamburg, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, organized the regional workshop for Europe and North America on the role of cities in accelerating sustainable solutions at local level through education.

More than 50 experts and city representatives from Europe and North America participated in the regional workshop in Hamburg, Germany, from 12 to 14 December 2016. The workshop examined how education and learning beyond the formal system can be used to support the implementation of the five Ps (Planet, People, Peace, Prosperity and Partnership) of the 2030 Agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Experts shared their views on ESD, with cities providing insight into their good practices and enriching discussions on the challenges of promoting the various SDGs through education and lifelong learning at city level. These discussions helped to promote awareness on integrating ESD in their cities’ development and education agendas.