Background 

York University is hosting the 2nd edition of the Sustainable on the Go (SOTG 2022), co-organized by York International, the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, and international partners on 17th November 2022 during the International Education Week.  

The SOTG 2022 will engage new voices, partners and stakeholders with a focus on Youth in creative dialogue formats to further enrich the discussion on sustainable and inclusive internationalization in higher education.  

The SOTG 2022 will feature inclusive, innovative, and interactive formats and facilitate participation of international education stakeholders from most time zones and world regions following our joint commitment to the Toronto Declaration in 2021.  

 

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Objectives  

1. Discussing COVID-19's impact on sustainable and inclusive internationalization: What have we learned? What would we like to continue and move forward post COVID-19? What would we like to leave behind?
2. Contributing to the future vision of sustainable and inclusive internationalization and mobility, informed by the cross-cutting issues of gender, education for sustainable development, and inclusivity.
3. Providing a platform for dialogue on the role of ethical internationalization in higher education for the entirety of the SDGs including the sharing of innovative programs and practices in global learning. 
4. Including different speakers and audiences with a focus on Youth (Youth Engagement Program), especially historically underrepresented stakeholders by facilitating their participation and highlighting their contributions towards the future of internationalization in higher education. 
5. Sharing experiences from implementing the commitments of the Toronto Declaration. 

 

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Conference themes 

The SOTG 2022 will focus on three themes, while gender, education for sustainable development, and inclusivity, are considered cross-cutting pillars in all conversations. 

1. Sustainable and inclusive global learning fostering diversity and equity in internationalization: How can universities ensure that all students, regardless of their socio-economic or cultural background, are empowered and supported to participate in international education and global learning opportunities? Acknowledging that racism and other forms of discrimination are present in higher education and represent crucial sustainability challenges, what are universities doing to create better systems and to provide equitable opportunity? 
2. Connecting the local and global classrooms: While the pandemic virtually connected many of us, local teaching and learning is often not yet put into a global context and vice versa. How can we include the broad range of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) pedagogical strategies in meaningful ways to create ongoing reflection of what our local experience means in a broader understanding? How can we embed an even stronger sustainability focus into specific concepts, such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and Globally Network Learning (GNL), when in-person opportunities return to campuses?  What are new or innovative forms of pedagogy in different regions to specifically address diversity, equity and other sustainability themes? How have assessment models and practices evolved during the pandemic?
3. Local and global community engagement: What are the roles and responsibilities of students or alumni of higher education in their local communities? How do we empower and prepare students for continued community and global engagement post-graduation? What skills do students need to navigate a post-pandemic job market? How effective has virtual community involvement proven to be during COVID-19? What lessons have we learned and what needs to change?  

 

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Interested? Who can get involved?  

York University and their partners are looking for contributors in any of the following roles: 

 

• Students, academics and practitioners: presentations/ contributions that can be shared in various formats at the conference, including pre-recorded poster presentations or side events. 
• Moderators and facilitators: who are interested to lead and guide theme-based virtual discussions during the conference based on their expertise and interest. 
• Artists: storytellers, influencers, poets, writers, painters, musicians, performers, singers, to interpret and translate conference themes and SDGs into artistic expressions and creative contributions to share with the attendees and the wider public post-conference. 

 

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How to apply? 

Share your story or intention (max. 1 page), a short resume, or a glimpse of your art (e.g., you can add live links to portfolio and/or project websites) in an appropriate format. As we are looking for various ways of bringing innovative learning, connections between local and global ideas and student community engagement into the classroom, there is no fixed format for sharing your insight. Application questions and criteria can be found here. 

 

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Conference contact 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mario Guerrero (he/him), Project Officer, York International, via email: sotg@yorku.ca.  

Find out more about the Sustainable on the Go Virtual Conference.