"The International Symposium on the “Role of Higher Education for Sustainable Development in Africa” to be held at UNU Headquarters on 13 October and this UNU Seminar with a similar title of “Higher Education for Sustainable Development in Africa,” together form an international forum for reporting and sharing the results of UNU’s 3-year project on Education for Sustainable Development in Africa (ESDA) as well as discussing the way forward.

The purpose of this UNU Seminar is to examine collectively and in greater detail the substantive contents of the graduate education programmes developed by the ESDA Project. The seminar starts by juxtaposing the university leadership’s view of graduate education for sustainable development in Africa and those of African students undergoing or having undergone such education. It then takes up various approaches and issues for organizing higher education for sustainable development in Africa, and then concludes with an examination of different conceptions of international cooperation in this area. The topics and ideas covered in their entirety highlight the uniqueness of the intellectual output generated by the ESDA Project.

This seminar may best be characterized as an academic exercise surrounding higher education for sustainable development in Africa, designed especially for researchers, teaching faculty and students. It will be conducted in English with no translation.