Chair's Profile
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Impact
Drawing lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, we find ourselves in a landscape where smart cities and digital culture converge to create more inclusive, accessible, and participatory urban environments. The Chair’s principal vision is to contribute to the creation of a positive change in the lives of citizens. The challenge doesn't primarily reside in implementing technological infrastructure but rather in shifting the mindset of citizens. Motivation is crucial for convincing people, and as such, the Chair aims to exert a substantial influence on an inter-national scale. The planned actions will monitor the effectiveness of the Chair’s outcomes, as well as their benefits in Higher Education. The added value of the Chair lies in its uniqueness since there is no Chair with a similar theme in Greece and less than 10%* of the Chairs worldwide are related to its theme. [*Based on the study of the data officially announced by Unesco in the LIST Of UNESCO Chairs for the year 2022] |
Chair’s focus to the SDG’s |UN Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030.
The Chair aspires to make a meaningful contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 “Quality Education”, 5 “Gender Equality”, 9 "Industry Innovation and Infrastructure", 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, 13 “Climate Action” and 17 “Partnerships for the Goals” through its endeavors.
The Chair aspires to make a meaningful contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 “Quality Education”, 5 “Gender Equality”, 9 "Industry Innovation and Infrastructure" and 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, 13 “Climate Action”, 17 “Partnership for the Goals” through its endeavors.
The Chair’s activities and initiatives are also aligned with the values of UNESCO as well as the UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy 2022-2029 (41 C/4). (Strategic Objective 1 | Outcome 1, Strategic Objective 2 | Outcome 4, Strategic Objective 4 | Outcome 8.)
Preliminary thoughts | CCiM UCRT-C | Educational Activity x ASPnet 2024-2025
DIMENSION (S) of people centered smart-creative cities: e.g. Environment
SUBDIMENSION(S): e.g. Culture and Climate Change (https://www.unesco.org/en/climate change/culture)
SDGs Key Targets
In an era of rapid environmental change, safeguarding cultural heritage has become a pressing issue, especially as the impacts of climate change increasingly threaten archaeological sites. This educational program aims to inspire students to appreciate and protect their cultural heritage while raising awareness of the broader goals of sustainable development.
- By aligning with multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this initiative encourages students to understand the significance of cultural preservation within the context of sustainability, emphasizing responsible environmental stewardship and resilience.
Long-term Goals of the Program and Relevant SDGs:
- Promote Quality Education and Awareness on Sustainability (SDG 4)
This program primarily aims to foster a deep understanding of sustainable development and cultural heritage among young students. Through activities that highlight the historical importance of monuments and their vulnerability to climate change, students will gain insights into why heritage protection is critical for sustainable development. This aligns with SDG 4.7, which emphasizes the importance of providing all learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development, including global citizenship, cultural diversity, and sustainability education (UN, 2023). By emphasizing cultural appreciation and global citizenship, the program strengthens students’ connections to their cultural heritage, helping them view heritage preservation as essential to global sustainability (UNESCO, 2021).
- Encourage Action for Climate (SDG 13)
As natural disasters and changing weather patterns increasingly threaten cultural heritage sites, it is vital to teach students about the impacts of climate change on cultural monuments. This program aligns with SDG 13.1 and 13.3, which focus on improving resilience, adaptive capacity, and awareness around climate-related hazards (UNEP, 2019).
- Support Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11)
The preservation of cultural heritage is crucial for sustaining the identity and integrity of cities and communities. SDG 11.4 calls for strengthened efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage, recognizing it as a pillar of urban sustainability (Rodwell, 2018). Within this program, students will explore how archaeological sites contribute to community identity and continuity. By designing hypothetical “sustainable cities” that integrate heritage protection, students will understand how the past informs urban development and how preserving heritage promotes a sense of belonging and continuity.
By integrating these SDG goals, the program provides a structured approach to cultural heritage and environmental preservation, helping students see themselves as stewards of both their cultural and natural environments. With a long-term vision, this educational initiative aims to create a generation that values sustainability and cultural heritage preservation, ready to take proactive steps in protecting these irreplaceable cultural assets for the future.
Indicative References
United Nations. (2023). The 17 Goals - Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/goals
UNESCO. (2021). World Heritage and Sustainable Development. Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/sustainabledevelopment/
UN Environment Programme (UNEP). (2019). Global Environmental Outlook 6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People. Cambridge University Press.
Rodwell, D. (2018). The Historic Urban Landscape and the Geography of Urban Heritage. The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice, 9(3–4), 180–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/17567505.2018.1517140
Professor Dimitrios D. Vergados during the 30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris |November 2022
