The 2030 agenda for sustainable development outlines the 17 interconnected goals that seek to promote a heathy balance between people, planet and prosperity. The UWI continued to demonstrate its leadership across the SDGs by advancing this agenda. Building on its revised mandate of 2019, the Office of Global Partnerships for Sustainable Futures (OGPSF) – formerly Office of Development – integrated a ‘futures thinking perspective’ into its strategic engagement with key partners.
This OGPSF continued to build upon its solid track record for donor engagement, collaboration and resource mobilisation with a wide range of partner institutions to embed the University’s work and into the work programmes of multilateral development agencies and other development partners and to increase access to funding and collaboration opportunities.
During the period 2020/2021, the Office led a range of initiatives, at both the strategic and operational levels, which included:
Deepening Engagement in the Global 2030 Development Agenda
- Coordination of The UWI’s participation in the International Association of Universities’ (IAU) Global Cluster on Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD) and its leadership of SDG 13 (Climate Action) – The OGPSF coordinated The UWI’s leadership on SDG 13 and over the period, advancing the work plan of the Global University Consortium on SDG 13 by hosting a virtual meeting of the Global University Consortium (GUC) on SDG13 to pursue collaboration opportunities including:
- Preparing the One Ocean Expedition joint research collaboration with University of Bergen (Norway) and The UWI.
- Moderating a discussion on SDG-13 as part of the Solve Climate by 2030 initiative in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard College, organised by the regional coordinator, Universidad de Los Andes.
Source: Screenshot extracted from GUC Meeting with members on March 14, 2021
- The UWI and CDB – The Office facilitated the Vice-Chancellor’s Forum with Dr. Gene Leon, President of the CDB, to discuss the Caribbean’s Post-COVID Economy with key regional partners including the newly installed CARICOM General Secretariat, Dr. Carla Barnett, and former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Bruce Golding.
- The Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE) – The Director was part of the high level panel for The UWI Virtual Roundtable Meeting: “Towards a Centre of Excellence in Oceanography and the Blue Economy” at The UWI Five Islands Campus in April 2021, which was aimed at: articulating the key strengths relevant to oceanography and the blue economy cross-UWI, in order to inform the vision for the Centre of Excellence; identifying existing international partnerships, and priorities for future international collaborations in oceanography and the blue economy; and considering how to harness existing UWI expertise in this area.
- Signing of the MoU between the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Vice-Chancellor of The UWI to support the establishment of the COBE at the Five Island Campus in Antigua and Barbuda – The OGPSF Director co-chairs the International Steering Committee of the COBE, which aims to strengthen institutional capacity in the areas of marine science and the blue economy while ensuring that the Caribbean benefits from the societal, economic and environmental opportunities of this emerging sector.
Source: Extracted from The UWI releases virtual signing ceremony of the MoU on January 19, 2021: From Right, The Vice Chancellor of The UWI Sir Hillary Beckles and The Honourable Prime Minister Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda.
- The Global Institute of Climate Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD) – The Director co-led and facilitated the GISCRD Management Committee meetings aimed at operationalising the new institute to be a focal point for all of The UWI’s work on climate related issues. The OGPSF acts as an interim Secretariat for this Management Committee.
- Facilitated the emergence of a new area for The UWI’s thought leadership by highlighting the nexus between climate change and sport. Collaborated with the Faculty of Sport and Earthmedics to organize the 2021 Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture with the Honourable Prime Minister of Grenada as the feature speaker.
- Facilitated the strategic partnership between The UWI and the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) to collaborate on global issues affecting SIDS and contribute to shaping international environmental policy.
- Participated in the UNDP’s High-Level Political Forum side event “Unleashing the Potential of the Blue” in July 2021. This Forum remains the main platform for the UN in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The UWI-CARICOM – the Office led the UWI delegation to participate virtually in the CARICOM-UN General Meeting in July 2021. This participation led to a follow-up discussion with the Open Campus and Faculty of Food and Agriculture on an opportunity to expand the work of CARICOM through a partnership with The UWI on Climate Smart Agriculture.
- Facilitated a partnership with the University of New South Wales and the International Universities Climate Alliance.
- Maintained the SDG 13 Knowledge Management Platform to promote courses, research and advocacy of member institutions of the GUC on SDG 13. The knowledge management platform can be accessed at: https://www.universities4climateaction.org/
- Obreal Global Observatory – facilitated The UWI’s joining the Obreal Global Observatory connecting The UWI with diverse, internationally-oriented academic and research institutions, university associations and networks and individual researchers and professionals from Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Source: Screenshot extracted from OBREAL meeting held on June 22, 2021
- UNITAR – Coordinated and participated in launch of the University Network of Sustainable Development in July 2021, comprising 16 international universities across The Americas. This platform is about learning, exchanging, and partnering to be SDG learners today and SDG leaders tomorrow. The Network allows universities to be informed about other universities’ achievements on SDGs learning activities, to create partnerships among one another, as well as with UNITAR, while improving their educational system with exclusive access to official UN learning material, documentation and resources around SDGs and Sustainable Development.
- Common Earth – Coordinated and facilitated a series of dialogues with Common Earth to explore synergies with the work programme of the Global Institute for Climate-Smart and Resilient Development.
Source: Screenshot extracted from The UWI and Common Earth meeting on May 18, 2021
Strengthening Youth Participation in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
- The OGPSF provided technical oversight of the work programme of The UWI Youth Development Programme (YDP), which was integrated into OGPSF in the 2020/2021 academic year.
- The OGPSF collaborated with UWISTAT to participate in the second HEY Campaign jointly convened by UNICEF and Ashley Lashley Foundation.
- The OGPSF supported the CYEN Summit on Building the resilience of the Caribbean through effective youth engagement and participation.
Resource Mobilisation for Key Strategic Initiatives (Targeted Institutional Grants)
- UWI as a Climate-smart Leader: The OGPSF secured US$140,000 funding from Clara-Lionel Foundation to support UWI’s institutional leadership on Climate. The grant will assist with the development of a knowledge management portal and research on strengthening resilience in the Caribbean.
- The OGPSF supported the preparation of a US$1 million non-reimbursable Technical Cooperation with The UWI St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
- The Office collaborated with Universities Caribbean (UC) on the preparation of a joint funding proposal to the Kellogg Foundation in the amount US$25 million focused on Racial Equality, and participated at the UC Annual Meeting of Executives to strengthen collaboration on specific programme areas.
- The OGPSF collaborated with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda on the preparation of proposal for the Earthshot Prize to support the work of COBE.
Sustainable Market Initiative (SMI)
The OGPSF participated in meetings with the His Royal Highness (HRH) The Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) which was launched at The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2020, as a way to put nature, people and planet at the heart of global value creation. Through the SMI, HRH is building together ‘coalitions of the willing’ who share a common vision aiming to rapidly accelerate global progress towards a truly sustainable future – one that is inclusive of climate, nature (on land and below water) and a just transition. SMI members represent the world’s most influential and sustainably-minded global CEOs who actively support HRH, their industries and an action-biased agenda.
Source: Screenshot extracted from The UWI meeting with SMI team in May 7, 2021
Digital UWI
- The Office is supervising the execution of a US$200,000 grant for the technical assistance project to address inequalities in online Teaching and Learning (T&L)
- Led the negotiations with CDB for a concessional loan for US$6 million to facilitate the regional UWI digital transformation project
- Facilitated discussions with Open Society Foundation Global Education Team and The UWI Open Campus to develop a new climate education project.
Inter-American Development Bank
The Office contributed to increased Caribbean data and analysis by facilitating The UWI’s participation in a survey of universities across LAC on digital preparedness in collaboration with the IDB.
Source: Screenshot from IDB and The OGPSF meeting on July 12, 2021; initial meeting on Digital Preparedness Survey
Clinton Foundation
The UWI participated in the Clinton Global Initiative Funders Roundtable in May 2021. Following this forum, the OGPSF coordinated a series of bilateral meetings, including one between CEO of the Clinton Foundation and The UWI’s Vice-Chancellor to discuss further collaborations.
Source: Screenshot extracted from the virtual meeting with The UWI and Clinton Foundation held on June 25, 2021
Dissemination of Calls for Proposals by International Development Partners
The OGPSF continued to compile and disseminate via its website and to members of the UGSC a monthly listing of CfPs issued by international development partners and research agencies to assist departments with increased access to opportunities for funding. In 2021, the Office started a more targeted approach to identify CfPs and directly share with various centres and researchers across The UWI.
Supporting UWI Researchers and Centres
The OGPSF continued to aid various UWI researchers and centres with the preparation of key documents for maintaining and establishing new partnerships with key external partners.
Building New Partnerships and Advancing Execution of Joint Work plans With Existing Partners
Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Participated in the 5th International Cooperation Conference of The ACS: “Recalibrating Cooperation: A Key Driver for the Recovery of the Greater Caribbean", aimed at finding synergies and key strategic partnerships for possible future opportunities through the ACS.
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
The OGPSF continued to provide technical oversight of execution and reporting for CDB-funded projects including the US$200,000 project to address inequities in online learning.
Open Society Foundation (OSF)
OGPSF continued to manage the work funded from this grant.
- The Climate Resilience and Strategy Draft was delivered in August 2021 and the stakeholder review was completed in October 2021.
- Development of the Online Course has been initiated through The UWI Open Campus using FutureLearn.
- Project Support and Cluster Management Consultant recruited to support the work of GUC and GISCRD.
IAU
As part of the IAU webinars on the Future of Higher Education with “The future of higher education: Leading universities in an age of uncertainty” (January 18, 2021), the OGPSF:
- Coordinated the participation of Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, featured as a speaker.
- Represented The UWI in the Special Celebratory Webinar marking the 70th Anniversary of the International Association of Universities (IAU) and reflect on the Association’s 70 years of Higher Education collaboration at the global level ever since the historical signing of the IAU Constitution by the founding members in December 2020.
- Contributed a featured article themed “Re-defining higher education in the Caribbean for enhanced competitiveness in the post-COVID era” to the special edition of the IAU magazine to mark 70 Years of Global Higher Education Collaboration with the IAU (December 2020). The ‘In Focus’ Section highlights a series of reflections by Higher Education leaders from 16 countries.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Resilience (UNDRR)
- Coordinated and facilitated discussions with UWI researchers and UNDRR with a view to developing a work programme.
- Participated in the Advisory Board meeting in November 2021.
- Facilitated process for new grant funding of US$30,000 to DRRC in December 2021.
UNESCO
- Supported the technical support grant of US$15,000 grant from UNESCO to The UWI Quality Assurance Unit
- Participated in a dialogue series on youth related matters
EU
Participated and contributed to the 1st European Union Virtual global meeting: The Americas and the Caribbean Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) for the Americas and the Caribbean.
OAS
Participated in a regional discussion with the OAS on possible opportunities for partnership; one key area of interest is the COBE.
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
Facilitated and participated in discussions to develop a work programme in May 2021 which includes:
- Collaboration mechanism via an MoU
- Certification via a course which can be integrated within the curriculum of an existing programme at The UWI
- Course syllabus and material building on existing relationship with CERMES to develop e-learning modules as well as developing the specific syllabus for this regional pilot application of the course
- Course delivery modalities, co-teaching and coaching.
Source: Screenshot extracted from the FAO and The UWI meeting held June 17, 2021
