The Tokyo-based UN think-tank, in a position fully endorsed and shared by its host government in Japan, says a greater global emphasis on education is vital if the sustainable development goals set at the last World Summit in Brazil in 1992 are to be reached.

UNU is calling, at the Summit, for a new global learning space in science and technology to be created to advance the role of educational institutions in developing countries for sustainable development. This learning space will include international academies of science, institutions of higher education and policy makers, who will work together to develop the human resources base - educators, professionals and researchers - in developing countries, which is necessary to activate and sustain the application of science and technology for sustainable development. Activities will involve curriculum development, north-south networking, strategic planning in educational planning and policy, capacity building in problem-based scientific research, and learning and other programmes.

This initiative will be led by the United Nations University, its Institute of Advanced Studies and its global network of institutions, following Johannesburg.

"Given the vital role they play in achieving progress towards sustainable development, the creation of a new global learning space on science and technology for sustainability is urgently needed," says UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel.

"A major effort to promote education in science and technology is critical to resolve the tension between growth and development, on the one hand, and conservation and environmental protection on the other," added Prof. van Ginkel. "Expanding the educational base, and in particular the scientific-technological base, is also critical for reversing the growing inequity among nations."

The UNU will call upon partners in the science and technology, policy and education communities to advance this global learning space at the Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002.

For more information and copies of the report, please contact Ms. Toshie Honda (E-mail: Honda@ias.unu.edu) or Mr. W. Bradnee Chambers (E-mail: Chambers@ias.unu.edu) at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS), Tel: +81-3-5467-2323, Fax: +81-3-5467-2324, or visit the UNU/IAS website (http://www.ias.unu.edu).

For further information, please contact the UNU Public Affairs Section: Tel.: (81 3) 5467-1243 & -1246; Fax: (81 3) 3406-7346 The mission of the UNU, as formulated by its founders over 25 years ago, is "to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States." The university also has a special mandate to alleviate the intellectual isolation of academics in developing countries by organizing worldwide networks of collaborating scholars and research institutions.