Kenya Green Universities Network Launched to Promote Sustainability Practices in Higher Education Institutions

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On 5 February 2016, more than 160 participants from Kenyan higher education institutions attended the launch Kenya Green University Network (KGUN), which is aimed at including environmental and sustainability practices into the curricula, campus designs and research projects of Kenyan universities.

The KGUN is a joint initiative of the Commission of University Education (CUE), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Speaking at the launch of the KGUN, Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, said that Kenya is seeing fast progress in higher education.

"Many Kenyan universities have already recognized sustainability demands and have responded in ways that are worth sharing. They are investing in greener campuses, greener curricula, and ways of engaging staff, students and community," said Mr. Steiner.

The network marks the beginning of long-term cooperation between 70 universities in Kenya that will address sustainability issues through the adoption of low-carbon strategies, mainstreaming environmental sustainability across the curriculum, and engaging with community and other stakeholders at various levels.

The National Environment Management Authority, through its Director General Prof. Geoffrey Wahungu, expressed its commitment to continuously work with universities, through various initiatives including this network to harness synergy and mobilize resources for capacity building to enhance environmental sustainability.

Following the historic adoption of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change last year, KGUN will provide a platform for Kenyan higher education institutions to play their part in these global processes. The universities that comprise the network will serve as hubs for innovation and knowledge sharing of best practices in Kenya.

KGUN will also support the implementation of the African Environmental Education and Training Action Plan 2015 2025 adopted by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in March last year in Cairo.

UNEP supports KGUN as part of its broader work on environmental education, including the Global Universities Partnerships on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES), which has close to 800 partner universities around the world, as well as the Tunza initiative, which focuses on youth.

For more information check: http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/KGUN.asp

For more information, please contact:

Mohamed Atani, UNEP Regional Office for Africa, on +254 20 7624235, mohamed.atani@unep.org or Waiganjo Njoroge at +254 20 762 5261, unepnewsdesk@unep.org