At the end of August, we were invited to participate and contribute to the Copernicus Alliance Higher Education Summit (HES 2026), hosted by Bordeaux Montaigne University, France.
SOS International are student organization members of the Copernicus Alliance, European Network on Higher Education for Sustainable Development and have built and active collaboration with the CA leadership team in recent years to maintain active dialogue and synergy across our respective networks.
Under the theme, 'unleashing transformative and decolonised education for sustainability in a globalised world', the HES 2026 provided an active, 3-day program of keynote, panel and parallel sessions, including significant student engagement from oikos international chapters and Copernicus Alliance member institutions.
The city of Bordeaux had been on the front line of Europe’s extreme heat of summer 2026, and whilst the extensive anthropogenic (wild) fires that had ravaged the Garonne had thankfully been extinguished, the impacts of the sustained heat, with many days near to or in excess of 40C were clearly evident in the bone-dry soils and parched grasslands. We came together at ever-turbulent times for social-economic structures that are intrinsically connected to assumed stability in the fundamental Earth systems upon which they have been constructed. With the Earth on the precipice of multiple tipping points, the role of transformative education in helping us collectively navigate this volatility is more important than ever.
The pedagogical paradigm, often known as Education for Sustainability (EfS),Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) among other titles, is not however immune to critical thinking. Before we design or act, we must reflect upon the lens through which we are viewing the planet, and the complex constructs with which we intend to engage. This subconscious bias, inherited during our lifelong epistemological journey, is an important point of self-critique. The narrative and diverse contributions to the HES 2026 elevated and celebrated the importance of these personal and collective reflections.
We look forward to continued collaboration with Copernicus Alliance and it's membership and hope this will lead to future opportunities for the SOS and Copernicus Alliance to
With thanks to Copernicus Alliance Leadership team Elisabeth Hofmann, Mario Diethart, Antje Disterheft and Michael Yang.
Photo credits: Michael Yang.
