The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), in New Delhi, India was established with the support of the Government of India and is an integral part of UNESCO. It is the first and only category 1 Research Institute in Asia Pacific and focuses on achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 towards education to foster peaceful and sustainable societies. In this, the Institute is guided by its vision of ‘transforming education for humanity’.

In 2009, the UNESCO General Conference decided to set up an institute focused on education for peace and sustainable development in the vast and rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region. In 2012, the former Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova and The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, launched the Institute. Initially a two-member team operated out of the UNESCO office in New Delhi. Over time, the team has expanded to over 30 members and works out of its independent office in central New Delhi.

In an age of rapid change, characterized by exponential economic growth, increasing population, rise in violent extremism, climate change, migration & refugees, globalisation and rising inequalities, the 21st century poses a unique set of challenges. To contend with these interconnected global issues, education systems will need to develop new and innovative approaches – operating across all levels – from governmental policies to classroom teaching methods and informal learning in order to empower young people to adapt to their changing environments and to be equipped to address some of these challenges.

Approach

UNESCO MGIEP seeks to reorient learning spaces that promote sustainable lifestyles, a culture of peace and nonviolence and an appreciation of cultural diversity. Based on the neuroscience of learning, the Institute envisions new education systems that build intellectual and emotional intelligence using the whole brain approach to learning, innovate digital pedagogies and put youth as global citizens at the centre of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development.  

UNESCO MGIEP operates on a global mandate and focuses its programmes in the following areas:  

1. Education: Drawing from the learning sciences, including the neuroscience of learning and educational psychology, the Institute envisions new education systems that foster intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence through the development of socio-emotional competencies in learners using digital pedagogies. Acknowledging that formal, non-formal and informal learning spaces play an equally important role in the education of youth, UNESCO MGIEP seeks to transform learning in both spaces through youth engagement and innovative pedagogies. It simultaneously builds the capacities of stakeholders ranging from educators to students, and advocates for policy upheavals.
2. Peace and Sustainable Development: UNESCO MGIEP seeks to transform education such that it enables education for peace and sustainable development. The Institute seeks to reorient formal and informal learning spaces such that they incorporate education for peace and sustainable development.