About RCE HELC
RCE Greater Atlanta is a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education forSustainable Development, acknowledged by the United Nations University, is a regional sustainability network that supports implementation of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals at the local level through education and training. The network brings together universities and colleges with nonprofit, community, government, and business partners.
The Higher Education Learning Community (HELC) is an RCE Greater Atlanta action group that aims to facilitate faculty and research-active student engagement with the SDGs in a collective learning environment. Participants include faculty and research-active students from Emory University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the University of Georgia.
HELC aims to create a dynamic network of research and teaching faculty, practitioners, youth, and community partners in Greater Atlanta who work together to offer research seminars, symposia, curricular resources, teaching workshops, and a variety of publications to advance the SDGs in education, research, and service across campuses in the region as well as among the US (North American) higher education community as a whole.
In November 2021, two HELC projects received RCE Awards from the United Nations University. We are proud that we now have three award-winning HELC projects! Read the news release here.
RCE Awards celebrate projects and programs on Education for Sustainable Development within the Global RCE Network, honoring RCEs who have made outstanding contributions to address local sustainable development challenges in their regions. The Award recognizes projects and programs that bridge local and global perspectives on sustainable development, those that engage with transformative learning and research, and initiatives that contribute to community engagement, research & development and capacity development of stakeholders and partners. Read More.
The Atlanta Declaration
The RCE Higher Education Learning Community has helped to coordinate The Atlanta Declaration on SDG Education and Research.
Read it now and sign the declaration in support of reorienting higher education towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals!
Conferences
1) RCE Track at the annual Atlanta Global Studies Symposium
Lead: Stuart Minson, stuart.minson@gatech.edu; Michael Black, seawater@gsu.edu
This annual Symposium takes place in April and features a day-long track of panels presented by RCE HELC, including a youth panel. For further information please visit the Symposium Webpage.
In February 2020, United Nations University recognized this HELC project by an Award for Innovative Projects on Education for Sustainable Development, Honorable Mention for SDG 4 Quality Education. Read the press release.
2) Annual EQUINOX: UN SDGs Symposium
Lead: Pegah Zamani, pzamani@kennesaw.edu
Visit Equinox Website here.
In November 2021, United Nations University recognized this HELC project by an Award for "Acknowledged Flagship Project" on Education for Sustainable Development, SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals; Thematic Category: Curriculum Development. Press release forthcoming.
Community of Practice on Teaching with the SDGs
This group is a community of educators from multiple colleges and universities in Georgia. Members are all teaching with the SDGs or working with faculty who do so, in our own institutions. The aim of this CoP is to support effective SDG teaching through resource sharing, peer-to-peer learning, and networking. The CoP was founded by educational developers and sustainability professionals from Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University and the University of Georgia and it has since expanded to include educators from other Georgia institutions.
2024 - 2025
"Hot Topics – Facilitating Respectful Conversations about Climate Change"
Friday, February 7th, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, via Zoom
Presenter: Carol Subiño Sullivan, Assistant Director of Faculty Teaching and Learning, Georgia Tech
Facilitator: Laura Carruth, Associate Vice Provost for Transformative Teaching & Learning and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning, Georgia Tech
Please click HERE to register.
"Faculty Development for Climate Education: Tools and Techniques"
Friday, November 1st, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, via Zoom
Presenter: Brennan Collins, Professor, Associate Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Georgia State University
Facilitator: Rebecca Watts Hull, Academic Professional - Service Learning and Partnerships Specialist, Georgia Tech
Please click HERE to register.
"Scenario-Based Climate Teaching: Using EnRoads"
Friday, September 27th, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, via Zoom
Presenter: Laura Iyer, EnROADS Ambassador, Southern Sustainability Institute
Facilitator: Tyra Byers, Director of the Sustainability Certificate, University of Georgia
Please click HERE to register.
2023 – 2024
"Leveraging Sustainability-Focused Events to Enhance Teaching with the UN SDGs"
Friday, February 2nd, 2:30pm-4:00pm, via Zoom
- “Leveraging SDG Week to engage more instructors in SDG teaching: Faculty-led initiatives at Georgia Tech”
Rebecca Watts Hull, Assistant Director of Education for Sustainability, Center for Teaching and Learning, Georgia Tech - "How We Made Climate a Class at Xavier University of Louisiana"
Bart Everson, Creative Generalist for Faculty Development, Center for the Advancement of Teaching - "A Blueprint for Integrating Transdisciplinary Research Platforms within STEAM Curriculum Constraints: The Annual EQUINOX | UN SDGs Week"
Pegah Zamani, Professor at the College of Architecture and Construction Management, and Director of Research Center for Sustainable Communities (RCSC) at Kennesaw State University:
"Empowering Students to Lead Change"
Friday, March 29th, 2:30pm-4:00pm, via Zoom
- "Slowly Changing Paradigms: Helping students understand how built environment can facilitate rather than impede sustainability"
Dr. Roby Greenwald, Associate Professor & MPH Program Director, School of Public Health, Georgia State University - "Teaching about Power to Produce Positive Action"
Dr. Kate Pride Brown, Associate Professor, School of History and Sociology, Georgia Tech - "How to Approach Teaching about the ROl of Sustainable Business"
Dr. Neil Bendle, Associate Professor, Terry College of Business University of Georgia
“Empowering Students to Lead Change through SDG Teaching”
Friday, September 22nd, 2pm – 3:30pm, via Zoom
- “Using the SDGs to frame research teams”
Kirk Bowman, Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Tech - “Empowerment in Hard Times: Hope, Activism, and Being In the Moment”
Chris Cuomo, Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies, University of Georgia - “The UN SDGs as a Study Abroad Framework”
Dori Pap, Managing Director of the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact
"Strategies for Addressing Barriers to Curricular Integration of the SDGs"
Friday, November 10th, 2pm – 3:30pm, via Zoom
- “Challenges of Community of Engagement Teaching and Research”
Dr. Miné Hashas-Degertekin, Associate AIA, School of Architecture, Kennesaw State University - “(Re)defining Sustainable Fashion Education Through Activism and Care”
Sara Idacavage, PhD Candidate, Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Interiors, University of Georgia - “Bringing Context and Emotional Learning: A Social-Technical Project-Based Approach with SDGs”
Dr. Raghuram Pucha, Principal Academic Professional, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech
2020 – 2022
Building Effective ESD in Higher Education through Multi-Institutional and Community Collaboration
Lead: Rebecca Watts Hull, rwattshull@gatech.edu
- Read about the "Think Globally,Teach Locally" Workshop, Feb 19, 2020 here.
- Read about the "Going Global: A Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Curriculum Design Workshop", Feb 23, and access related resources here.
- Read about the Faculty Learning Community Teaching with the SDGs here.
Looking for help incorporating ESD into your teaching? Explore these resources developed through this RCE project and by member institutions:
In November 2021, United Nations University recognized this three-pronged project supported through RCE HELC as well as the AGREC initiative housed within AGSC by an Award for "Acknowledged Flagship Project" on Education for Sustainable Development, SDG 4: Quality Education; Thematic Category: Curriculum Development.
Sustainable Development Research Seminar
Spring 2025
"Sustainable development, urban ecologies, and livelihood vulnerabilities in Bangkok, Thailand"
On Feb 14, 2025, RCE Greater Atlanta's Higher Education Learning Community hosted the second session of the Spring 2025 Sustainable Development Research Seminar, featuring Dr. Gregory Gullette, Professor of Anthropology, Georgia Gwinnett College, who presented on "Sustainable development, urban ecologies, and livelihood vulnerabilities in Bangkok, Thailand".
"Caring about Nature: Necessary Responses to Our Climate Crisis"
Fall 2024
"Knowledge- and data-driven environmental justice analyses of Proctor Creek watershed, Atlanta GA"
"Making War on Coral Reefs: Human Rights, Environmental Justice, and Underwater Munitions in Puerto Rico & Hawaii"
"Urban Built Environments: Transportation’s Impact on Health and Sustainability."
Spring 2024
"The Georgia Climate Project: Scaling up from Individual Voices to a Statewide Climate Hub"
Friday, February 9, 12pm-1:15pm | Miller Learning Center, Room 214, UGA + online via Zoom
Patricia Yager, Professor of Marine Science, University of Georgia
"Climate Justice and Our Children's Health"
Friday, January 19, 12pm-1:15pm | Rm 204 Convocation Hall | Emory University + online via Zoom
Rebecca Philipsborn, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, General Pediatrics and Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health
Fall 2023
"Sustain the Lifeline: How transit disruptions affect poverty and unemployment"
Friday, November 10 | 12pm – 1:15pm ET | GSU College of Law, Room 246, Georgia State University
Dr. Fei Li, Assistant Professor in the Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University
"Sustaining Hope: Building Collaborative Resilience in Post-Conflict Societies"
Friday, October 13 | 12pm – 1:15pm ET | SCMPD House, Room 117, Kennesaw State University
Dr. Volker Franke, Professor of Conflict Management in the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development at Kennesaw State University
"The New York Climate Exchange and Sustainable Sanitation: Global Collaboration and the Reinvented Toilet"
Friday, September 8 | 12pm – 1:15pm ET | Swann 106, Georgia Institute of Technology and Zoom
Dr. Shannon Yee, Associate Professor at the G.W.W. School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Fall 2021
All talks will take place Fridays at 12 PM ET online at: https://bit.ly/3Ac3ULf
"Taboo to Civic Actions: Engaging Taiwanese Youth in Environmental Controversial Issues Discussions"
Friday, October 29
12pm – 1:15 PM ET
rescheduled from Oct 15
Yun-Wen Chen, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, Texas State University
"Rhizomatic Resistance: Environmental and Trans-Species Ethics in Feminist and LGBTQ Activism and Art"
Friday, November 12
12pm – 1:15 PM ET
Lauran Whitworth, Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Agnes Scott College
“Sea Level Change in the Southeastern United States: Past, Present and Future”
Friday, December 3
12pm – 1:15 PM ET
Clark Alexander, Director and Professor, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia
Spring 2021
Migration following Hurricane Michael: Evidence from the Consumer Credit Panel
Friday, January 22
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Elora Raymond, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Tech
Alexander von Humboldt’s Proto-Ecological Thinking
Friday, February 26
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Caroline Schaumann, Professor of German Studies, Emory University
To request access to the seminar recording, please contact Dr. Schaumann at cshaum@emory.edu.
Sustainable Construction Neighborhood: The way forward
Friday, March 19
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Ali Keyvanfar, Assistant Professor of Construction Management, Kennesaw State University
Fall 2020
The Politics of GM Crops and Agrochemical Exposure in Argentina
Friday, November 20
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Pablo Lapegna, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute, University of Georgia
Taking Science to the Streets: Community Science and Participatory Approaches to Improve Environment, Health, and Quality of Life in Urban Areas
Friday, October 23
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Health Sciences, Spelman College
A Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) approach to advancing urban systems science
Friday, September 25
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
David M. Iwaniec, Assistant Professor, Urban Studies Institute, Georgia State University
Spring 2020
Theories for Sustainable Futures
Friday, January 31
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Atwood Center, Rm 360, 1515 Dickey Drive, Emory University
Lance Gunderson, Professor and Chair, Environmental Sciences, Emory University
* The open access research seminar videos are also available at Prof. Bruce Stiftel's Youtube channel. They are in a Playlist called RCE Greater Atlanta: and accessible from the Channel landing page.
Meetings and Contacts
Contact RCE HELC Co-Leads:
Stuart Minson (Atlanta Global Studies Center, Georgia Tech), stuart.minson@gatech.edu
Michael Black (Neuroscience Institute and Urban Studies Institute, GSU), seawater@gsu.edu
Bruce Stiftel (School of City & Regional Planning, Georgia Tech), bruce.stiftel@design.gatech.edu
Fall 2023 HELC Monthly Meeting:
Contact stuart.minson@gatech.edu for the meeting URL
HELC participants include faculty and research-active students from Emory University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the University of Georgia. 
