The event was hosted by Dr Steven Zhou, Deputy Director of RCE Ningbo, Deputy Director CRBI, and Associate Professor in International Business and Strategy at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). In his opening remarks, Dr Zhou expressed his pleasure at bringing together distinguished guests to exchange ideas on key sustainability issues, emphasising that such dialogue can inspire forward-looking action and contribute to building a more sustainable society.

At the beginning of the event, Professor Kok Wei Khong, Dean of Nottingham University Business School China, Chair of the UNNC Environmental Sustainability Committee, and Professor of Marketing Analytics, delivered the welcome address. He extended sincere appreciation to the keynote speaker and all participants, and reaffirmed the University's commitment to its sustainability vision. He highlighted that the univeristy and the centre will continue to promote ESG practices and responsible innovation, while leveraging the active role of RCE Ningbo to connect diverse sustainability education resources, foster interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration, and support green transformation and high-quality development. He also expressed his expectations for the keynote and discussion sessions that followed.

In the keynote session, Dr Park delivered an in-depth presentation on the“Transformative Pathways of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)”. She began by reviewing the evolution of ESD since its introduction in 1992, noting that despite more than three decades of development, global sustainability outcomes have not fundamentally improved. She argued that this reflects a core limitation of current education systems—namely, an overemphasis on knowledge transmission and insufficient attention to cultivating the capacity to translate awareness into action. Dr Park further highlighted the persistent "awareness–action gap", whereby public awareness of issues such as climate change continues to grow, yet the proportion of individuals taking concrete action remains limited.

In exploring future pathways, Dr Park proposed a systematic rethinking of ESD across three dimensions: what to teach, whom to teach, and how to teach. She introduced the global network of Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs), noting that it serves as an important bridge between education and societal practice by translating global sustainability goals into localised action through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Within the RCE framework, education extends beyond the classroom into communities and real-world contexts, fostering interdisciplinary cooperation and stakeholder engagement to advance the implementation of sustainable development.

In her concluding remarks, Dr Park acknowledged that the transformation of ESD continues to face multiple challenges, including institutional inertia within education systems, insufficient policy support, and the need for more robust mechanisms for social collaboration. To address these issues, she called for stronger linkages between education, policy,industry,and communities to build an enabling environment that supports learner action. She also emphasised the importance of effective incentive mechanisms and resource support systems to enhance individual confidence and capacity to participate in sustainable development. Only through coordinated, multi-stakeholder efforts can ESD truly transition from a knowledge-oriented paradigm to an action-oriented one, thereby providing a stronger foundation of talent and social engagement for global sustainability.

During the Q&A session, a participant raised the question of whether higher-income groups, which tend to generate greater resource consumption, should be a primary focus of sustainability constraints. Dr Park responded that the key issue lies not in attributing blame to any particular group, but in advancing systemic transformation. While acknowledging that higher-income groups generally have higher levels of resource consumption, she cautioned that an excessive focus on restriction may lead to social division and undermine collective action. Instead, she advocated for bridging the awareness–action gap through education and institutional design, supported by incentive mechanisms and policy guidance to encourage coordinated participation across all segments of society, thereby achieving a more equitable and effective transition.

At the closing of the event, Professor Jing Dai, Director of RCE Ningbo, Director of CRBI and Chair Professor of Sustainable Operations and Technology Management, delivered the closing remarks. Professor Dai spoke highly of the successful organisation of the event and underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration and action-oriented education in advancing sustainable development. Her remarks brought the 11th session of “Let'S talk!” to an inspiring conclusion.

The successful delivery of this “Let'S talk!” session provided faculty and students at UNNC with valuable insights into the latest theories and practices in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Through in-depth discussions on how education can shift from an awareness-oriented to an action-oriented approach, participants engaged in meaningful exchanges that not only deepened their understanding of ESD transformation pathways but also generated new perspectives for real-world implementation. The event further strengthened a high-quality platform for academic dialogue, injecting fresh intellectual momentum into the integration of education and sustainable development.

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