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Vechta professor receives UNESCO chair for sustainable sports education!
Prof. Dr. Marco Rieckmann from the University of Vechta receives co-chair in Ireland to promote sustainable educational projects in sport.
Vechta professor receives UNESCO chair for sustainable sports education!
In a significant step for interdisciplinary collaboration in higher education the University of Vechta announced that Prof. Dr. Marco Rieckmann from the Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick has been appointed co-chair of a new UNESCO chair. This marks a significant step in the global initiative to promote sustainable development in higher education.
The new UNESCO Chair entitled “Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy for Sustainable Development” is one of four chairs at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Rieckmann will take on this role alongside Prof. Dr. Ann MacPhail, who is the principal holder of the chair. Rieckmann's connection to Ireland came about through the Spanish doctoral student Lourdes Meroño García, which underlines the international network in the field of sustainable education.
UNESCO chairs and their significance
The UNESCO Chair Program was established in 1992 to promote international collaboration between universities. There are currently around 850 UNESCO Chairs in more than 110 countries, 17 of which are in Germany. The main objectives of the program are to support UNESCO in the areas of education, natural and social sciences, and culture and communication. The new chair aims to train actors in physical education and physical education for sustainable development.
A central feature of the chair will be the close connection between sports education and education for sustainable development (ESD). The aim is not only to impart theoretical knowledge, but also to promote practical skills for solving complex, sustainable problems. This illustrates the chair's commitment to sustainably anchoring awareness of sustainable development in higher education UNESCO Germany highlights.
International collaborations and events
The integration of international collaborations with universities worldwide will also be a focus of the chair. An official presentation of the UNESCO Chair will take place on March 31, 2025 in a launch web meeting. This event will be complemented by a lecture by Professor Cora Barnett-Louw, who will address the connection between sustainability and social impact in sports education. Registration for the web meeting takes place via a link provided.
In addition, the German UNESCO Commission, which coordinates the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany, will support a variety of initiatives to integrate sustainable development into all aspects of education. A memorandum entitled “Higher Education and Sustainability” defined basic points for support and training in the higher education sector, which should serve as a model for future actions, as in UNESCO Germany is documented.
These developments demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and international collaboration in higher education to address the challenges of sustainable development.