The 2026 Global Sustainable Development Congress meets in Jakarta around one idea: collective action for a sustainable future<\/strong>. The phrase is a challenge. It asks us to stop working alone, to connect knowledge across fields, and to turn good intentions into real change.<\/p>\n This article sets out what that idea means at GSDC 2026, and how one hands-on workshop tries to put it into practice \u2014 by helping people build skills, partnerships and a real funding proposal in a single session.<\/p>\n Several shifts run through the Congress. Together they describe a new way of working.<\/p>\n The SDGs are connected, not separate.<\/strong> Real problems do not respect silos. GSDC 2026 looks especially at how five goals reinforce each other:<\/p>\n Technology is a strong 2026 theme.<\/strong> The focus is on AI for sustainable development, digital education and learning systems, data-driven climate and health solutions, and responsible technology governance. The question is not whether to use AI, but how to use it well \u2014 and for whom.<\/p>\n Universities are change actors, not observers.<\/strong> This is a real shift in thinking. Universities are expected to act as living laboratories. Research must connect to policy and communities. And impact is measured by real-world change, not by publications alone.<\/p>\n Partnerships are the outcome.<\/strong> The Congress values cross-sector collaboration across education, industry and government; international consortium building; and the funding and scaling of solutions. Success at GSDC is not a good presentation. It is a new partnership and a funded initiative.<\/p>\n Solutions must work in the real world.<\/strong> From Jakarta, the Asia-Pacific emphasis is clear: climate resilience in Global South contexts, equity and inclusive growth, and scaling education and innovation across diverse systems. Ideas that only work in Europe are not enough. They must work in real, unequal global contexts.<\/p>\n Our hands-on workshop takes this theme literally. Its objective is collective action: to care about a shared problem, to integrate knowledge, and to do something about it \u2014 while developing personal and organisational skills along the way.<\/p>\n At its heart are the 8Cs<\/strong>: eight transversal, transferable skills, grouped as CARE, KNOW and DO<\/strong>.<\/p>\n These are the skills that move a group from talking to building. No single person holds all eight at a high level. A network does. That simple truth is the reason we work in alliances.<\/p>\n The session has two parts.<\/p>\n Part 1 \u2014 a personal skills plan.<\/strong> Each person draws their own skill self-portrait. They rate the 8Cs honestly, see where they are strong and where they are growing, and decide who they need beside them. A live, shared report then reveals the collective skill of the whole room \u2014 the “smart skill” the group holds together.<\/p>\n Part 2 \u2014 collective action to develop skills.<\/strong> Participants form three groups and take on a role: Connected Researcher, Project Coordinator, or Network Leader. Each role owns one part of a real research proposal \u2014 Excellence, Impact, or Implementation. A real challenge goes at the centre of the table, and each group builds around it, practising its own cluster of skills.<\/p>\n We anchor the work in challenges that matter: Climate Action<\/strong>, and Creative and Inclusive Societies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n To keep the work real, the groups design against open European calls under Horizon Europe Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society)<\/strong> \u2014 the main home for inclusive education, participation and citizenship, AI in society, youth and skills, and sustainability transitions.<\/p>\n The most direct match is TRANSFO-04<\/strong>, on digital tools, education and youth mental health. For teams thinking at the systems level, TRANSFO-02<\/strong> addresses the social model, skills, productivity and adaptation to AI, climate and demographic change \u2014 ideal for scaling pilots beyond their first sites and positioning universities as living labs. Other Cluster 2 topics widen the choice, including global creative alliances that fund partners across the Global South, digital and media literacy, and competences for the green transition.<\/p>\n By the end of the hour, the group has three things to take forward:<\/p>\n That is collective action in miniature: shared care, integrated knowledge, and a concrete next step.<\/p>\n This approach tries to democratise research skills. It is open, transdisciplinary, and built for real, unequal contexts \u2014 not only for Europe. It measures success the way GSDC does: in partnerships formed and initiatives funded, with benefits that reach the global majority.<\/p>\n A sustainable future will not be designed by one discipline, one sector, or one country. It will be built by networks that care enough to act. That is the work GSDC 2026 invites \u2014 and the work this session begins.<\/p>\n Framework: CARE\u2013KNOW\u2013DO and the 8Cs (Dr Alexandra Okada). Developed with the METEOR project (EU n.101178320) and the CONNECT \/ upSkill.Map community, in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Collective action for a sustainable future: turning skills into partnerships The 2026 Global Sustainable Development Congress meets in Jakarta around one idea: collective action for a sustainable future. The phrase is a challenge. It asks us to stop working alone, to connect knowledge across fields, and to turn good intentions into real change. This article … <\/p>\nWhat GSDC 2026 is really about<\/h2>\n
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A workshop built for collective action<\/h2>\n
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Two parts: a personal plan, then collective action<\/h2>\n
Grounded in real funding<\/h2>\n
What the room leaves with<\/h2>\n
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Why it matters<\/h2>\n
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