COPERNICUS












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            The COPERNICUS [ URL "https://www.copernicus-alliance.org/"] University Alliance is a Euro

            of universities and colleges committed to transformative learning and change for sustainab
            Founded in 1993 in Geneva, almost 20 years later the Alliance itself and especially the Ch
            emerged have undergone a significant transformation. The Charter thus remains a strategic 

            document but is complemented by an action plan [ URL "https://www.copernicus-alliance.org/
            mission-goals"] with concrete objectives.
            The vision of the Alliance is to promote cooperation between educational institutions and 

            the area of higher education and the challenges of Higher Education for Sustainable Develo
            with the aim of addressing the issue at the level of the whole institution. The Alliance f

            innovative approaches that can contribute to a sustainable future both locally and globall

            The Alliance sees mutual respect, commitment to rules, and collaboration among members as 


            COPERNICUS has identified four main challenges to a sustainable university future:
            • "Value-based research and teaching are often believed to be problematic by academics, wh

              freedom of thinking to be the highest good at a university; sustainable development is o
              as an imposed norm and therefore rejected in principle.
            • Assessment processes are currently measuring what can be measured instead of what should

              and the entire institutional setup of higher education institutions relies on competitio
              collaboration.
            • Activities at higher education institutions tend to be compartmentalized; while this is 

              ensure expertise and efficiency in science, teaching, and operations, it also hampers th
              interdisciplinary, and inter-operational approach needed for sustainable development and
              “knowing to doing”.

            • Are we able to take up the challenge of teaching and researching with sustainable develo
              This requires a focus on competences in addition to knowledge, as well as a shift from t
              learning – which lecturers find challenging, in particular, given the notorious lack of 

              development to support these changes towards education for sustainable development."

            Overcoming these barriers is anchored in the Alliance's Action Plan and in line with the i

            Agenda [ URL "https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda"] .

            CU´s representative in the COPERNICUS Alliance and a member of the Advisory Board is RNDr.

            Ph.D. from the Charles University Environment Centre [ URL "https://czp.cuni.cz/en/"] .