The University for Peace (UPEACE), located in Costa Rica, was established as a treaty organization with its own Charter in an international agreement adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution 35/55 of 5 December 1980. The vision of UPEACE is to be a forward-thinking, transformational and inspirational educational institution dedicated to the goals of quality teaching, research and service for serving humanity in building a peaceful world.
Its mission, is “to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting, among all human beings, the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.”
Among other programs, UPEACE offers a Master's program in Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development, which emphasizes economic and management perspectives of peace while focusing on the concepts of sustainability and responsibility. It aims at exploring what role the economy plays in the world today and its impact on our environment and societies’ wellbeing. Graduates from this program will become responsible managers with strong emphasis on sustainability that will be able to work in the corporate sector, public sector or social sector.
The university hosts the Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development, with the objective of offering a variety of online and on-site education programmes that highlight the importance of incorporating sustainability values and principles into decision-making and education. It provides an opportunity for participants to expand their understanding of sustainability and global citizenship, and to see how to put it into practice. The Center helps professionals in different areas to integrate the knowledge, values and skills needed for a sustainable way of life and planning. The Center’s work is implemented under the framework of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter.
UPEACE has promoted over the years the extensive research and study on the right to development, including through e-courses intended to train stakeholders on the normative, theoretical and practical importance of and mechanisms for operationalizing the right to development in the implementation of the SDGs.
The university has been an active member of the Costa Rican Network of Sustainable Institutions, has in place a system to reduce the water footprint, adopted a single-use plastic ban and an innovative waste management protocol, and hosts the student-led UPeace Green Office, focused on food waste, renewable energy and circular economy, and part of the SDSN-Youth Initiative.
Click here to learn more about the UNAI SDG Hubs.