Global Schools Highlights its 2025 Year in Review

As we embark on 2026, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) Global Schools Program reflects on a remarkable seventh year. Global Schools is grateful for all of its donors, partners, schools, educators, volunteers, and students for their engagement throughout the past year.

Below are some of the highlights that shaped 2025 and will set the foundation for the year ahead.

In 2025, the Global Schools Network continued to expand, welcoming over 350 new member institutions across regions and further strengthened its global community of schools committed to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Its largest community is in Türkiye, and we are excited about the potential of new partnerships this year on climate education and nature-based education, leading up to COP31.

Global Schools continued to support educators as leaders of change. In 2025, the program delivered two Global Schools Advocates cohorts, expanded alumni engagement, redesigned the Global Schools mentorship program, and facilitated ongoing professional learning spaces. Through the Advocates Program, we trained 600+ educators and reached 100,000+ students in practical action-based projects for the SDGs.

Global Schools also expanded the languages of its pedagogical resources for the community with two flagship Spanish-language pedagogical toolkits on SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), developed in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Department of Education and UNA-USA Puerto Rico.

This year marked a major milestone with the launch and scaling of Schools for Goal 7, the renewable energy and green skills capacity-building program developed in partnership with Siemens Energy. In 2025, Schools for Goal 7:

  • Completed a successful pilot across 58 schools;
  • Developed a renewable energy training course;
  • Published a Greening STEAM Education Guide; and
  • Created an SDG 7 Guide and Action Toolkit for Educators.

Schools for Goal 7 integrates gamified, project-based learning through Minecraft Education, and two new cohorts are now underway, building on strong educator feedback and engagement.

In 2025, Global Schools hosted UN at Your Doorstep dialogues focused on education, gender equality, climate action, and ecosystem restoration, and 10 new systems-thinking guides were developed. We extend our sincere thanks to our partners at Compass Education, the Learning Planet Institute, and the Foundation for Environmental Education for their collaboration on these dialogues.

Global Schools was also proud to host the Ages of Globalization Alpha Launch, marking the one-year milestone of the project with educators, youth, and partners. 2025 saw the release of a new series of video lectures featuring Professor Jeffrey Sachs and expert contributors, expanding access to high-quality, global learning resources for educators and learners alike.

Throughout 2025, Global Schools continued to engage at the highest international levels. Global Schools was featured at international forums, such as World Logic Day, the Vatican Youth Symposium, the ECOSOC Youth Forum, the High-Level Political Forum, and the UNESCO World Teachers’ Summit. Additional participation at two Salzburg Global Seminars, a dedicated UNGA side event, the Qatar Leadership Summit, and WISE reinforced the program’s role as a trusted partner engaging educators, youth, and policymakers worldwide.

Finally, Global Schools was named once again to the HundrED Innovation Collection 2026 as one of the world’s 100 most scalable and innovative K–12 education initiatives. Furthermore, the program was recently accepted as a member of UNESCO’s Teacher Task Force, joining a global partnership advancing the teaching profession worldwide.

Looking ahead to 2026, Global Schools is excited to build on this momentum and continue to support educators as leaders of transformative change in their schools and communities.