Penguin’s book-vending machine at Scotland’s Linlithgow Academy is designed to give students access to more than 70 titles from Penguin’s “Lit in Colour” reading lists. The initiative was taken after research conducted by Runnymede Trust found less than 1% of students in Secondary Education (GCSE) programs had studied a book by a writer of color. The vending machine goals is to make the work of writers of colour more visible in schools.
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The report examines inclusion and diversity in Academia career cohorts across intersecting disciplines and geographies, tracking multiple indicators over 20 years. It reveals progress, with women now representing 41% of researchers globally, but also that serious challenges persist in gender equality in research and innovation. The Report provides a substantial evidence base for academic leaders, funders, and policymakers to take data-led action.
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The “Sustainable Development Goals Book Club for Children of Ukraine” project is a public initiative of Olena Ivanchenko as part of the UN SDG Book Club project in cooperation with Ranok publishing house and CF Ranok-Ukraine which aims to regularly acquaint children with books in their native language on the topics of the 17 Global Goals.
It aims to help libraries and communities create their own SDG Book Clubs with support from SDG-implementing organizations in Ukraine.
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The SDG Book club, an annotated reading list of children’s books, plays a vital role in inspiring children, aged 6-12, to embrace and take action on the principles behind the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In the Netherlands, a local chapter of the UN and IPA SDG Book club has just launched. The project of a collaboration between NDB-Biblion/Skillsdojo, GAU (Groep Algemene Uitgevers), and the IPA (International Publishers Association).
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The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative SDG Publisher Compact Fellows is a joint initiative from multiple UN & higher education agencies across the academic publishing sector (eg., publishers, librarians, academics). We work to create important outcomes for the academic international community through integrating SDGs in educational materials, translating SDGs into practice (connecting researchers & practitioners), redefining impact of SDGs, and changing the culture in Higher Education.
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In 2020, UQP launched the UQP Quentin Bryce Award, which is conferred on a new title that celebrates women’s lives and/or promotes gender equality. The inaugural winner was Mununjali writer Ellen van Neerven for their poetry collection Throat, followed by Sarah Walker’s timely and brave essay collection, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying, in 2021, and Mirandi Riwoe’s short story collection about marginalised women, The Burnished Sun, in 2022.
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The annual APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education, or ASPIRE, promotes scientific excellence and international collaboration among young researchers. The winner of the ASPIRE receives a USD 25,000 prize, presented by two major global scientific research publishers and SDG Compact Signatories – Elsevier and Wiley. ASPIRE provides a platform to celebrate young scientists in APEC and inspire future generations to play a role in their region to act on the Global Goals
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The UK and Ireland’s major university presses have launched a new framework for collaboration. EvenUP demonstrates the commitment of UK and Irish university presses to equity, diversity, inclusivity and belonging in our workplaces, in who we work with and in what we publish. Full details are available here: https://evenup.hcommons.org/.
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www.venti-trenta.it is a free online magazine for girls and boys which aims to present the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a clear and accessible way, through world news and stories about real people fighting for the planet and the rights of all human beings.
This is the challenge: how to reflect on the great problems of today and on the prospects for the future in an age-appropriate way.
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The Norwegian SDG library is going to be an entry point for children aged 6-12 years to reflect on the sustainable development goals. The vision is that the chosen books will support the already strong engagement children and young adults have for climate and environmental issues. Another hope is that authors will be inspired into writing books that support the SDGs, and that publishing houses will focus more on SDGs in their editorial strategies.
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Climate Research in Action is a campaign to highlight the importance of research in identifying climate solutions. It’s hosted on a dedicated microsite and includes a brand new compilation of the most important research articles related to climate from across the Nature Portfolio, specially created for COP26. It also features The Ozone Story: a timeline of how science inspired the Montreal Protocol in 1987 after the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer – first published in Nature in 1985.
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The Bookstart Baby programme, run by the UK’s largest children’s reading charity BookTrust, will provide book packs to families with babies born in 2021 to support their early learning and development and encourage a positive home learning environment. Bookstart Baby packs aim to promote a love of reading in children from as young an age as possible, and every child aged 0-12 months is eligible for a free pack of books and resources.
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The Springer Nature China New Development Awards were announced in 2019. This award recognises the contribution of Chinese research to international sustainable development, which is significant as China has one of the world’s fastest growing volume of scientific and scholarly research globally. 10 Chinese authors received the award in recognition for their research into areas such as climate change, economic development, eco-development and green intelligent transportation systems.
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The Parliamentary Book Club is an initiative whereby Australians get to nominate a book they think their leaders must read. Launched in 2019, it invites all parliamentarians to read the selected book, and then participate in a meeting at Parliament House to join the author in a discussion of the book’s main themes. The intention is that the books will lay the foundation for discussion around aspects of Australian life, which could inform and inspire new ways of thinking.
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In a democracy, the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute their works in complete freedom is critical. The IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee challenges violations and drives dialogue around issues related to the freedom to publish. The IPA also awards the prestigious Prix Voltaire to recognise exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish. Nominees have usually published controversial works amid pressure, threats, intimidation and harassment.
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Publishers mainly use plastic for shrink wrapping to protect books, magazines and journals during distribution and selling. However, some publishers have taken measures to reduce the use of plastic in their packaging. Springer Nature have in 2019 stopped wrapping all but the largest research books (where damage is more likely if unwrapped), reducing the number of units wrapped by 1.2 million and replaced two million plastic wallets, used for CDs, with paper alternatives.
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In Autumn 2019, 4000 high schools across metropolitan France participated in a mass recycling operation. As part of the French Baccalaureate reform, shcools had to renew textbooks for two school leves. As a result of this eco-friendly initiative, textbooks that had been removed from the curriculum were sorted and transformed into raw materials by Veolia (a global firm specializing in resource management and circular economy) and ultimately transformed into recycled paper.
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The Incredible Book Machine is a book bus which travels around different Brazilian provinces, allowing readers to interchange books they’ve already read for new ones at the press of a button. The goal of The Incredible Book machine is to stimulate reading and the reuse of books in both adults and children, and is a collaboration between Infinito Cultural and the Brazilian Book Chamber. The project is linked to several SDGs, including education, poverty and literary.
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