We are happy to announce that Mistra Environmental Communication researcher Professor Michael Wilson, Loughborough University, has been appointed UNESCO’s first ever Chair in Storytelling Education for Sustainability.

A warm Congratulations, Michael.

Read a short interview below and watch this film to get to know more about his role as a UNESCO Chair.

When did you hear about this great news?

Back in March, when I had the immense honour and pleasure to give the keynote address to the Mistra Environmental Communication Conference on ‘Storytelling as, and for, Sustainability’ in Uppsala, I had only just heard that I was to be awarded a UNESCO Chair in Storytelling Education for Sustainability. The news was then under a soft embargo until the contracts had been signed between my own university in Loughborough and UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, so we had to hold back a bit on the partying and keep the news off social media. The process was finally completed at the end of May and the last month has been incredibly busy with meetings, planning and raising the occasional celebratory glass.

What is a UNESCO Chair?

For those who aren’t familiar with what UNESCO Chairs do (and I’m still on that journey of discovery myself!), UNESCO hosts a network of around 1000 chairs globally, senior research professors, covering a very broad range of academic disciplines. Their role is to grow and deliver a programme of research, training and education projects, which are aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the broader UNESCO strategy (in particular, enabling Global North-Global South collaboration), as well as acting as advocates and ambassadors for their discipline, through engaging with other UNESCO initiatives and providing expert input to global policy initiatives.

What will you be doing as an UNESCO Chairperson?

One important thing to say about the UNESCO Chair is that it isn’t about a single individual. I am merely the Chairholder, but it is also about supporting the work of the wider team at the Storytelling Academy at Loughborough and all of the partners we work with. And that includes everyone involved in Mistra Environmental Communication, which is very important in our delivery of an ambitious programme of work over the next 4 years (at least!). In relation to the UNESCO Chair position, we will be focusing on (but not limited to) the geographical areas of India, Africa and the Arctic Nations, and the SDGs relating to environmental, health and educational sustainability, including on how these fields intersect.

What will this role mean for Mistra Environmental Communication?

For Mistra Environmental Communication, I hope that the UNESCO designation will help increase the global visibility of the important work that is being done under the programme, give us increased access to UNESCO and UN policy forums, and help maximise the impact of programme’s outputs. Furthermore, I hope it will be a platform for future work, acting as leverage with funders, as well as with governmental and non-governmental actors. So, if you have any ideas or plans that you think might be relevant, or would benefit from the inclusion of the UNESCO Chair designation, please do reach out to me and we can have a conversation, either online or when I’m next in Uppsala for the Mistra Environmental Communication days in October. I can hardly wait!

Read the press release from Loughborough University here.