Executive summary

The current report is an exhaustive account of the discussion and debate at the China-Southeast Asian Symposium ‘Towards Ecological Civilisation: Education for Sustainable Rural Development’ (hereafter referred  to as ‘the symposium’) held from 15 to 16 December 2022. The symposium was supported by the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO, hosted by Beijing Normal University, and organised by the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED), Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University, China Zigen Rural Education and Development Association,  Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).

Under the overarching theme of Towards Ecological Civilisation: Education for Sustainable Rural Development, the symposium was structured into three sub-themes, Policy and Practice, University and Local Actions, and Towards a Sustainable Future: Youth on the Move. Scholars, youth representatives, university teachers  and students, and NGO delegates from more than ten countries, including China, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia, attended the symposium virtually and shared cuttingedge knowledge, evidence-based experience, and country strategies of sustainable rural development.