Charles Hopkins

Charles Hopkins holds the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at York University in Toronto, Canada. This Chair, established in 1999, was the first to focus on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an essential concept for quality education and to position sustainability as a purpose of education. Hopkins’s Chair coordinates two global networks: the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions and the #IndigenousESD. Hopkins has collaborated with UNESCO, United Nations University, as well as higher education institutions and ministries of education in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas regarding transforming education to address sustainability. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (United Kingdom), with honorary doctorates and professorships spanning Europe, Asia and South America, he has lectured worldwide on topics of quality education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. He holds the Order of Canada (2025) as well as the Medal of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2022). Prior to his international career, Hopkins was regional superintendent with the Toronto District School Board in Canada.