“Education Unscripted – The Quest for Truth, Collaborative Transformation & Solidarity” was the theme of this year’s SDG Conference, where more than 350 participants came together to share knowledge, ideas, and hopes for the future. Over two days, attendees engaged with keynote speakers, panel debates, workshops, and vibrant discussions on how education can drive sustainable and just societal transformation.
The conference opened at the iconic Oslo City Hall, welcoming 150 guests to an inspiring first day. The program began with Kigo Children choir, followed by a series of keynote talks and panel debates exploring futures literacy, global education, solidarity and partnerships, and the higher education sectors response-abilities for enabling transformation.
Master of Ceremony Ammal Haj Ahmed Mohamed guided the audience smoothly through a full program featuring cultural performances, breathing exercises, discussions, and questions from the floor. The event was also streamed, with 120 following the sessions online.
On the second day, 200 participants gathered at Deichman Bjørvika, located in the heart of Oslo. The day opened with the session “The Future is Here!”, led by students and youth. This session highlighted the importance of place-based and intergenerational partnerships for sustainability and social transformation in education and lifelong learning. Raising important questions and encouraging participants to rethink how educational systems can respond to global challenges.
The second part of the day, “The Future is Now!”, featured a wide range of self-organized parallel sessions hosted by universities, private and public sector actors, students, and innovators.
A total of 27 sessions took place throughout the library’s many spaces. In addition to the onsite program at Deichman Bjørvika, five external sessions were held across Oslo, Trondheim, West Africa, and Indonesia, enabling global engagement and diverse perspectives.
The conference concluded with the final session, “The Future is Now!”, which explored emerging issues related to AI and education, including small language models and colonial extractivist practices. The artist Diego Marín performed his piece Dancing Embryo, a dance duet between a human and an AI. Watch the video here (dropbox.com).
With contributions from participants and speakers across sectors and disciplines, this year’s SDG Conference highlighted the collective commitment to shaping sustainable futures through education, partnerships, inter-generational collaboration, place-based engagement and future thinking. Planning for next year’s conference hosted by NTNU in February 2027 is already underway, and the higher education sector’s conversation on the SDGs is far from over. The topic will be «Global Co-Existence». See you in Trondheim!