2025: Global Schools Year in Review

As we close out 2025 and head into 2026, we are reflecting on a remarkable year for the Global Schools Program and thanking all of our donors, partners, schools, educators, volunteers, and students for engaging with us throughout the year.

This past year has been defined by growth, collaboration, and deepened impact. Below are some of the highlights that shaped 2025 and will set the foundation for the year ahead.

In 2025, the Global Schools Network continued to expand, welcoming over 350 new member institutions across regions and further strengthening our global community of schools committed to Education for Sustainable Development. Our largest community is in Türkiye, and we are excited about the potential of new partnerships this year on climate education and nature-based education leading up to COP31.

We continued supporting educators as leaders of change. In 2025, we delivered two Global Schools Advocates cohorts, expanded alumni engagement, redesigned the Global Schools mentorship program, and facilitated ongoing professional learning spaces. Through the Advocates Program, we trained 600+ educators and reached 100,000+ students in practical action-based projects for the SDGs.

We also expanded the languages of our pedagogical resources for our community with two flagship Spanish-language pedagogical toolkits on SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), developed in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Department of Education and UNA-USA Puerto Rico. 

This year marked a major milestone with the launching and scaling of Schools for Goal 7, our renewable energy and green skills capacity building program developed in partnership with Siemens Energy. In 2025, we:

• Completed a successful pilot across 58 schools;

• developed a renewable energy training course;

• published a Greening STEAM Education Guide; and

• created an SDG 7 Guide and Action Toolkit for Educators. 

Schools for Goal 7 integrates gamified, project-based learning through Minecraft Education, and two new cohorts are now underway, building on strong educator feedback and engagement.

In 2025, we hosted UN at Your Doorstep dialogues focused on Education, Gender Equality, Climate Action, and Ecosystem Restoration. In total, 10 new systems-thinking guides were developed. We extend our sincere thanks to our partners at Compass Education, the Learning Planet Institute, and the Foundation for Environmental Education for their collaboration on this project.

We were also proud to host the Ages of Globalization Alpha Launch, marking the one-year milestone of this project with educators, youth, and partners. This year also saw the release of a new series of video lectures featuring Professor Jeffrey Sachs and expert contributors, expanding access to high-quality, global learning resources for educators and learners alike.

Throughout 2025, Global Schools continued to engage at the highest international levels. Global Schools was featured at international forums such as World Logic Day, the Vatican Youth Symposium, the ECOSOC Youth Forum, the High-Level Political Forum, and the UNESCO World Teachers’ Summit. Additional participation at two Salzburg Global Seminars, a dedicated UNGA side event, the Qatar Leadership Summit, and WISE reinforced Global Schools’ role as a trusted partner engaging educators, youth, and policymakers worldwide.

2025 also marked the celebration of seven years of Global Schools. We celebrated this milestone with the Global Schools at 7 campaign, engaging alumni, Advocates, Project Officers, and partners.

Finally, we are happy to announce that we were named once again to the HundrED Innovation Collection 2026 as one of the world’s 100 most scalable and innovative K–12 education initiatives. Furthermore, Global Schools was recently accepted as a member of UNESCO’s Teacher Task Force, joining a global partnership advancing the teaching profession worldwide, and looks forward to further engagement in the upcoming year.

Looking ahead to 2026, we are excited to build on this momentum and continue to support educators as leaders of transformative change in their schools and communities.

Thank you to our entire community for your continued trust, collaboration, and shared commitment to advancing high-quality, future-ready education globally.