About UNESCO Chair

About Chairholder Prof. Miki Sugimura

Miki Sugimura is President of Sophia University and a Professor in the Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences. Her expertise lies in comparative education, with a focus on Asia, international education, and multicultural education.

After earning her degree from Ochanomizu University’s Faculty of Education in 1985, she completed her master's and doctoral studies at the University of Tokyo. She joined Sophia University in 2002 and served as Vice President for Global Academic Affairs from 2014 to 2021.

Beyond her role at Sophia University, she has held key positions in international education policy and research. She chaired the Education Subcommittee of the UNESCO National Commission of Japan (2016–2022) and served as President of the Japanese Society for Comparative Education (2017–2023). In 2022, she was selected as an international expert for the revision of UNESCO’s 1974 recommendation. Since 2020, she has also been Vice-Chair of ProSPER.Net, the Asia-Pacific Network of Environmental Research Universities, and has served as a Visiting Professor at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study on Sustainability (UNU-IAS) since 2021.

About the UNESCO Chair at Sophia University：UNESCO Chair on Education for Human Dignity, Peace and Sustainability

The UNESCO Chair is a project in which higher education institutions work with UNESCO to address the increasingly complex issues of contemporary society. Sophia University's Chair was established in February 2024 based on comparative international education research on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Chair works with three international organizations (United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Studies of Sustainability, Asia Pacific Center for International Understanding and Education, and the Asia-Europe Foundation) and five universities (Boston College, Universidad Javeriana Bogota, Ateneo de Manila University, International Islamic University Malaysia, and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology)

The specific objectives of this Chair are to :

1. 1) promote education and research on human dignity, peace and sustainability building on UNESCO’s work in the area of Peace and Global Citizenship Education, notably building on the process of the revised 1974 Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Cooperation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
2. 2) foster networking and collaboration through inter-university schemes and institutions for North-South and South-South cooperation by organizing opportunities for dialogue and exchange virtually or in person;
3. 3) promote collaborative research on Comparative and International Education focusing on commitment for achieving inclusive and sustainable positive peace;
4. 4) promote knowledge sharing about educational experiences and good practice of educators and practitioners of International Education through seminars on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education; and
5. 5) cooperate closely with UNESCO, other UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks on relevant programmes and activities.