TJD Conference for Africa

TJD Con­fer­ence for Africa

Authen­tic Sus­tain­abil­i­ty: African Actions Shap­ing Sus­tain­able Futures

Calls for sus­tain­abil­i­ty often fail when imposed from above, detached from people’s every­day lives. For cred­i­bil­i­ty and impact, actions must be ground­ed in local real­i­ties and respect cul­tur­al diver­si­ty. The Jena Dec­la­ra­tion (TJD) calls for strate­gies that put peo­ple at the heart of trans­for­ma­tion, con­nect­ing arts, sci­ences, and sto­ry­telling to shape joy­ful and sat­is­fy­ing futures. The TJD Online Con­fer­ence for Africa 2025 will show­case part­ners from across the con­ti­nent who demon­strate how sus­tain­abil­i­ty can be lived authen­ti­cal­ly and cred­i­bly. By shar­ing tan­gi­ble sto­ries root­ed in Africa’s diver­si­ty, the event high­lights authen­tic­i­ty and cred­i­bil­i­ty as key con­di­tions for mean­ing­ful and last­ing sus­tain­able action.

DAY 1: Novem­ber 11, 2025

1. Wel­come and Intro­duc­tion 

Ben­no Werlen, UNESCO-Chair Glob­al Under­stand­ing for Sustainability

Sec­tion 1 Co-Cre­at­ing Change: Col­lab­o­ra­tive and Inter­na­tion­al Approaches

2. Local­is­ing Col­lab­o­ra­tion: strength­en­ing part­ner­ships across regions 

Dr. Wamuyu Mahin­da, Co-Chair Board and for­mer Co-Chair Africa Chapters

Katlego Chibam­ba, co-chairs of Anglo­phone African Chap­ters, Cat­a­lyst Now

Dr. Wamuyu Mahin­da, Co-Chair Board and for­mer Co-Chair Africa Chapters

Man­a­sia Futa, co-chair of Luso­phone African Chapters

3. Co-Cre­at­ing Change: We Love Kairouan’s Col­lab­o­ra­tive Model 

Soumaya Khal­faoui, We Love Kairouan Asso­ci­a­tion (Tunisia)

and There­sa Kusch­ka, Col­lec­tive Lead­er­ship Insti­tute (Germany/​South Africa/​USA)

4. Dis­cus­sion-Pan­el: What Does Envi­ron­men­tal­ism Look Like Through the Lens of African High­er Education? 

Raad Sharar, The Fifth Ele­ment pro­gramme of the Club of Rome in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Envi­ron­men­tal Human­i­ties South, Uni­ver­si­ty of Cape Town,

and The Earth-Human­i­ty Coali­tion, The Jena Dec­la­ra­tion Con­fer­ence for Africa

Prof. Les­ley Green & Ansel­mo Matusse

Sec­tion 2 Sto­ry­telling & Play: Explor­ing Authen­tic Sus­tain­able Futures

5. Play­ful & Inter­con­ti­nen­tal: Co-Cre­at­ing a Food Sys­tems + SDGs Card Game 

André Boe­ing and Ibrahim Gadza­ma, ktopia (Ger­many

6. The Trans­for­ma­tive Pow­er of Eth­i­cal Visu­al Storytelling 

Noah Arnold, Fair­pic­ture (Switzer­land)

7. Kids on Earth: Grow­ing Up in the 21^st Century 

Howard Blu­men­thal, Pearl Utuk and Clar­ie Odhi­ambo, Kids on Earth (Unit­ed States)

8. Har­ness­ing Africa’s Demo­graph­ic Div­i­dend: TVET and STEM Path­ways for Authen­tic Sustainability 

Riche-Mike Welling­ton, Edu­ca­tion and Skills Devel­op­ment ESDEV (Ghana)

9. Clos­ing 

Ben­no Werlen, UNESCO-Chair Glob­al Under­stand­ing for Sustainability

DAY 2: Novem­ber 12, 2025

1. Intro­duc­tion 

Ben­no Werlen, UNESCO-Chair Glob­al Under­stand­ing for Sustainability

Sec­tion 1 Youth, Arts & Her­itage: Voic­es of Diver­si­ty for Sus­tain­able Africa

2. Youth and Impact: Cre­at­ing Pos­i­tive Futures for Africa

Ger­ald Owino & Saman­tha Waki, The Grass Com­pa­ny (Kenya)

3. Authen­tic Sus­tain­abil­i­ty Through Youth-Led Cul­tur­al Her­itage in Somalia

Abdi­wa­hab Ahmed Ali, Hayaan Her­itage (Soma­lia)

4. WHY & HOW with the Arts 

Mar­galit Berri­et, Mémoire de l’Avenir (France)

Sec­tion 2 Real­iz­ing Africa’s Poten­tial: Cre­at­ing Impact for Sus­tain­able Futures

5. Cel­e­brat­ing Cul­tur­al and African – Glob­al Diver­si­ty through AI and Strate­gic Foresight 

Yul Ander­son, African Amer­i­can Future Soci­ety (USA)

6. Con­nect­ing African Tal­ent to Glob­al Oppor­tu­ni­ties: Build­ing a Sus­tain­able Work­force for the Future 

Mic­ah Elechi, Afrik­Link (Ethiopia)

7. Dis­cus­sion-Pan­el: Pre­sent­ing the Glob­al Sus­tain­able Futures Net­work (GSFN) 

Renu­ka Thako­re, Glob­al Sus­tain­able Futures Net­work CIC (UK)

8. Clos­ing & Outlook 

Ben­no Werlen, UNESCO-Chair Glob­al Under­stand­ing for Sustainability