Learning Planet Academy
Empowering Youth For Peaceful & Sustainable Futures
The world will not meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN Summit of the Future 2024 declared that national and international decisions should take into account the interests of future generations. We must now empower youth to codesign the future of learning to enable them to “learn to be the change they want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi).
However, today’s Education systems are often ill-equipped to prepare students for the complexities of contemporary challenges. Students need to learn essential competencies such as collaborative problem-solving, critical thinking, and sustainability science and practices to build peaceful, sustainable and inclusive societies.
In response, we are committed to launching a new form of Planetary Academy, to empower learners to become planetary citizens.
This worldwide initiative is designed to transform learning experiences into a catalyst for the systemic shifts needed to achieve global peace and sustainability.
This Academy will offer diverse multilingual experiential learning opportunities, both online and on the ground, across three levels:
- Students: To develop key 21st-century skills for peace and sustainability
- Teachers: To equip them to guide students in acquiring these skills
- Leaders: To enable them to design impactful training programmes for both teachers and students
Key Principles of the Planetary Academy
- Transforming Learning Approaches: Participants engage in hands-on research to explore issues through a scientific lens, design and implement community-based projects to prototype practical solutions, and develop essential skills for addressing real-world challenges
- Co-constructing and Co-Leading with Youth: Through the annual Youth Design Challenge, young people worldwide submit ideas for innovative and impactful educational programmes. This ensures that the Academy remains inclusive of future generations and responsive to their evolving needs. In addition, youth representatives, empowered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and collective intelligence tools, play an active role in the Academy’s governance, offering continuous input on key decisions that affect them.
- Leveraging Existing Research-Based Initiatives: The Academy will build on key networks and initiatives of UNESCO, United Nations University, the Learning Planet Institute and their partners. Its content, tools and methods will be nurtured by participatory active research on “Learning Transitions”. This research explores three critical dimensions: the transitions of learning, the learning of transitions and the transitions of learners and learning organisations in the AI age.
- AI-Enabled Personalised Learning at Scale: Training will be delivered both online and on-site through a global network of university and community partners, supported by AI-driven tools that facilitate personalised learning, collective intelligence and collective decision-making. Students projects will be documented in an open-source database, fostering continuous improvement of the initiative.
Targets, Impact & Benefits
- Youth-Led Change: The Academy will nurture a new generation of young leaders equipped to drive meaningful change within their communities, fostering more peaceful, inclusive and sustainable societies.
- Empowered Teachers through Lifelong Learning: The Academy will deliver targeted training programmes to equip teachers with the tools to teach 21st-century skills, knowledge, competencies and ethics. These programmes will empower teachers to inspire their students to face the challenges of our time.
- Capacity Building for Systemic Change: Through leadership training and advocacy, the Academy will champion the adoption of innovative pedagogies across all age groups. By expanding access to sustainability education and innovative learning programmes, it will drive institutional reforms, demonstrating the impact of real-world learning on both young people and their communities.
On April 24, 2025, while visiting our campus, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier discussed shared priorities around youth engagement and inclusion of young people in decision-making spaces.
An amazing opportunity to connect UN leadership with our youth community in France and online over the world!
The Greet & Meet ended with a special session of Model United Nations (MUN) – an educational simulation of the United Nations designed to train students in international negotiations – which marked the pilot launch of ReModel UN, led by a cohort of Pole Leonard de Vinci students.
Co-Designing with Youth: Our Projects
"Future of Learning with Youth"
1st United Nations University Hub
in France
This UNU Hub will focus on creating transformative learning experiences that inspire and empower youth to shape global peace and sustainability.
Youth Design Challenge
The Learning Planet Youth Design Challenge is an intergenerational, global movement to build a new form of planetary university adapted to transitions across the world.
Peaceful Futures
Peaceful Futures aims to train and empower hundreds of young leaders worldwide, fostering true artisans of peace.
Youth Fellows
Youth Fellows accompanies initiatives supporting hundreds of young people engaged in the fields of Education, rights, health and the environment.
Our Latest News
“In the MOOD for Climate Action”: Applications now open!
The Learning Planet Institute is launching “In the MOOD for Climate Action”, a 4-week climate fully funded pilot programme gives students the opportunity to tackle global challenges through real-world projects, and learning socio-emotional skills.
News Tank TV – Le LPI et l’éducation au développement durable vus par R. Costambeys-Kempczynski
Raphael Costambeys-Kempczynski, directeur du pôle éducation du Learning Planet Institute, répond à News Tank TV.
The Conversation – Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence
An opinion piece by Iveta Silova, Professor of Comparative and International Education, Arizona State University & Friend of the Learning Planet Institute and of our Scientific Advisory Board
Educavox – Le Learning Planet Institute et l’Université des Nations Unies (UNU) initient “Future of Learning with Youth”, le 1er Hub français de l’UNU
L’Université des Nations Unies (UNU) et le Learning Planet Institute (LPI) ont signé un accord qui initie “Future of Learning with Youth”, un Hub de l’Université des Nations Unies dédié à l’avenir de l’apprentissage avec les jeunes.
Manifesto for the Planetary Mission of the University
This Manifesto proposes a Planetary Mission for universities: an evolution from knowledge gatekeepers to bridge-builders that orchestrate transdisciplinary solutions, steward the global commons, and nurture inclusive models of learning and governance. By Pavel Luksha & François Taddei.
AuFutur – Le Learning Planet Institute et l’Université des Nations Unies créent le premier Hub français dédié à l’avenir de l’apprentissage avec les jeunes
Une grande première en France ! le Learning Planet Institute et l’Université des nations Unies (UNU) viennent de signer un
B SMART 4Change TV – Écologie : comment donner aux jeunes le pouvoir d’agir ?
Pour 82 % des 18-30 ans, avoir un emploi qui respecte l’environnement est un critère important, selon une enquête de
News Tank – Learning Planet Institute : 1er hub français de l’Université des Nations Unies ; gain en « légitimité »
L’UNU et le LPI signent le 25/03 un accord qui initie « Future of Learning with Youth », un hub de l’UNU dédié à l’avenir de l’apprentissage avec les jeunes.
