Bandung, UPI

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) took part in the 2026 UNESCO-UNITWIN International Conference on Quality Teacher Education, held on 12–13 October 2026 at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. The 12th edition of the conference was jointly hosted by the Korea National University of Education (KNUE) and the University of the Philippines. It brought together delegations from six countries: South Korea, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Under the theme “Perspectives on Sustainable Teacher Education: New Horizons for Teacher Capacity-Building and Development in the Digital Transition,” educators, researchers and other stakeholders from UNITWIN partner universities met to discuss the future of teacher education. The forum is closely linked to two Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 4 on quality education and SDG 17 on partnerships for the goals.

The first day opened with welcome remarks from UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II and Prof. Dr. Young-Hoon Kim, Director of KNUE UNITWIN. Four keynote speeches followed. They covered eight years of lessons from the UNITWIN programme, sustainable and digitally transitioning teacher education in the Philippines, AI EdTech partnerships in schools, and the reform of pre-service science teacher education. In the afternoon, delegates from partner universities presented their work in four presentation and Q&A sessions. On the second day, the partner universities held discussion sessions on future collaboration. The conference then closed with remarks from KNUE and the UP College of Education, followed by an official luncheon with UP President Angelo A. Jimenez.

Indonesia was represented by a UPI delegation of Prof. Dr. phil. Ari Widodo, M.Ed, Dr. Rini Solihat, M.Si and Dr. Eliyawati, M.Pd who contributed two presentations in support of SDG 4. In “The Roles of UNITWIN Project in Promoting Quality Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education,” Prof. Ari Widodo explained how the UNITWIN collaboration has helped improve the quality of teacher preparation and teachers’ continuing professional development. In “From Training to Transformation: Integrating STEM-ESD and Scientific Argumentation into Science Lesson Design,” Dr. Rini Solihat showed how teacher training has turned into classroom practice. They described how teachers combine STEM, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and scientific argumentation when they design science lessons. Both presentations reflect SDG 4’s focus on qualified teachers and on education for sustainable development.

For UPI, the conference was an important step towards SDG 17 and a stronger network of international collaboration. The forum brought six countries together in one room and gave UPI the chance to deepen its ties with partner universities in Korea and Southeast Asia, exchange good practices and explore joint research and capacity-building initiatives. Through its active role in the UNESCO-UNITWIN network, UPI continues to support a regional partnership that prepares teachers for a sustainable and digitally connected future.