Conference unites the Regional Centers of Expertise (RCEs) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) of the Americas to exchange experiences and joint work plans between centers located in South America, Central and North.

The United Nations University (UNU) has been implementing the Programme on Education for Sustainable Development through the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) since 2003 to promote the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014) as well as to contribute to the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD. Since this time, UNU has been advancing ESD through Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on a global scale as a unique contribution to multi-stakeholder learning and networking. At present, there are 149 RCEs around the world including 21 in the Americas.

The "RCE CRIE-Curitiba - Regional Center for Integration Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development" was approved in 2007 and became the first RCE in Latin America. It is currently based in the Green Office of the Federal University of Technology of Paraná (UTFPR). The RCE CRIE-Curitiba consists of a network formed between UTFPR, UFPR, PUCPR, ISAE, Sistema FIEP-PR and other collaborating institutions.

In 2010, it was held at the headquarters FIEP, the world meeting of RCEs, with more than twenty countries represented and about six hundred participants. In 2016, we will hold this time the Conference of the Americas once again in Curitiba with the theme of "Low Carbon Economy, Renewable Energy and Cities: the Role of Education".

Representatives of the RCEs of the Americas are invited to come to present their projects and discuss their experiences with us.