https://outreach.ou.edu/Community-Services Parent Page: Community Services id: 29100 Active Page: About PSIid:29700

ABOUT PSI

Public Service Institute (PSI) is a program within the University of Oklahoma Outreach, College of Continuing Education. In collaboration with global partners, PSI serves as a catalyst and convener of policy-makers, professionals, practitioners, and community persons to design and initiate policies, programs, practices, and services to meet the development needs of people in communities in Oklahoma, the nation, and internationally.

PSI has accepted the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to address global inequities. Using a Capacity-Building Framework and High-Impact Technical Assistance model and working with global partners, including non-governmental, community service, faith-based, private sector, foundations, and academic institutions, PSI is committed to:

SDG 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

Ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

Substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries for enrollment in higher education.

Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet.

Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological, and technical support.

Enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.

Capacity building

Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships

Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular, developing countries..

University Outreach

OU Outreach is committed to meeting the education and training needs of a wide variety of individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities. Nationally recognized for its pioneering efforts in continuing education, Outreach extends the educational resources of the University of Oklahoma on campus, online, and at locations around the world.

Mission Statement

PSI, in partnership with US partners and entities in developing countries, endeavor to promote a transformative vision for a better world. Its mission is to focus on the socio-economic development needs of people in communities in Oklahoma and within the United States, as well as in developing countries. In this regard, with the leadership of the local communities, PSI and its partners will assist local communities to design and initiate programs and best practices for supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Informational Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D).