Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Education for Sustainable Development has been a key exploration of the UN since the idea of sustainable development was first endorsed at the UN general assembly in 1987. Initial ideas of ESD were encapsulated in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 which comments on “Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training” and specifically discusses re-orienting education towards sustainable development, encompassing all streams of education, both formal and non-formal, basic education and all the key issues related to educating for sustainable human development. Since then there has been increasing recognition of the critical role of education in promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns in order to change attitudes and behavior of people as individuals, including as producers and consumers, and as citizens. ESD equally addresses all three pillars of sustainable development - society, environment and economy - with culture as an essential additional and underlying dimension. By embracing these elements in a holistic and integrated manner, ESD enables all individuals to fully develop the knowledge, perspectives, values and skills necessary to take part in decisions to improve the quality of life both locally and globally on terms which are most relevant to their daily lives. Thus the key word is education for sustainable development, as opposed to environmental education or education about sustainable development which are more information-driven concepts.

ESD has most commonly been progressed through non-formal education by NGOs, rather than through national curriculum activities, although more recently it has started being incorporated into citizenship and geography subjects. ESD is important in not only informing people about sustainable development practice, but also in helping them to make sustainable decisions. ESD needs to work in conjunction with traditional education in order to reverse the current paradox that with more education the educated consume more and are less sustainable. ESD aims to create a population aware of the goals of a sustainable society which has the knowledge and skills to contribute to these goals.

In spite of multiple efforts to strengthen ESD, many challenges remain. In particular, there is a need:

to integrate sustainable science and education;
to strengthen co-ordination and collaboration between different levels of education for SD;
and to mitigate information and knowledge gaps between different parts of the world.

The ultimate vision of ESD is to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from quality education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation. ESD is for everyone, at all stages of life and in all possible learning contexts. ESD employs a partnership approach that engages multiple sectors and stakeholders – including media agencies and the private sector – and utilizes all forms and methods of public awareness raising, education and training to promote a broad understanding of sustainable development.

A timeline on the history of ESD can be accessed here.

References:

UNESCO http://portal.unesco.org
UNEP http://www.unep.org/
UNDP http://www.undp.org/
ESD Toolkit http://www.esdtoolkit.org/discussion/default.htm