EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

ELIUD BUNDI ONDARA

A Case of People with Disability

Questions to consider:

• What is sustainable Development Goals?• Why should we bother with it?• The challenge to education• The implications of ‘sustainable education’

Introduction

• In September 2000, one hundred and eighty nine countries adopted the eight (8) goals to be achieved by 2015.

• The MDGs were drawn from the action and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration by the countries.

MDGs

However!

• Persons with disabilities are not mentioned in the 8 MDGs or the 21 targets or the 60 indicators.

• This fact represents a lost opportunity to address the pressing social, educational, health and economic concerns of millions of the world’s most marginalized citizens

What are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a proposed set of targets relating to future international development.

• The SDGs were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20).

• On 19 July 2014, the UN General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) forwarded a proposal for the SDGs to the Assembly.

Sustainable Development

• The use of renewable and nonrenewable resources in a manner that satisfies our current needs but does not compromise the future availability of resources.

• According to the UN, sustainable development “meets the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

• Solutions must meet environmental, economic, and social goals simultaneously to satisfy the triple bottom line

Sustainable Development Goals

• GOAL 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere• GOAL 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved

nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture• GOAL 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for

all at all ages• GOAL 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education

and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

• GOAL 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

• GOAL 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

• GOAL 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

• GOAL 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

• GOAL 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

• GOAL 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries• GOAL 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,

resilient and sustainable• GOAL 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns• GOAL 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its

impacts*

• GOAL 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

• GOAL 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

• GOAL 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

• GOAL 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Aspects of Well-beingBasic Needs Food, shelter, secure livelihood

Good Health Physical and mental health and a robust natural environment

Healthy Social Relations A supportive social network

Security Personal safety and security of one’s possessions

Freedom The capacity to achieve one’s development potential

What is Sustainable Development?

Development which meets:

• … the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

-Nelson Mandela.  

Education for Sustainable Development

Education today does not sufficiently prepare learners to contribute to sustainable development.

Themes like climate change or biodiversity need to be integrated into teaching and learning.

Teaching and learning needs to be designed in a participatory, learner-centred way.

What Education for Sustainable Development means…

• People do their basic development• Preparation of confident and independent student• Create Equality • Priority for Self-activity• Thinking about other development • Permanent type development

What need to be done?

• ESD affects all components of education:

• Legislation,

• Policy, finance,

• Curriculum,

• Instruction,

• Learning,

• Assessment, etc.

“We resolve to promote education for sustainable development … beyond the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.”

Global Action Programme on ESD

To mobilize education and learning to accelerate progress towards sustainable development.

a. Reorienting education and learning so that everyone has the opportunity to acquire the values, skills and knowledge that empower them to contribute to sustainable development.

b. Enhancing the role of education and learning in all relevant agendas, programmes and activities that promote sustainable development.

Key principles and definitionsESD concerns educational content and methodology

ESD promotes skills like critical thinking and imagining future scenarios

ESD treats the three pillars of SD in an integrated manner

ESD encompasses formal, non-formal and informal education and learning

The Global Programme also encompasses activities that are in line with the above but may not be called ‘ESD’

Priority action areas

Advancing policy

Transforming learning and training environments

Building capacity of educators and trainers

Empowering and mobilizing youth

Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level

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2

3

4

5

1. Advancing Policy

Integrate ESD into international and national policies in education and sustainable development by mainstreaming good practices and bringing about systemic change.

Work with Ministry of Education to strengthen ESD policy Connect ESD policy with other sectors (e.g., aligning low-carbon

strategies with content of TVET)

2. Transforming learning and training environments

Integrate sustainability principles into institutions through whole-institution approaches.

Support education institution to set up a school sustainability plan Work with private companies to transform them into inspiring

models of sustainability through education and training

Priority action areas

3. Building capacity of educators and trainersBuild capacities of educators and trainers to become learning facilitators for ESD.

Introduce ESD into pre-service and in-service education and training.

4. Empowering and mobilizing youthSupport youth in their role as change agents.

Design learner-centered ESD opportunities, such as e-learning and mobile learning.

Work with youth-driven organizations to enhance youth participation in addressing sustainability challenges.

5. Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level Develop innovative solutions to sustainable development challenges at the local level.

Work with local authorities and municipalities to enhance ESD programmes.

Priority action areas

Status of ESD in Kenya

• NEMA and civil society organizations play a key role in leading, but also supporting, learning opportunities for change towards sustainable development across the sectors.

• ESD activities are taking place including: raising awareness, providing capacities and skills, and empowering people and communities to create more sustainable futures.

• As part of the implementation NEMA has spearheaded formation of 9 RCE (Regional Centres of Expertise).

• Advocacy and community sensitization is going on at three levels: Government, NGO and private sector at community levels.

What is Disability?

• A disadvantage or deficiency, especially a physical or mental impairment that interferes with or prevents normal achievement in a particular area, or something that hinders or incapacitates.

• According to the definition of World Health Organization, disability is described as three distinct folds…

Cursed OR BLESSED…!!!

Impairment

Disability

Handicap

• Impairment: Any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure of a function

• Disability: Resulting from impairment, an restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being

• Handicap: A disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or a disability, that prevents the fulfillment of a role, considered normal, depending upon age, ethics and cultural and social factors, for an individual

Situation of PWDs

• Persons with disabilities face barriers to participation in society.

• Persons with disabilities and their families are overrepresented among those living in absolute poverty.

• Persons with disabilities are particularly at risk to the effects of climate change.

ESD Is About Learning To:

• Respect, value and preserve the achievements of the past;

• Appreciate the wonders and the peoples of the Earth;

• Live in a world where all people have sufficient food for a healthy and productive life;

• Assess, care for and restore the state of our Planet;

• Create and enjoy a better, safer, more just world;

• Be caring citizens who exercise their rights and responsibilities locally, nationally and globally.

Four Key goals for disability

1. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life long learning opportunities for all

2. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls3. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact

4. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Lessons Learnt…

• ESD calls for lifelong learning and recognizes the fact that the educational needs of people change over their lifetime. 

• ESD has essential characteristics that can be implemented in many culturally appropriate forms.

Therefore ESD:• is based on the principles and values that underlie sustainable development;

• deals with the well-being of all four dimensions of sustainability – environment, society, culture and economy;

• uses a variety of pedagogical techniques that promote participatory learning and higher-order thinking skills;

• promotes lifelong learning;

• is locally relevant and culturally appropriate;

• is based on local needs, perceptions and conditions, but acknowledges that fulfilling local needs often has international effects and consequences;

• engages formal, non-formal and informal education;

• accommodates the evolving nature of the concept of sustainability;

• addresses content, taking into account context, global issues and local priorities;

• builds civil capacity for community-based decision-making, social tolerance, environmental stewardship, an adaptable workforce, and a good quality of life;

• is interdisciplinary. No single discipline can claim ESD for itself; all disciplines can contribute to ESD.

Conclusion

• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) processes emphasize the need for stimulating a holistic, integrated and interdisciplinary approach to developing the knowledge and skills needed for a sustainable future as well as changes in values, behaviour, and lifestyles.