The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

2005 - 2014Bernard Combes

Planet Earth – our world … that needs to change

What is Sustainable Development?

A vision of development that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources – water, air, energy – and that integrates concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue, etc.

What is Sustainable Development?

« Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our

mother. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.

This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.

Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does

to the web, he does to himself. » 

Chief Seattle, 1854

What matters?

• basic education for all ($6 billion) versus cosmetics in the US ($8 billion)

• water and sanitation for all ($9 billion) versus ice cream in Europe ($11 billion)

• basic health and nutrition ($13 billion) versus pet foods in Europe & the US ($17 billion)

• reproductive health for all women ($12 billion) versus perfumes in Europe & the US ($12 billion)

Human Development Report 1998

Why Education for Sustainable Development?

Earth is marked by, for example:

deforestation, with half of the world’s forests destroyed

difficult access to safe drinking water

rapid spread of HIV & AIDS

many indigenous languages threatened by extinction

Four Dimensions of Sustainable Development

• Environment – an awareness of natural resources and the fragility of the physical environment

• Economy – a sensitivity to the limits and potential of economic growth and its impact on society and on the environment

• Society – an understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development

• Culture – ways of being, relating, behaving, believing, and acting which differ according to context, history and tradition - as an underlying and critical dimension

What is Education for Sustainable Development?

What is Education for Sustainable Development?

• A new vision of education

• An education empowering people to commit themselves to sustainability

• An education for democracy

• An education at all levels of education systems, using all modalities, and in all social contexts

The practice of values

Respect for:

• dignity and human rights of all people

• rights of future generations and inter-generational responsibility

• the greater community of life (ecosystems)

• cultural diversity and a commitment to build peace

«You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful

place in the world ... but it requires people to make the

dream a reality.»

Walt Disney

« Human beings are at the centre of concerns for

sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy

and productive life in harmony with nature.»

(Principle 1, 1992, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development)

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.

UN DESD Vision

UN DESD (2005 – 2014)

Promotes an education that:

• is relevant to the key problems of living in the 21st century, that empowers people to exercise their rights, and that cultivates good citizenship locally, nationally and globally

• offers the possibility of serving as a larger framework for all values-related education, including human rights education, peace education, inter-faith / inter-cultural education and education for international understanding

• aims to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of learning to encourage changes in behaviour which will enable a more viable and fairer society for everyone

Pillars of Education for Sustainable Development

Learning to know - acquire instruments of understanding

Learning to be - see oneself as the main actor in defining positive outcome for the future

Learning to do - be able to act creatively and responsibly in one’s environment

Learning to live together - participate and co-operate with other people in all human activity

Learning to transform oneself and society - develop respect for the environment, social solidarity and non-discrimination

UN DESD International Implementation Scheme

The UN DESD International Implementation Scheme identifies health promotion as as one of the strategic perspectives to inform education and learning for sustainable development during the Decade.

This perspective must inform not only the content of educational programmes, but also characterise teacher/learner and learner/learner relationships. Learning situations of all kinds are ideal opportunities for better understanding health as a key determinant of education and learning outcomes.

22 interactive workshops clustered around four themes:

• Relevance of ESD for key sustainable development challenges:learning about climate change; sustainable lifestyles and consumption; biodiversity; etc.

• Building partnerships to promote ESD:ESD in the private sector; partnerships with the media; ESD in development cooperation; etc.

• Capacity Development for ESD:institutional frameworks to foster ESD; civil society and ESD; indicators for measuring progress in ESD; etc.

• ESD and the teaching-learning process:EFA and ESD; HE and research in ESD; ESD and lifelong learning; etc.

www.esd-world-conference-2009.org/

The Bonn Declaration

Provides strategic orientation for the second half of the Decade

Attests the importance of ESD in the current world situation

Calls for making a compact with the global DESD movement aimed at improving knowledge, skills and competencies, and strengthening values and attitudes

Highlights areas of focus to put knowledge into action and promote further progress in ESD during the next 5 years

Teaching & Learning for a Sustainable Future www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/

UNESCO’s Response to HIV and AIDS: www.unesco.org/en/aids

Focusing Resources on Effective School Health: www.unesco.org/education/fresh

Healing Power of Culture:

www.unesco.org/culture/35gcexhibition/

Environmental Memoirs: www.swinburne.edu.au/ncs/environmentalmemoirs/welcome.htm

Local & Indigenous Knowledge Systems: www.unesco.org/links

Sandwatch Project: www.sandwatch.ca/index.htm

World Campaign on Disaster Prevention through Education:www.unisdr.org/eng/public_aware/world_camp/2006-2007/wdrc-2006-2007.htm

OzonAction Education Pack: www.unep.fr/ozonaction/information/educationpack.htm

YouthXchange: www.youthxchange.net

Young Digital Creators: portal.unesco.org/culture/digiarts

ESD media resource & training kit portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=26388&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

World MS Daywww.worldmsday.org/

Life-Link Earth Care Campaign 2010-2014:www.life-link.org

UNECE/UNESCO Good Practice pilot project: www.unece.org/env/esd/GoodPractices/index.html

Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living: www.perlprojects.org/

Ethics Education Programme (EEP): www.unesco.org/shs/ethics/eep

Earth Charter: www.earthcharter.org/

What can we do?

Recognize teachable moments – individuals often learn moral lessons unconsciously, in casual moments.

Recognize and respond to people’s diverse learning needs and multiple intelligences - we have many intelligences (Dr Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence)

Remember that Education is about relationships, life (action), memory (experiences), imagination (creativity), and most important the quality of listening (or intuition).

« We must use imagination and resolution to go to the roots of the world problems and

nip conflicts in the bud or, better still, prevent them. Learning to live together

means daring to share, daring to do things differently, daring to dream of a better, safer, more just and humane world. It also means having the resolve and courage to transform

our dreams into reality. »

Federico Mayor (former Director-General of UNESCO)

«The ultimate goal of the Decade is that sustainable development must be more than just a slogan. It must be a concrete reality for

all of us – individuals, organizations governments - in all of our daily decisions and actions, so as to promise a sustainable planet

and a safer world, to our children, our grandchildren and their descendants. »

Koïchiro Matsuura (former Director-General of UNESCO)

« I am convinced that Education for Sustainable Development, based on the

interdependence of environment, economy, society and cultural diversity, is the key to a better and more just world of

the 21st century.»

Irina Bokova (Director-General of UNESCO)

Education for Sustainable Development requires educators and learners to:

• reflect critically on their own communities;

• identify non-viable elements in their lives;

• become empowered to develop and evaluate alternative visions of a sustainable future;

• assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future;

• work to collectively fulfill these visions.

Organizations and people capable of growth and development have an ability to:

• learn from experiences, to codify and to store this learning;

• 'learn how to learn,' that is, to develop methodologies for improving the learning process;

• acquire and use feedback on one’s own performance, to develop a 'process orientation,' in short, to be self-analytical;

• direct one’s own destiny.

Bennis, W. (1989). On Becoming A Leader

Learning our way to sustainability

Source: liveearth.org

Education for Sustainable Development 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.

If Sustainable Development is a lifelong journey, If Sustainable Development is a lifelong journey, then ESD is the roadmap, and DESD is the first then ESD is the roadmap, and DESD is the first

phase of this journey !phase of this journey !

UN Decade of Education for Sustainable UN Decade of Education for Sustainable DevelopmentDevelopment

www.unesco.org/education/desd

Email: esddecade@unesco.org

DESD website: www.unesco.org/education/desd

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