Education for people, prosperity and planet: Can we meet the sustainability challenges (original) (raw)

2017, European Journal of Education

At the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including one on education (SDG 4). The new development agenda established an ambitious vision of economic, social and environmental priorities until 2030 and succeeded both the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All (EFA) goals whose deadlines expired in 2015. Among advocates of the new agenda—member states, international agencies, civil society groups, academics and corporations—education and lifelong learning are thought to play a critical role in the transformation towards a more environmentally-sustainable world, working alongside initiatives from government, civil society and the private sector. Not only does education shape learners' knowledge, values, behaviour and perspectives, it also contributes to their acquisition of competencies, skills, concepts and tools that can be used to reduce and even halt unsustainable practices and build resilience in the face of environmental degradation and the impact of climate change. By becoming an integral member of the grand international development coalition, it is hoped that education will gain new prominence and its rightful place as the key enabler of all SDGs. However, as is often the case in such political decisions, the embedding of the broad EFA agenda into the even broader SDG agenda contains risks. The education sector will likely lose some of its autonomy and no longer be a master of its own fate. This editorial introduces a special issue of the European Journal of Education which focuses on the links between education and sustainable development.

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