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Editorial: Education for Sustainable Development
Environmental Values, 2013
In the early days of concern for the environment it was clear that education had a role to play and that this role was not one that could be fulfilled simply by investigation of, and transmission of information about, the environment. As E. F. Schumacher pointed out in 1973: At present, there can be little doubt that the whole of [hu]mankind is in mortal danger, not because we are short of scientific and technological knowhow, but because we tend to use it destructively, without wisdom. More education can help us only if it produces more wisdom (1974: 66).
Educational Philosophy and Theory
In this article, we address the limitations of sustainable development as an orienting educational horizon of hope and change, given that mainstream development presumes the possibility of perpetual growth and consumption on a finite planet. Facing these limitations requires us to consider the inherently violent and unsustainable nature of our modern-colonial modes of existence. Thus, we propose a shift from "education for sustainable development" to "education for the end of the world as we know it." We contend that the predicament we face is not primarily rooted in ignorance and thus solvable with more knowledge, nor primarily rooted in immorality and thus solvable with more normative values; rather, it is rooted in denials that stem from harmful desires for and investments in the continuity of the securities and satisfactions promised by modernity-coloniality. Faced with these denials, we emphasize a collective need to "grow up" so that we might "show up" differently to do the work that is needed as we collectively face unprecedented global challenges.
Current Issues in Comparative Education, 2016
In 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The notion of “transformative education” is being mainstreamed in the work of UNESCO within the new framework of the SDGs, which officially succeeded the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA). This article briefly outlines the shifting international discourses surrounding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), now enshrined in SDG Target 4.7. The meanings of ESD have shifted in relation to other education movements, including Environmental Education, EFA, and more recently, Global Citizenship Education (GCED). By reviewing how ESD and GCED—as currently defined and promoted by UNESCO—approach climate change and the question of securing a sustainable future for humanity, the article delineates how the recent marriage of ESD and GCED in one target of the SDGs is weakening,...
International Journal of Educational Development, 2024
This editorial essay introduces the 27 papers included in the special issue proposed by the SDG Academy of the U. N. Sustainable Development Network on the nature, extent, and challenges to progress towards SDG 4: Quality Education for All at the mid-point of the 2030 campaign. Problematic paradigms, and potential pathways towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4. With contributrions from leading scholars and practitioners working in the areas of global governance, international development education, and comparative education, this special issue reflects on how far the world has come, provides clarity on what the fundamental obstacles to progress have been, and offers suggestions for ways forward, in addition to raising issues and posing (at times, uncomfortable) questions with which stakeholders should grapple as they work towards SDG 4-and future global goals. The commentaries are focused on five interconnected themes. These themes relate not only to progress on SDG 4 but also to the key conditions (capacity), processes (measurement), and contexts (e.g. vulnerable contexts) that are relevant to debates about how to make progress on SDG 4, or whether a different approach (geo-political and/or onto-epistemic in nature) is necessary. This essay concludes by encouraging the reader to decide for themselves which arguments they see as being more persuasive. We wouldencourage readers to reflect on why one argument or line of reasoning may resonate more or less-and to consider what the cause of that resonance could be. It is suggested that each reader, each of us, also has work to do when it comes to reflecting on the positions that we take or favor, why, and which voices or perspectives are left out by our answers to these questions. As the contributions to this special issue suggest, there are no easy answers.
Issues and trends in Education for Sustainable Development
UNESCO, 2018
Chapter 1, From Agenda 21 to Target 4.7: the development of ESD, by Alexander Leicht, Bernard Combes, Won Jung Byun and Adesuwa Vanessa Agbedahin, provides an account of this emergence and the development of the concept of ESD. The chapter highlights the two flows of change: the development of ESD examining both the integration of sustainable development into education systems and how education has been embedded in the discourse of sustainable development. It addresses certain international processes that supported the emergence of ESD and shows how these two flows of change laid strong grounds for ESD over the years. Among other things, the chapter addresses the increasing centrality of ESD to the global education discourse, as reflected in the Education 2030 Agenda, and the relevance of education and particularly ESD in relation to the achievement of all the SDGs.
Westminster. 2 The Future We Want 229. We reaffirm our commitments to the right to education and in this regard, we commit to strengthen international cooperation to achieve universal access to primary education, particularly for developing countries. We further reaffirm that full access to quality education at all levels is an essential condition for achieving sustainable development, poverty eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment as well as human development, for the attainment of the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals, as well as for the full participation of both women and men, in particular young people. In this regard, we stress the need for ensuring equal access to education for persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, local communities, ethnic minorities and people living in rural areas. 230. We recognize that the younger generations are the custodians of the future, as well as the need for better quality and access to education beyond the primary level. We therefore resolve to improve the capacity of our education systems to prepare people to pursue sustainable development, including through enhanced teacher training, the development of curricula around sustainability, the development of training programmes that prepare students for careers in fields related to sustainability, and more effective use of information and communication technologies to enhance learning outcomes. We call for enhanced cooperation among schools; communities and authorities in efforts to promote access to quality education at all levels. 231. We encourage Member States to promote Sustainable Development awareness among Youth, inter alia, by promoting programmes for non-formal education in accordance with the Goals of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. 232. We emphasize the importance of greater international cooperation to improve access to Education including through building and strengthening education infrastructure, increasing Investment in education particularly investment to improve the quality of education for all in Developing countries. We encourage international educational exchanges and partnerships, including the creation of fellowships and scholarships to help achieve global education goals. 233. We resolve to promote Education for Sustainable Development and to integrate Sustainable development more actively into education beyond the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005Development ( -2014. 234. We strongly encourage educational institutions to consider adopting good practices in sustainability management on their campuses and in their communities with the active participation of inter alia students, teachers, and local partners, and teaching sustainable development as an integrated component across disciplines. 235. We underscore the importance of supporting educational institutions, especially higher educational institutions in developing countries, to carry out research and innovation for sustainable development, including in the field of education, to develop quality and innovative programmes, including entrepreneurship and business skills training, professional, technical, vocational training and lifelong learning, geared to bridging skills gaps for advancing national sustainability. 3 A new global partnership: eradicate poverty and transform economies through Sustainable Development (The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda).
Education for Sustainable Development: two sides and an edge
2008
In this thinkpiece, Paul Vare and William Scott, use the distinction they have made between ESD 1, learning for sustainable development, and ESD 2, learning as sustainable development, in order to comment on the issue of Fairtrade and the different approaches that might be taken, ie, seeing this as something to promote as a 'good thing', and something to critically explore as a complex and contentious sustainable development issue. They consider the relationship between these approaches and the importance of critical literacy.