Introduction to Education for Sustainable Development

Gregory Borne

What is the difference between education about sustainable development and education for sustainable development. How does this difference impact on the way education is delivered and received?

Question

Recap – Sustainability Science and interdisciplinarity

Evolution of ESD. Importance of the United Nations

What does ESD mean Sustainable education, skills and

competencies Discuss the exam question

Outline of the talk

Tuesday -Introduction to sustainability science and inter-disciplinarity

Explored sustainable development as a concept and some of the pro’s and cons

Wicked problems – complex, messy do not fit into disciplinary boundaries

Disciplines and inter-disciplinarity

Sustainability Science

Recap

Evolution of Education for Sustainable Development

Drivers from outside the education system

United Nations has had a significant impact

A number of conferences and events each one building up a picture of what needed to be achieved through education

Origins of Education for Sustainable

Development

United Nations conference on Environment and Development (Rio Earth Summit) 1992

Agenda 21 has been described as a blueprint for sustainable development

Highlighted the importance of education for sustainable development (1992)

United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development

Elements Issues

Social and economic

dimensions to development

Poverty, production and consumption, health, human

settlement, integrated decision-making

Conservation and

Management of natural

Resources

Atmosphere, oceans and seas, land, forests,

mountains, biological diversity, ecosystems,

biotechnology, fresh water resources, toxic

chemicals, hazardous radioactive and solid waste

Strengthening role of major

groups

Youth, women, indigenous people, NGOs, local

authorities, trade unions, businesses, scientific and

technical communities, farmers

Means of implementation Finance, technology transfer, information, public

awareness, capacity building, education, legal

instruments, institutional frameworks

Foundations of education for Sustainable Development 40 Chapters covering 4 broad areas

Agenda 21 Chapter 36Promoting Education, Public

Awareness and Training

Chapter 36 Agenda 21 Connection between Sustainability Science and Education

The generation and application of knowledge, especially indigenous and local knowledge, to the capacities of different environments and cultures, to achieve sustained levels of development, taking into account interrelations at the national, regional and international levels;

35.7. Countries, with the assistance of international organizations, where required, should: […](h)  Develop methods to link the findings of the established sciences with the indigenous knowledge of different cultures. The methods should be tested using pilot studies. They should be developed at the local level and should concentrate on the links between the traditional knowledge of indigenous groups and corresponding, current "advanced science", with particular focus on disseminating and applying the results to environmental protection and sustainable development. […]

‘United Nations Decade of ‘Education for Sustainable Development’

(ESD) 2005-2014

UNESCO - ESD involves: “learning how to make decisions that consider the long-term future of the economy, ecology & equity of all communities”

“Every individual... has an obligation & an interest in changing outlooks through education & by example, thereby helping to end thoughtless or deliberate waste & destruction”. UN Secretary General - Kofi Annan (2004, p1)

Goal of UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-14

… to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of learning in order to encourage changes in behaviour that allow for a more sustainable and just society for all. This involves learning the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation.

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

It seeks to break down traditional educational boundries and promotes:

Interdisciplinary and holistic learning rather than subject-based learning

Values-based learning Critical thinking rather than memorizing

and fact accumulation Multi-method approaches: word, art,

drama, debate, etc. Participatory decision-making Locally rather than nationally relevant

information.

Decade for Education for Sustainable Development

UN Decade for ESD (2005-15) DIUS Sustainable Development Action Plan HEFCE’s Strategic Review of SD in HE and SD Action Plan

(‘09) HEFCE’s Carbon Reduction Target and Strategy for HE (‘10) HE Academy ESD Project - recognised as a priority Sustainability CETLs and a growing number of leader HEIs People and Planet ‘Green League’ Future Leaders Survey Green Gown Awards (University of St Andrews) Rise of Regional Centres of Expertise Universities UK SD Group and Statement of Intent Academy/SFC review of sustainability in the Scottish HEI

sector

Momentum

UNDESD has had a direct impact on the Scottish education system

‘Leaning for change: Scotland's action plan for the second half of the UNDESD’

Learning for sustainable development is fully integrated into all stages of the formal education system

There are lifelong opportunities to learn The sustainable development message is understood and acted

upon We share our skills, expertise and resources through strong

networks and partnerships

Scotland

Relationship between real world aspirations and practical implementation

Professor Stephen Sterling makes a distinction between two types of leaning/Education regarding sustainable development

Institutional learning – refers to the social and organizational learning that the policy makers and providers themselves undergo or experience: For example government education departments, schools, universities and educational agencies

Designed Learning – is concerned with all educational programmes

Sustainability requires learning within educational systems, not just learning through educational systems

A ‘Sustainability Literate’ Person…

Would be expected to:

• understand the need for change to a sustainable way of doing things, individually and collectively

• have sufficient knowledge and skills to decide and act in a way that favours sustainable development

• be able to recognise and reward other people’s decisions and actions that favour sustainable development

- Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability www.heps.org.uk Forum for the Future

‘Sustainability literacy’: the ability..

- to appreciate importance of environmental, social, economic and

political contexts

- to solve real-life problems in a non-reductionist manner

- to think creatively and holistically and make critical judgements

- to develop high-level of self reflection, personal and professional

- to identify, understand, evaluate and adopt values conducive to sustainability

- to bridge the gap between theory and practice

- to participate creatively in inter-discipinary teams

- to initiate and manage change

AND, have a broad and balance foundation knowledge of SD

the ability to think about systems (both natural and social systems);

the ability to think in time – to forecast, to think ahead, and to plan;

the ability to think critically about value issues; the ability to comprehend quantity, quality, and

value; the capacity to move from awareness to knowledge

to action; the ability to work cooperatively with other people; the capacity to use various processes – knowing,

inquiring, acting, judging, imagining, connecting, valuing, questioning

and choosing; and the capacity to develop an aesthetic response to the

environment.

Skills for Sustainable Development

Barriers

Cited factors

Limited institutional commitment

Crowded curriculum Perceived irrelevance Limited staff awareness

and/or expertise Limited commitment from

external stakeholders Perceived as separate

and/or too demanding

Types of barriers

Paradigmatic/psychological Policy/purpose related Structural (governance,

compartmentalisation etc) Resource/information

deficiency

Sterling’s eight Key questions for Transformative learning

Holistic –How does this relate to that? Critical- Why are things this way, in whose interests Appreciative- what’s good and what already works

here Who and What is being heard, listened to and

engaged Systematic what are or might be the consequences

of this action? Creative what innovation might be required Ethical- How should this relate to that? What is wise

action, how can we work towards the inclusive well being of the whole system – social economic and ecological

Practical- How do we take this forward with sustainability in mind as our guiding principle

Transformative rather than Transmissive learning

… the volume of education has increased and continues to increase, yet so do pollution, exhaustion of resources, and the dangers of ecological catastrophe. If still more education is to save us, it would have to be education of a different kind: an education that takes us into the depth of things. (Schumacher, 1997)

Is Education a Good Thing?

• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity• Willing to take a risk to make a difference• More interested in solving problems than

taking credit• Both effective advocates and listeners• Eager to imagine and implement daring

multifaceted solutions – together

- Lawrence Bacow, President of Tufts University, Rappaport A and Creighton S H (2007) Degrees that matter. Massachusetts: MIT Press

Students as ‘Active, Engaged, and Effective Citizens’ are…

Education for sustainable development has been implemented from above but is now being driven at all levels

It is now having profound effects on education worldwide

Direct relationship between sustainability science and education for sustainable development

Essential lessons

Key Texts

SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATIONPerspectives and practice across higher education