Education for Sustainable Development

Workshop Part II:

What is ESD?

Rosalyn McKeown, Ph.D.

Portland State University
Portland International Initiative for
Leadership in Ecology, Language and Culture
The United Nations General Assembly
declared 2005–2014 as the
U.N. Decade of Education
for Sustainable Development.
What is education for sustainable
development (ESD)?

How can I contribute to the

United Nations Decade of ESD?
In Part I of this workshop, we had a
brief introduction to the topic of
sustainable development. Now
let’s look at education for sustainable
development, which is referred to as
ESD.
Education for Sustainable Development . . .

 is a key and vital element in moving

sustainability forward.

 will help people to pursue sustainable

livelihoods, to continue to learn after they leave
school, to participate in community life, and to
live in a sustainable manner.
What are the roles of education in
sustainable development?

To foster environmental stewardship.

To improve quality of life.

To develop creativity and innovation for a

better tomorrow.
What are the roles of education in
sustainable development?
In terms of economic development:
To reduce poverty.
To facilitate development through creating an
educated workforce that can move beyond a
agricultural and extractive economies.
To help everyone do their job better by reducing
environmental impact and creating more just and
equitable workplaces.
To create wise consumers.
What are the roles of education in
sustainable development?
In terms of society:

To raise social tolerance, equity, and justice.

To create life-long learners who can adapt to
societal changes.
To reduce the population growth rate and the
hardships and inequities that accompany rapid
population growth.
What are the roles of education in
sustainable development?
In terms of awareness:
To raise the level of public understanding of
sustainability.
To develop a voting citizenry knowledgeable
about sustainability issues.
To enhance public support or demand to
implement policies related to sustainability.
What are the roles of education in
sustainable development?

In terms of community decision making:

To assist the public develop the skills to be

engaged in the dialog about their future.
To assist citizens develop the skills to
analyze local issues and propose and
implement solutions.
Education: Promise and Paradox
Education is conceptualized as a great
hope for a more sustainable world.
However, we know that the most
educated nations leave the deepest
ecological footprints. Clearly, simply
educating citizenry to higher levels is
not sufficient.
Note the difference
 Education about sustainable development is an
awareness lesson or theoretical discussion.

 Education for sustainable development is the use of

education as a tool to transform our societies to
achieve sustainability.
More than an awareness lesson
or a theoretical discussion is
needed to move countries
toward a more sustainable future.
Characteristics of ESD
 Locally relevant and culturally appropriate.
 Deals with all three realms of sustainability -
environment, society, and economy.
 Based on local needs, priorities, perceptions, and
conditions, but recognizes that fulfilling local needs
often has global effects and consequences.
Characteristics of ESD cont.
 Addresses content, context, and pedagogy.
 Engages formal, non-formal, and informal
education.
 Is a life-long endeavor.
 Accommodates the evolving nature of the concept
of sustainability.
The Strengths Model
ESD is such a large task that efforts from many people and
disciplines are needed to make progress.

Elements of the Strengths Model

Every discipline can contribute to ESD.
Every teacher can contribute to ESD.
Every administrator can contribute to ESD.
No one discipline should claim ownership of ESD.
Strengths Model continued
 Each discipline contributes knowledge and skills.

 Each discipline contributes pedagogical methods.

Strengths Model Examples
 Mathematics helps students understand extremely small
numbers (e.g., parts per hundred, thousand, or million),
which allows them to interpret pollution data.
 Language Arts, especially media literacy, creates
knowledgeable consumers who can analyze the messages of
corporate advertisers and see beyond "green wash.”
 History teaches the concept of global change, while helping
students to recognize that change has occurred for centuries.
Strengths Model Examples cont.
 Reading develops the ability to distinguish
between fact and opinion and helps students
become critical readers of political campaign
literature.
 Social Studies helps students to understand
ethnocentrism, racism, and gender inequity as well
as to recognize how these are expressed in the
surrounding community and in nations worldwide.
Strengths Model continues

 Someone needs to pull together the disciplinary and

pedagogical pieces to form a comprehensive ESD
program.

 We need to overtly tell students that what they are

learning contributes to a more sustainable future.
What is Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD)?

 Improving access to quality basic education,

 Reorienting existing education.

 Improving public understanding and awareness.

 Providing training.
Basic Education
 Access to and quality of a primary education is a
major global issue.

 760 million adults are illiterate.

 Millions of children are excluded from school,

especially females.
Basic Education Transformations
 Basic education allows farmers to gain title to their
land and apply for credit. It also allows farmer to
adapt new methods, cope with risk, and respond to
market signals.
 Basic education transforms the lives of women.
 Enhanced status and sense of efficacy.
 Have fewer and healthier children.
 Have higher expectations for offspring.
 Have more economic opportunities
 Increased well-being of their families.
Basic Education Transformation

Basic education is so important that the UN had three

major efforts related to basic education
Education for All
Decade for Literacy
Millennium Goals
Basic Education
Where education levels are low:
economies are often limited to resource extraction
and agriculture.
development options are hindered.
creating and implementing sustainable development
plans are limited.
For example, a software company will not locate in
a region where the average duration of education is
five years.
Reorienting Education
Question: How is education for sustainable development (ESD)
different than the education we are currently providing our
students?

Answer: An appropriately reoriented education includes more

principles, skills, perspectives, and values related to
sustainability than are currently included in most educational
systems.
Reorienting Education cont.
 An appropriate and relevant curriculum is reoriented
to integrate environment, economy, and society.
 The curriculum balances looking back to traditional
ecological knowledge and looking forward to a more
sustainable society.
 Occurs at all levels - nursery school through
university.
Public Awareness
Sustainable societies require:
A population that is aware of sustainability goals.
An informed voting citizenry.
Knowledgeable consumers who can see beyond the
“green wash.”
A public who are media literate and able to analyze the
messages of corporate advertisers and the advertising
industry.
Training
 The world needs a workforce that is:
 Literate
 Environmentally aware
 Socially equitable and just

 All sectors - business, industry, higher education,

governments, NGOs, and community organizations should
train employees related to environment, society, and economy.
Training cont.
 Training is distinct from education in training is
often specific to a particular job or class of jobs.
 Training informs people of accepted practices and
procedures and gives them skills to perform specific
tasks.
 Examples: safe disposal of cleaning solvents, use of
solar cookers, non- discriminatory hiring.
Four levels of Action

Disciplinary
Whole school
Educational system
International
Action Level; Disciplinary

What can my discipline contribute to

sustainability?
Remember the Strengths Model.
EE and ESD, Education for International
Understanding and ESD, Gender and ESD, etc.
Will engaging a number of disciplines be
sufficient to make progress in ESD?
Action Level: Whole School
 Whole-school approaches
 it takes more than information about sustainability
to make the enormous behavioral shift needed for
a more sustainable future.
 Schools model environmental, social, and economic
sustainability everyday running of school.
 Sustainability is lived to reinforce concepts taught in
the classroom.
Action Level: Educational System

UNESCO identified 5 key aspects of quality

education at the systems level.
creates a legislative framework,
implements good policies,
builds administrative support and leadership,
provides sufficient resources, and
measures learning outcomes
Action Level: Educational System

Contributing to a More Sustainable

Future: Quality Education, Life Skills
and Education for Sustainable
Development
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ima
ges/0014/001410/141019e.pdf
Action Level: International
 Some educational issues take more than a national
approach
 Transnational educational issues:
 Education for and about refugees
 HIV/AIDS
 Educating girls and women
 Four UN Educational Initiatives: MDG, UNLD,
EFA, and UNDESD
Action Level: International
Four UN Educational Initiatives:
Millennium Development Goals
United Nations Literacy Decade
Education For All
United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development
Action on all four of these levels is
needed to make significant progress
during the DESD.
Education is our great hope for a
sustainable future. By taking on
the important task of implementing
ESD you are bringing the possibility
of a more sustainable future to
your community and nation.
 To learn more about ESD read:
Education for Sustainable
Development Toolkit
&
UNESCO’s Contributing to a More
Sustainable Future: Quality Education, Life
Skills and Education for Sustainable
Development
Reference
Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit
http://www.esdtoolkit.org

By Rosalyn McKeown, Charles Hopkins, Regina Rizzi,

and Marianne Chrystalbridge.
Funded by the Waste Management Research and
Education Institute.
Reference
Contributing to a More Sustainable Future: Quality
Education, Life Skills and Education for Sustainable
Development
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001410/141019e.pdf
By Rosalyn McKeown
Published by UNESCO, 2005.
Presenter Contact Information
Dr. Rosalyn McKeown, Executive Director
Portland International Initiative for
Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning
Graduate School of Education
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751
Portland Oregon 97207
USA
Telephone +1 503 725 8934
Fax +1 503 725 3200
Email [email protected]