The importance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
For humans to all live sustainably, we must all learn the principles of SD — a process which involves not only learning new information but also thinking differently about our lives, actions, needs, environment, and how all of these elements interrelate. For this reason, ESD requires a great deal of consideration and effort which is why UNESCO has dedicated an entire decade to the promotion of ESD.
 New Zealand UNDESD Strategic Plan (pdf)
 Background information
ESD resources
UNDESD Strategy Forum 2007
A national UNDESD strategy forum took place on Wednesday 7 November 2007 at Fale Pasifika, University of Auckland. The forum was attended by 65 invited guests representing central and local government, education, business, culture, youth, research and NGOs.
SANZ press release (pdf)
View/download Dr Jane Adam's presentation (ppt)
View/download verbatim notes of discussions (doc)
View/download first draft of distilled deliverables (doc)
View/download second draft of distilled deliverables (doc)
Strategy Forum 2007 objectives
There are two key objectives:
- Identify four or five priority targets (deliverables) for the Decade with matching indicators*.
- Identify three to five people from the Forum to finalise the agreed strategies and a concrete action plan.
* We need to acknowledge from the start that the task is to develop ESD indicators rather than SD, economic, social, and environmental or education indicators.
Partnership agreement
The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO has entered into a partnership agreement with SANZ to empower SANZ to take responsibility for the coordination and administration of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in New Zealand.
The Agreement includes the following deliverables:
- Finalise NZ UNDESD Strategic Plan
- Develop UNDESD indicators
- Finalise monitoring and reporting framework
- Appoint NZ UNDESD Governance Committee
To achieve these deliverables our approach is to actively work with others to build on the earlier work of the UNDESD Coordinating Committee, as well as last year's UNDESD stakeholders' forum. We have some catching up to do as other member countries now have fully developed plans in place.
New Zealand Journey 2004-2007 (ppt)
Background information
United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
The overall goal of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) is to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of learning to encourage changes in behaviour that allow for a more sustainable and just society for all.
The basic vision of the Decade is a world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation.
The focus of the Decade is education and related communication, training and capacity-building strategies for promoting sustainable development — not sustainable development per se.
Excerpts from UNESCO planning documents
The UNESCO Action Plan for the Decade has four key ESD thrusts:
- Promoting and improving basic education, including literacy and lifelong learning for sustainable livelihoods, with an emphasis on access, opportunity and quality outcomes for children and youth in schools, out-of-school youth, and adult literacy.
- Reorienting existing education programmes at all levels so that the purpose, content and processes of education promote the social, environmental, cultural and economic knowledge, skills, perspectives and values inherent to sustainability.
- Building public awareness of the need for, and understanding of, the principles of sustainable development, with an emphasis upon the roles of the media and civil society in encouraging an informed and active citizenry.
- Developing training programmes to ensure that all sectors of society have the skills necessary to perform their work in a sustainable manner.
UNESCO strategy
The UNESCO mission statement is:
As a specialized agency of the United Nations, UNESCO contributes to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.
The current strategy for achieving the mission is represented in a one-page diagram from the Recommendations by the Executive Board on the Draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013. To view the Microsoft PowerPoint (112KB) diagram, click here.
International UNDESD websites
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development activities internationally include:
UNDESD partner organisations
The UNDESD is a UNESCO initiative and is supported by a group of key partner organizations:
ESD Resources
New Zealand:
- New Zealand UNDESD Advisory Committee, Submission on the draft curriculum prepared on behalf by Barry Law and Pam Williams, November 2006
- New Zealand UNDESD Advisory Committee, The New Zealand Journey 2002-2009 (includes draft strategic plan), November 2007
- New Zealand UNDESD Advisory Committee, New Zealand UNDESD Project Endorsement Policy, August 2007
- New Zealand UNDESD Advisory Committee, Draft Strategic Plan 2006
- Parliamentary Commission for the Environment (PCE), See Change: Learning and education for sustainability, January 2004
The purpose of this think-piece is to raise the level of debate about education for sustainability, and to stimulate effective action so that New Zealanders can learn to live in sustainable ways. It highlights how education, in its broadest sense, needs to bring about a 'sea change' (a transformation) for the better. This will require a shift in perception and understanding among many people and organisations in New Zealand today. See also the 2007 outcome evaluation below.
- Parliamentary Commission for the Environment (PCE), Outcome evaluation for See Change: learning and education for sustainability, June 2007
- Lesley Stone and Maria-José Baldoni, Progress and pitfalls in the provision of tertiary education for sustainable development in New Zealand, 2006
- Rhys Taylor, Does secondary schooling assist or get in the way of sustainability education?, 2005
- Pam Williams, Short Overview of the Situation of New Zealand (Aotearoa) in Regard to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) August 2004
International:
- ARIES, Maquarie University, Development of a National Approach to Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting on the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2006
- ARIES, Maquarie University, Education for Climate Change Adaptation in the Built Environment Sector, October 2007, (Summary)
- Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding, Two Concepts, One Goal: Education for International Understanding and Education for Sustainable Development
- Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability Association, which promotes ESD by giving practitioners the resources, knowledge and developmental opportunities they need to green their campuses and ensure that education for sustainability is integrated into higher education
- Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Caring for Our Future - the Australian Government Strategy for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
- Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, Policy on Education for Sustainable Development, August 2006
Education resources
NZ scenarios
Recommended reading (books, articles, commentary)
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UNDESD 2005-2014