| dc.description.abstract | Several authoritative documents recognize that sustainable development is a journey and not just a destination. Visions and plans for the future need to be negotiated across sectors, cultures and interest groups. To progress towards a more sustainable world, societies also need to learn their way out of unsustainable practices. This publication captures national journeys that promote dialogue, engagement and change for sustainable development through education and learning. The quest for new ways of thinking, living and working was given new impetus by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005–2014). The DESD encourages governments to develop their own strategies and frameworks in order to reorient education and learning towards sustainable development. National agencies and bodies play a key role in leading, but also supporting, learning opportunities for change towards sustainable development across the sectors. This was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) held in Bonn, Germany (30 March – 2 April 2009), which restated the need for national plans and actions in this area. The Bonn Declaration (UNESCO, 2009a) and the UNESCO Strategy for the Second Half of the DESD (UNESCO, 2010) recognize that it is important to build a common vision of sustainable development, but also that context-specific national strategies are crucial in order to prepare for the complex challenges facing communities across the globe. This publication highlights case studies of national progress in the area of learning and education for sustainable development. National efforts are documented from each of the UNESCO world regions, including case studies from: Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, the Netherlands and Oman. These countries have developed national ESD implementation strategies and identified different entry points for progressing towards education and learning for sustainable development across the sectors. For example:
CHILE: Its ‘National Policy on ESD’ (2005–2014) consists of national and regional plans, which enhance the integration of ESD using community 9 learning approaches. Civil society organizations are key players in progressing towards ESD across the country. INDONESIA: Facing diverse social, economic and environmental challenges, Indonesia has developed an ESD framework based on community and democratic learning approaches. KENYA: Its ESD national implementation strategy uses capacity-building, advocacy, vision-building, partnerships and coordination as key approaches to embed ESD at a national level.
THE NETHERLANDS: Its ‘Learning for Sustainable Development’ (LfSD) programme (2004–2007; 2008–2011) is an exemplary framework which embeds ESD across all sectors. The programme adopts a unique and innovative approach underpinned by social and lifelong learning. It adopts an integrative approach recognizing the role played by non-formal and informal education as well as formal education in the attainment of sustainable development.
OMAN: As a response to the DESD, Oman has developed an implementation strategy based on building relationships with the business sector and providing ESD learning opportunities in formal education settings. The national reviews selected for this publication showcase a diversity of educational approaches and initiatives to demonstrating progress towards sustainable development. The frameworks guiding the implementation of ESD in each country focus on distinctive themes and topics, have different coordination mechanisms, and use a diversity of learning approaches. Whereas some frameworks focus on formal education, others have broadened opportunities through integrating ESD into non-formal and informal education. Several key observations arise from the national reviews and serve to highlight lessons learnt, outlined below
Framing and coordinating ESD: policies and strategies
ESD national plans and implementation frameworks are underpinned by similar intentions, visions and missions, which are aligned to those supported by the DESD. However, the approaches taken and the coordination processes developed vary from one country to another.
Lessons learnt:
1. Develop strategic frameworks and policies to guide the implementation of ESD in different areas and sectors.
2. Embed ESD strategies and frameworks in national and government decision-making.
3. Develop coordination mechanisms that involve a wide range of key stakeholders.
4. Promote coordination and vision-building across government departments and ministries.
Making ESD happen: implementation and initiatives
Social change is at the heart of the ESD initiatives as highlighted in the different national reviews. These initiatives engage and empower social groups in sustainable development through meaningful educational processes.
Lessons learnt:
5. Encourage the mapping of needs and actions in support of non-formal and informal learning opportunities for sustainable development.
6. Encourage the development of action plans that emphasize the role of the business sector, indigenous communities and the media in providing ESD learning opportunities.
7. Build synergies among ESD initiatives and programmes to promote a shared vision of sustainable development.
8. Develop plans to review the quality and appropriateness of ESD initiatives.
Reflecting on ESD quality: teaching and learning processes
Little attention is given to non-formal and informal curricula and the pedagogical approaches used in different educational settings. The national experiences documented in this publication reveal that sustainable development has been partially embedded in formal educational institutions.
Lessons learnt:
9. Encourage national plans and actions to clearly identify pedagogical approaches, which support ESD and encourage and promote these across activities.
10. Encourage whole-of-institution initiatives, social learning approaches and the development of learning organizations.
Facilitating ESD implementation: capacity, resources, innovation and research
There is little evidence of attention (or investment) in the capacity-building of educators, facilitators or curriculum developers. There is also a lack of support for research and resource development activities.
Lessons learnt:
11. Clearly identify capacity-building needs and address these through specific activities.
12. Ensure that ESD pedagogical resources are available to educators and learners.
13. Create specific funding and structure mechanisms to support ESD innovation and research activities.
Enhancing cooperation, quality and relevance: partnerships for ESD
Although partnerships were explicitly highlighted as important to advancing sustainability by the national stories documented in this publication, few partnerships were showcased by the countries featured.
Lesson learnt:
14. Identify needs and actions to support partnerships for ESD.
Reviewing progress and change: monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
There is a need for more participatory evaluation mechanisms, as well as a need to identify ways to assess the quality of ESD programmes.
Lessons learnt:
15. Develop multi-stakeholder monitoring and participatory evaluation systems.
16. Create monitoring and evaluation processes that assess the quality of ESD learning processes and experiences and not just outputs. | en_US |
