Shaping the Education of Tomorrow

United Nations (GXFDWLRQDO6FLHQWL?FDQG

Cultural Organization

Shaping the Education of Tomorrow

2012 Report on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Abridged

DESD Monitoring and Evaluation

Published in 2012 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France

? UNESCO 2012 All rights reserved

ISBN 978-92-3-001076-8

This publication Shaping the Education of Tomorrow: 2012 Report on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Abridged is a condensed, adapted and edited version of Shaping the Education of Tomorrow: 2012 Full-length Report on the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development authored by Arjen E.J. Wals, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and commissioned by UNESCO. This abridged version was prepared by Cathy Nolan.

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

Cover photos: ?UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein ?UN Photo/Milton Grant ?UN Photo/Kibae Park ?UN Photo/Kibae Park

Designed and printed by UNESCO

Printed in France

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our appreciation goes to Arjen Wals, UNESCO Chair in Social Learning and Sustainable Development, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, for reading hundreds of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) survey responses and other sources of information about Education for Sustainable Development and writing the 2012 Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. His full-length report Shaping the Education of Tomorrow: 2012 Full-length Report on the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development is available on the UNESDOC database at [Search the title.] Our appreciation also goes to Cathy Nolan who prepared this abridged and edited version of the 2012 Report. We extend our appreciation and thanks to the Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Group for their advice throughout the M&E process and their review of the documents related to the 2012 M&E report. The members of the group include: Abelardo Brenes, Rangachar Govinda, Alex Michalos, Yoshiyuki Nagata, Ro?l van Raaij, Overson Shumba, Konai Thaman, Pierre Varcher and Alcyone Vasconcelos. Special thanks go to the Chair of the group, Daniella Tilbury, University of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. We extend our gratitude to the Japanese Government for providing the financial support to the M&E process for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development through the Japanese Funds-InTrust for ESD (JFIT).

3

? UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005 ? 2014), UNESCO is responsible for monitoring and evaluating progress during the DESD. UNESCO is publishing three reports during the DESD ? in 2009, 2012 and 2014. This second report focuses specifically on processes and learning in the context of Education for Sustainable Development

(ESD). What kinds of learning processes have emerged in the course of the DESD? What is the role of ESD in supporting them? What changes in ESD have occurred since the early years of the Decade? The report is informed by a broad consultation process that includes input from hundreds of policymakers, scholars and practitioners engaged in ESD around the world.

Findings

ESD is emerging as the unifying theme for many types of education that focus on different aspects of sustainability, (e.g. climate change, disaster risk reduction or biodiversity).

ESD is increasingly perceived as a catalyst for innovation in education.

Boundaries between schools, universities, communities and the private sector are blurring due to a number of trends. ESD is often at the heart of new, creative multi-stakeholder configurations involving these ESD stakeholders.

As ESD progresses, a co-evolution of pedagogy is

occurring. It appears that as the sustainability content of the curriculum evolves, pedagogy is evolving simultaneously.

More research is needed to document that ESD is quality education. Much anecdotal evidence exists that ESD is related to academic gains as well as boosting people's capacities to support sustainable development. Research will provide a solid evidence base and firmly establish that ESD is quality education.

Within the UN system, ESD`s role is much bigger than it was two years ago.

Looking ahead

With the challenge of sustainable development as considerable as ever, recognition is growing that technological advances, legislation and policy frameworks are not enough. These need to be accompanied by changes in mind-sets, values and lifestyles, and the strengthening of people's capacities to bring about change.

A noticeable difference from the early DESD years is the private sector's interest in sustainability and capacity-building for a green economy. Some re-

spondents cautioned, however, that the P for Prosperity (or Profit) could dominate the other two P's of the "triple bottom line": the P for Planet and the P for People.

As the DESD goes into its final phase, it will be crucial for UNESCO, its Member States and other stakeholders to ensure that promotion, support and evolution of ESD continues beyond 2014.

5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download