Abstract
The book Engaging Youth in Sustainable Development is a contribution of the Council of Europe to the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development. Pupils in Grades 5 to 9 are the primary focus category. School practices from many countries in Europe and beyond are examples of good practice set out in this book. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is based on the recognition that the exclusive idea of education as the simple transmission of knowledge needs to be left behind. ESD is student-centered, future-oriented, and action-oriented, fosters critical thinking, founded on values, accepts the challenge of complexity, and calls for participation, connected with real children’s lives and with their local communities. International bodies are looking for new approaches to evaluation consistent with ESD’s basic concepts. The book Engaging Youth for Sustainable Development is based on the assumption that engagement is important for learning. Teachers in ESD seek out lasting changes and constructive social actions, rather than resorting to moralistic individual solutions. Students who stand at the beginning of their adolescence can greatly benefit from flexible structural arrangements and schooling.
It is possible to roughly divide the book into four sections. First part of pages 1 to 6 covers page, descriptions of editors and authors, and table of contents. The second section covers pages 7 to 14 with a forward and introduction. The third section has the main material where the works of different authors are addressed and covers pages 15 to 76 of the form. The final part of the book is on pages 77 to 81, the sources and the list of writers.
The main part of the book is packed with fair narratives of experiential storytelling. Each narrative has its own justification for projects. These experiential narrations come from various countries in the region of Europe. The first story “The secret garden” is situated in Vienna, Austria, and centered on strengthening the girls’ Self-confidence. The story “Fast Spoke” is located in Germany which communicates the need of Encouraging students to bring their own initiative and sense of responsibility into their learning. The teacher is to encourage the translation of educational contexts into scenarios that facilitate the construction of meaning. Empowering the students to act at the local level and to develop a sense of stewardship toward the local environment became one of the project’s targets. The narration of “Students Circle” is of Hungary. Herman Ottó Nature Conservation Circle was established in 1998 with the assistance of the Vadvirág Environmental and Education Society. The Zuvintas Programme is dedicated to students in Grades 7 and 8 (13–15 years old). The UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development was adopted in Vilnius in 2005.
The uniqueness of this book is that it has 36 authors who talk about engaging youth in sustainable development through their varied experiences. Michela Mayer and Johannes Tschapk, the editors, systematically organized the writers’ thoughts without sacrificing the basics of the book’s theme. Although the forms and approaches of influencing young people are complex, there is no conflict of opinion between the authors. Throughout the manuscript, the core theme of the book, that is, involving youth in the ecological, economic, and social growth of their and global society, is visibly performed. The book sets an example of the participation of young people from school days onward in sustainable growth. The role of teachers, principals, and parents in this process is inevitable. I therefore suggest this book to all educators, philosophers of sustainable development, social workers, policymakers in education, and the youth of this century. It’s my firm conviction that you won’t regret reading this book. It is a freely accessible online, open source book.
