Abstract
As with many global movements, it is almost impossible to identify the exact origin of education for sustainable development (ESD). Each of us in the field has a story of our initial reaction when and where we first became aware of it. The emergence and evolution of a concept may only be relevant to scholars or devoted practitioners, but these stories should be recorded so that future generations can understand our thinking, as they improve on it. Our attempt to recognise the needs and rights of future generations—through the concept of sustainable development—and our attempts to alter our social, economic and environmental practices is a story worth retelling.
The History and Foundations of ESD
The concepts that shaped ESD provide useful foundation to be built upon in an intelligent and thoughtful way. These concepts must be understood in the context of their time—20–25 years ago. Whatever insights we can pass on regarding our attempts to develop the concept of one aspect of sustainable development—education, public awareness and training—is worthy of our efforts.
Because it appears near the Rio + 20 conference—a UN conference held 20 years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero—this special issue of JESD explores how ESD has fared over the 20 years since the concept of sustainable development was popularised at the 1992 Earth Summit. In a special essay section, several authors who were either present at the Earth Summit or who have played a role in the development of ESD, reflect on its origin, its progress and its unmet visions.
As one of the authors of Agenda 21’s Chapter 36, ‘Education, Public Awareness and Training’, I start out the special essay section with recollections of how 12 people invited from around the world worked collaboratively to draft a dream, and then trace how ESD has slowly matured into a truly important element in the search for sustainability. From a non-contentious and almost ignored chapter that was largely lost in the debates of the other Agenda 21 chapters, Chapter 36 has proven durable and is still growing in significance. Of the 40 chapters of Agenda 21 approved in 1992, only four were singled out at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development for special work programs; one was Chapter 36. Over time, Chapter 36 and Chapter 18 on Water are the only chapters to have a UN Decade declared to further their contribution.
Over the past 20 years, ESD has grown from an idea to a global movement. It has evolved in both maturity of understanding and in the variety of its implementation formats—from new corporate training programs to the reorienting of higher education degrees. Beginning with these 12 dreamers 20 years ago, there are now thousands of individuals, organisations, corporations and institutions delivering quality ESD programs worldwide. Countries, provinces, states, regions and cities have undertaken massive strategies to use the potential of engaging their education, public awareness and training systems to improve life for all on this planet.
It is indeed heartening to see how ESD is maturing and working in unison within existing frameworks such as quality education and Education for All. ESD is also working with corporate training programs, NGOs, other UN Agencies, and even local governments. In Germany there are a large number of UNDESD municipalities. Thanks to countless individuals, ESD continues to grow both in content and pedagogy and its visibility and respect have grown in parallel. Over these 20 years since Rio, thousands of stories of countless contributions to the growth of ESD have been lived, but too few are gathered and documented. Even fewer are recognised and celebrated. This issue of JESD is an attempt to address this omission. The milestone of Rio + 20 is an appropriate time to reflect and capture the early days of ESD as well as its journey till today.
Rio + 20 Essays
In addition to my reflections on the birth and journey of ESD, the essays in this section outline the growth of ESD in teacher education from a new idea to an area of education mandated by some countries in teacher education schools (McKeown); reflect on misunderstandings and struggles between ESD and EE (Monroe), discuss the resistance of some educators to educating for any movement, as opposed to teaching students how to think openly and create new ideas (Jickling and Wals), and bemoan that after 20 years of trying, we are still not able to truly integrate the three pillars of sustainable development—environmental health, social justice and economic progress—across academic disciplines, professional roles and in personal values (Tilbury).
Research and Descriptive Articles
The research and descriptive articles of this issue give a sense of the progress ESD has made, especially in higher education. After the introduction of sustainability courses and campus sustainability efforts, the emphasis has shifted to assessment: what works? The first three articles, shepherded by Zinaida Fadeeva with the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama, Japan, and Laima Galkute, focus on assessment.
The articles demonstrate three approaches to assessment of sustainability programs in higher education. Masaru Yarime and Yuko Tanaka give an overview of the sustainability assessment tools used in Japanese universities. Their analysis shows that existing assessment tools rarely cover important aspects of education, research and outreach activities, but rather focus on sustainability of the campus physical plant. Clemens Mader looks at assessment in Austrian universities, contrasting the Austrian Sustainability Award, a first national attempt for sustainability appraisal which includes sustainability and social responsibility performance of the university, with the Graz Model for Integrative Development (GMID), which proposes a holistic approach establishing links between university leadership, university inclusion in social networks, and participation of stakeholders, as well as the traditional courses and research.
Zinaida Fadeeva and Laima Galkute look for synergies of two international processes: the Bologna process in European higher education and the UN Decade for ESD. Analysis is concentrated on competences of graduates and the placement of higher education institutions in society as reflected in understanding of quality assurance.
Exactly what should be included in an undergraduate ESD curricula? Tarah Wright describes how Dalhousie University used a Delphi process that included faculty and community members to develop a list of topics.
ESD has begun to flourish in some professional degree programs. Dr Willi Fuchs, executive director and board member of the Association of German Engineers, which supports a new UNESCO Engineering Initiative to incorporate principles of sustainable development into engineering education, writes, ‘The greater use of renewable energy sources, resource efficiency, recycling and the economic, ecological, social and sociological aspects of business activity must become integral parts of engineering education’. Fuchs concludes that ‘to prepare new generations of engineers, study programs around the world will have to focus increasingly on sustainable development, internationality and interdisciplinary approaches’.
Walter Hirche, president of the German Commission for UNESCO, member of the German Council for Sustainable Development, and a former Member of the Federal German Parliament, discusses how Germany’s successful dual system of vocational education, which combines apprenticeships and classroom study, has kept youth unemployment low and enabled effective transfer of knowledge and skills to the next generation. With some greening of content, the system might be adapted in other countries to provide a better future for youth.
Most professionals continue their education post-university through professional associations. As Ian Thomas et al., of RMIT University, Melbourne, point out, ‘Professional associations have the potential to facilitate development of sustainability competency in the workforce in many professions’. Professional associations were mentioned in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 as a platform for ESD. Movement has been faster in some areas than in others, but all professional associations have an opportunity to embrace ESD in their training and professional development courses, as well as to influence university curricula, especially in certification programs.
Thomas et al. found that few professional associations in Australia are facilitating sustainability, either through their input to university curricula or through professional development. However, the experiences of a few leaders could be used to build a strategy for enlisting other professional associations to facilitate sustainability competency among their members.
Finally, we have an article that may have been unimaginable in 1992. Evonne Miller and Kristeen Bentley of Queensland University of Technology, Australia, survey people who live ‘extremely sustainable lifestyles’ on whether they find the practice of sustainability easier when living in ecovillages or in traditional neighbourhoods. The study of what moves people to practise sustainability could become an increasingly important aspect of ESD as we move into its second 20 years.