Abstract
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were formulated as the new millennium was ushered in. The world, at this stage, suffered from poverty and malnourishment, there were shortages of basic amenities and education had yet to reach a large part of the planet. The millennium goals primarily addressed the developing countries and were focused on how they could break out of the vicious circle of poverty. In 2012 as the world looked back and took stock of what had happened since the first Rio Conference in 1992, it was increasingly clear that the change that was needed was not only required in the developing world but in the developed world as well. The ecological footprints of the lifestyles of the developed world were considerably heavier than what could be termed sustainable. If the less developed world continued to grow at the same rate, the consequences would be catastrophic. Yet that is largely what one was witnessing. The emerging economies largely imitated the developed ones. Whether in terms of the way cities were built or the way transportation systems were designed, increasing per capita electricity consumption was almost synonymous with development.
The outcome document of the Rio + 20 conference, ‘The Future We Want’, noted that sustainable development goals must be evolved ‘...for pursuing focused and coherent action on sustainable development’ (UN General Assembly 2012: 47). It further highlighted that ‘We also recognize the need to accelerate progress in closing development gaps between developed and developing countries, and to seize and create opportunities to achieve sustainable development through economic growth and diversification, social development and environmental protection’ (UN General Assembly 2012: 5). Education appears prominently in the document which also recognized the need to ‘… improve the capacity of education systems to prepare people to pursue sustainable development….’ (UN General Assembly 2012: 5). The outcome document explicitly instructs us ‘….to integrate education for sustainable development actively into education beyond the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ (UN General Assembly 2012: 45).
The sustainable development goals which are the new world targets, thus, emerge out of this thinking. The outcome document not only recognizes that both the developed and the developing countries will need to move to more sustainable ways of living but that they need to do so simultaneously irrespective of the point at which they are currently.
The discussions at the UN through the Open Working Groups (OWGs) do reflect this change in thinking. No longer is the emphasis only on technological solutions but on solutions that have education at their core even without explicitly terming these solutions as ESD. The Technical Support Team (TST) providing inputs to the OWG discussions has stated that education is a cross-cutting issue for all development goals. TST also stated that ‘….education must prioritize the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies that are linked to 21st century livelihoods and employment, and contribute to shaping attitudes and behaviours that promote social inclusion and cohesion, and environmental sustainability’ (TST 2013: 4).
The goals are still fluid, as are the means of implementation. However, it is now time to ensure that ESD takes its rightful place in sustainable development thinking.