Education for sustainable development

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‘Education for sustainable development’ (ESD) and ‘sustainable development’ entered the public consciousness during the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development – more popularly known as the Earth Summit. A key output from the Summit was Agenda 21, which set out the goals and expectations for the 21st century. Agenda 21 was one of the first international documents to call for education for sustainable development, which it saw as being central to any policies and programmes geared towards building ‘sustainable’ societies.

The Earth Summit required each participating country to develop and implement an ESD strategy by 2002; defining its own priorities and actions while keeping to the broad concept. In the UK, education for sustainable development is grounded in a variety of sustainable development policy and national curriculum documents. In England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, curriculum guidelines include a range of statutory subject requirements and cross-cutting themes that build understanding of sustainable development and the civic processes that guide policy and practice – see the quotes and follow the links for further information.

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England

“The school curriculum should pass on enduring values, develop pupils’ integrity and autonomy and help them to be responsible and caring citizens capable of contributing to the development of a just society… It should develop their awareness and understanding of, and respect for, the environment in which they live, and secure their commitment to sustainable development at a personal, local, national and global level.”
The National Curriculum Handbook for Primary Teachers in England

Useful sites:

National Curriculum for England and TeacherNet on sustainable development

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Northern Ireland

“Education for sustainable development is an approach to the whole curriculum and management of a school, not a new subject. It has roots in environmental education and development education. As a result, many of the building blocks for education for sustainable development are already present in every school.”
QCA Northern Ireland

Useful sites

Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

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Scotland

“An education for sustainable development initiative should: be an integrative process, building connections and a coherent view of the whole; be an inclusive process, dependent on active participation; build in local and global dimensions; build on the knowledge and understanding underlying the principles of sustainable development and encourage explanation of how the world works through systems; build in decision-making and critical thinking skills; lead to the development of people’s values and attitudes; and lead to an increase in the number of people individually, collectively and corporately choosing to act in ways consistent with sustainable development.”
Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Useful sites

Learning and Teaching Scotland

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Wales

“The National Assembly for Wales will promote development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This means that we will take social, economic and environmental issues into account in everything that we do. We will integrate the principles of sustainable development into our work and seek to influence others to do the same.”
National Assembly for Wales Sustainable Development Scheme

Useful sites

Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales