Education for sustainable development

Picture of trees

A widely used international definition of sustainable development is:
"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
(Brundtland Commission, 1987)

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is education which encompasses the relationship between economic, social and environmental issues.

In 1998, the UK Government established the Sustainable Development Education Panel, which defined ESD as encompassing seven key concepts:

  • Diversity: Respecting and valuing both human diversity - cultural, social and economic - and biodiversity.
  • Quality of life: Acknowledging that global equity and justice are essential elements of sustainability and that basic needs must be met universally.
  • Interdependence: Understanding how people, the environment and the economy are inextricably linked at all levels, from the local to the global.
  • Citizenship - rights and responsibilities: Recognising the importance of taking individual responsibility to ensure the world is a better place for yourself and others.
  • Needs and rights of future generations: Understanding our own basic needs and the implications for the needs of future generations of actions taken today.
  • Sustainable change: Understanding that resources are finite and that this has implications for people's lifestyles, and for commerce and industry.
  • Uncertainty and precaution: Acknowledging that there is a range of possible approaches to sustainability and that situations are constantly changing, indicating a need for flexibility and lifelong learning.

Further information

  • Information about the UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy can be found at: www.sustainable-development.gov.uk.
  • Information about how the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is approaching both sustainable development and ESD can be found at: www.dfes.gov.uk/sd.
  • DEA has worked with NIACE and WEA to develop an network of practitioners interested in ESD within adult learning. For more information, visit the NIACE website.

UN Decade on ESD

2005-2015 is the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in 2002, was the international community's chance to review the progress since the Rio Summit towards the goals established in 1992 and plan for future action. It agreed a commitment to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development). The coordinating body is UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).