1 Education for a Sustainable Future: UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on a Post-DESD Framework Bangkok, May 16-17, 2013 Background and Objectives of the Consultation

2 Has the DESD’s intended balance of economic, environmental, and social-cultural considerations been achieved? If not, why not? Have the DEDS’s ideals of gender equity, justice, peace, human rights, environmental preservation, cultural diversity, and poverty alleviation been sufficiently – and equally -- emphasised? If not, why not? Has the DESD’s desired partnership of multiple sectors and stakeholders – including media and the private sector – been achieved? If not, why not? Should these issues be more prominent in ESD post-2014? If so, why and how? Provocations

3 Development that can: “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987 Sustainable Development

4 Achieving sustainable development requires: Balancing environmental, social- cultural, and economic considerations in the pursuit of development and an improved quality of life Promoting ideals of gender equity, just and peaceful societies, human rights, environmental preservation and restoration, cultural diversity, and poverty alleviation Sustainable Development

5 What is Education for Sustainable Development? ESD is a partnership that engages multiple sectors and stakeholders – including media and the private sector – to promote sustainable development through public awareness-raising, education, and training. It encourages people to understand:  the complexities of, and synergies among, issues threatening planetary sustainability  their own values and those of the society in which they live.

6 What is Education for Sustainable Development? ESD is about learning rather than teaching. It requires: Reforming the structure and nature of basic education Reorienting existing education programmes Developing public awareness about what sustainability means Building capacity within education systems and across all other ESD partners

7 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Three Pillars of Sustainable Development Environment – awareness of the richness of our natural resources and of the fragility of the physical environment Economy – a sensitivity to the limits and potential of economic growth and to its impact on society and on the environment Society – understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development …with Culture – ways of behaving, believing, and acting, unique to every context -- as an underlying and critical dimension

8 Environmental Issues Conservation of natural resources and biodiversity “Green” consumerism Control of climate change Sustainable urbanization Disaster prevention and mitigation Core Issues

9 Economic Issues Poverty alleviation and a more equal distribution of income Corporate responsibility and accountability A “benign” market economy and fair trade Energy conservation Sustainable tourism and land use Core Issues

10 Socio-Cultural Issues Fulfillment of human rights Peace and human security Reinforcement of intercultural/international understanding Gender equality Good governance Preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity Why is so much money and effort spent on preserving biodiversity – and so little on preserving cultural and linguistic diversity? Core Issues

11 Interdisciplinary and holistic Values-driven Focused on critical inquiry, reflective thinking, and problem solving Multi-methodological Participatory and collaborative in decision- making Locally relevant Key Characteristics of ESD

12 UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) VISION A world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behaviours, and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation.

13 Objectives of the Decade Facilitate networking, linkages, exchanges, and interaction among ESD stakeholders Foster an increased quality of teaching and learning in ESD Help countries attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through ESD efforts Provide countries with new opportunities to incorporate ESD into education reforms

14 The Delors Report: The Four Pillars of Learning In order to help modern society cope with the challenges in the world around it, the Delors report, Learning: The Treasure Within, recommended four pillars of learning: Learning to know – acquiring the instruments of understanding, or learning how to learn Learning to do – applying learned knowledge in daily life, to be able to act creatively and responsibly in one’s environment

15 Learning to be -- acquiring universally shared values, developing self- knowledge, becoming immersed in one’s own culture and its wisdom Learning to live together – promoting social cohesion and peaceful coexistence; being able to celebrate diversity in people and in their histories, traditions, beliefs, values, and cultures The Delors Report: The Four Pillars of Learning

16 The Fifth Pillar? But Education for Sustainable Development adds a “fifth”, more proactive pillar – learning to transform society and change the world: to work toward a gender-neutral, non- discriminatory society to act to achieve social solidarity and international understanding above all, to live sustainably

17 ESD and the Curriculum ESD offers a larger framework for all values- related education; e.g., inter-cultural education, global education, and education for human rights, citizenship, and peace. If ESD is seen as a general framework for a national curriculum, then: specific values (e.g., peace and human rights education) should be included in an integrated ESD curriculum and/or any stand-alone values subject is written in the broader context of ESD

18 Consultation Objective Contribute to ensuring a transparent, participatory preparation of the post-2014 ESD programme framework Expected outcomes: Priority areas for ESD activities post identified ESD initiatives that could be scaled-up in a post-2014 framework identified Key partners to involve in a post-2014 framework identified Suggestions for the preparations of the UNESCO World Conference on ESD collected.