Tomorrow Today

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National Committee in three ways. Firstly, the members jointly consult
on achievements, emerging ideas and the way forward for the DESD;
for example, the National Committee, together with other stakehold-
ers, drew up and decided on the National Plan of Action. Secondly, the
committee is a forum where members can voice their related interests.
Thirdly, the committee is the voice of the DESD for the larger political
arena and society as a whole.
The National Committee is also responsible for the certification
of good practice projects in Germany. Innovative ESD projects are
recognized as ‘Official German DESD Projects’ and may carry this
designation for two years. At the mid-point of the DESD, some 1,000
projects had been recognized (for this initiative, see the article by
Gerhard de Haan in this publication).
In order to broaden the basis for its consultations and to spread
ESD further among education and sustainable development stake-
holders, the National Committee also called for participation in a
round table. The German DESD Round Table comprises some 130
members – mostly institutions but also individual experts – and
comes together once a year on the invitation of a federal state govern-
ment. Throughout the year, various working groups contribute
to generating ideas and carrying out projects for the DESD. Some
recent activities include a declaration on ‘Universities for Sustainable
Development’ that was initiated by the higher education working
group and adopted by the German University Rectors’ Conference
and the German Commission for UNESCO. The working group
also organized a conference to discuss the declaration’s implemen-
tation. The early childhood education working group prepared a
position paper, which was distributed to stakeholders, on Delivering
Future Capacity in the Kindergarten: Giving Children a Stronger Role,
Advancing Sustainable Development. The working group on biodiver-
sity and ESD prepared an extensive manual on how to include the
various facets of biodiversity into education.
The National Committee and the Round Table are supported by
a German DESD coordination unit, or secretariat, for which the
German Commission for UNESCO is responsible and that is funded
by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Objectives and responsibilities
The central bodies’ objectives and responsibilities put in place for
the implementation of the DESD in Germany can be summarized
as follows. All of the responsibilities draw on the potential and
strengths of the work of UNESCO National Commissions to work
closely with politics and civil society:
• Agenda setting: ESD and its relevance are communicated to deci-
sion makers, opinion leaders and disseminators. Politics and
civil society are familiarized with the potential of ESD to make
education future oriented. The overall objective is to move ESD
higher up the political agenda.
• Providing a platform, networking : the organizational structure
makes it possible for the various ESD stakeholders and practi-
tioners to speak with one voice, debate and agree upon common
positions, and develop joint activities.
• Promoting conceptual development: ESD in general or aspects of ESD –
for example, with regard to annual focal themes agreed upon– is being
further developed with regard to conceptual questions and practice. In
particular highlighting good practice through the certification of DESD
projects provides incentives for innovative development.
• Ensuring visibility, provision of information: DESD activities are commu-
nicated to the specialist groups and the general public. The DESD
coordination unit serves as an information resource and
clearinghouse for all aspects related to ESD.
Instruments for pursuing these objectives include: work-
shops, seminars and conferences; publications; bilateral
meetings with stakeholders; political recommendations; a
major ESDwebsite ); presence at fairs;
annual action days with around 400 individual contribu-
tions; and projects in partnership with the private sector.
The way ahead
DESD implementation, thanks to the political and financial
support available and to the enthusiasm and commitment
of stakeholders, has been rather dynamic since the begin-
ning of the DESD. There has been particluar success with
bringing together interested stakeholders, highlighting
good practice and, to a certain extent, setting the political
agenda. The first half of the DESD for Germany culmi-
nated in our co-organization of the major UNESCOWorld
Conference on ESD in spring 2009 in Bonn.
Nevertheless, major challenges remain. ESD is still far
from being an integral part of teaching and learning across
the whole education system, and important stakeholders
are not part of the process yet. In the coming years we
therefore want to focus on drawing out much more clearly
the important contribution that ESD makes to raising the
overall quality of education. This also means approaching
and convincing stakeholders in the world of education and
beyond that are not yet familiar with ESD or, due to the
many other pressures education is under, do not yet see
the urgency to put ESD into practice across the board. We
hope to make progress on these issues, building on the
partnership between politics and civil society that we have
constructed in the past few years.
Annual ESD action days in Germany
Image: www.bne-aktionstage.de