Tomorrow Today

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gies in government; improving environmental health in excluded

communities; and reducing ecological footprints and vulnerability

to climate change.

Much has been written about the relationship between education (or

learning) and environmental outcomes and impacts.

Many organiza-

tions that have conservation, biodiversity and environmental objectives

at the heart of their missions seek environmental action and change and

see education as an important platform for achieving these outcomes.

It is important to note that there is widespread recognition that the

achievement of these outcomes depends on processes of participation,

inquiry and social learning to challenge existing unsustainable frame-

works and practices, rather than the transmission of knowledge or the

training of individuals and groups to behave in particular ways.

Educational change

Some of the initiatives reviewed targeted pupils and students, employ-

ees, civil servants or community members, and built their capacity to

contribute to change. The majority of the initiatives, however, adopted a

systemic approach to change, seeking to challenge existing educational

systems, structures and/or practices, not just the knowledge and ability

of learners to engage with sustainable development. The reorientation of

education was seen as a core goal of these programmes. In other words,

the contribution or success of these ESD initiatives was measured in

terms of the extent of educational change that had been achieved.

The need to align education systems and practices to sustainable

development is recognized as a priority by the DESD. This consists of:

• The adoption of new ways of thinking about teaching and

learning

• The active engagement of the learner in an exploratory learning

process which builds capacity as well as knowledge

• Changing education policies and curricula

• Changing the professional development of facilitators and the

education of teachers

• Creating a culture of organizational learning and change towards

sustainable development

• Creating a culture of social learning where informal contexts

provide opportunities.

A smaller number of the programmes reviewed appear to have adopted

a holistic approach to change. Some ESD programmes contributed to

challenging adult and child mindsets regarding exploita-

tion of the environment. They also encouraged teachers

to adopt sustainability education thinking and pedago-

gies and to contribute to changing mainstream education

practice. Some extended their contribution to supporting

organisational learning and change across the educa-

tion system, including the government ministries that

supported it.

The shifting of pedagogical approaches rather than

the embedding of core sustainable development content

in the curriculum were key outcomes sought by many

of the initiatives reviewed. Another frequent feature of

these initiatives was the emphasis they placed upon the

creation of learning partnerships.

The contribution of the DESD to a better world

Processes and learning in ESD

form the basis of the 2011

DESD Monitoring and Evaluation Report. In this context,

the term ‘processes’ refers to engagement opportunities,

pedagogical approaches, or teaching and learning styles

adopted to implement ESD at different educational levels

and in varied educational settings. ‘Learning’ for ESD refers

to the learning experienced by all those engaged in ESD,

including learners themselves, facilitators, coordinators and

funders. Often learning in ESD is interpreted as gaining

knowledge, values and theories related to sustainable

development. In addition, the research undertaken as part

of Phase II showed that ESD learning alsomeans learning to

ask critical questions, envisionmore positive futures, clarify

one’s own values, think systemically, respond through

applied learning opportunities, and explore the dialectic

between tradition and innovation.

The literature has only recently begun to feature evalua-

tive studies that map the intended and existing contribution

of ESD to bringing about changes for a better world. Efforts

can be assessed in terms of outcomes, outputs and impacts

of initiatives. The review of initiatives suggests that it is

possible to map a wide range of contributions through ESD

to economic, environmental, social (including cultural)

and educational change. A range of potential contributions,

themes and priorities is apparent across these key initiatives.

There is a need to recognize, however, that ESD remains

poorly researched and weakly evidenced. This review has

been informed mainly by programme or context-specific

research studies and programme evaluations. There is a

lack of meta-analysis studies or longitudinal research. This

means there is not sufficient evidence to provide conclusive

responses to the core questions that drive similar investiga-

tions into the value of ESD as a field of research and practice.

These issues confront the Phase II monitoring and evalua-

tion report as it attempts to provide robust and meaningful

evidence of the impact of the DESD initiative as a whole.

As the DESD continues, it is to be hoped that there will be

many opportunities to address these challenges.

This document draws from Tilbury (2010) ‘Assessing

ESD Experiences during the DESD: An expert review

of processes and learning for ESD’ commissioned by

UNESCO Paris

Learning for change: the key to a sustainable future