Tomorrow Today

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• Developing and strengthening capacities for ESD

• Building, sharing and applying ESD-related knowledge

• Advocating for ESD, and increasing awareness and understanding

of sustainability.

Within this framework, UNESCO conducts major initiatives to imple-

ment ESD through the programme sectors of the organization. For

instance, because the education of teachers and educators occupies

a central position in any implementation strategy for ESD, UNESCO

targets teacher educators as key agents of change. Hence, effective

implementation of the DESD requires engaging the world’s teaching

workforce (made up of over 70 million teachers and countless numbers

of non-formal educators in professional development) to learn the

pedagogy, content, values and good practices associated with ESD.

Following UNESCO’s continuous and long-term work with the

UNESCO Chair on Re-orienting Teacher Education to Address

Sustainability (York University, Canada), a growing number of teacher

education institutions are integrating ESD principles into their educa-

tion and training practices. Efforts have been reinforced in Africa in

particular through the Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan

Africa (TTISSA) to ensure that ESD is infused into curricula and class-

room practice across the continent. UNESCO’s work on ESD-related

teacher education includes an international symposium for represent-

atives from teacher education institutions which was held at UNESCO

in spring 2010. UNESCO is also conducting eight ESD capacity-build-

ing activities directly implemented by the organization’s field offices

in countries located in all major regions.

UNESCO’s educational response to climate change is another key

programme of the organization within the framework of the DESD.

UNESCO’s flagship initiative on climate change education will help

young people understand and address the impact of global warming

today, while also encouraging the changes in attitudes

and behaviour needed to place our world on a more

sustainable development path.

The priority objectives of the initiative are to

strengthen the capacity of Member States, encourage

and enhance innovative teaching approaches and raise

awareness about climate change, in addition to enhanc-

ing non-formal education programmes through media,

networking and partnerships.

UNESCO also seeks to support Member States and

other stakeholders in addressing global sustainable

development challenges at regional, national and global

level through ESD. In addition to its initiatives in the

education sector, UNESCO also furthers the aims of the

DESD in its other fields of competence. For instance,

it promotes cultural and linguistic diversity and facili-

tates the integration of indigenous learning systems and

knowledge in formal and informal education for indig-

enous peoples, a process that includes teaching and

learning the history, traditions, culture, rights, spiritual-

ity and world views of indigenous peoples and their ways

of life. Cultural mapping is also promoted to discover

and promote locally grounded concepts and practices

of education for sustainable development. Projects also

target the private sector to broaden its engagement in

educational initiatives in relation to TVET and ESD,

especially in developing countries, countries in transition

and those in a post-conflict or post-disaster situation.

Ensuring sustainability after the DESD

The task of the DESD is to make a difference in a rela-

tively short time by raising the profile of ESD, galvanizing

enhanced action, and mobilizing partnerships. Five years

after it began, the most important challenge of the DESD is

to keep the momentum alive and to translate commitments

into tangible actions and results at the national level.

In this complex enterprise, Member States have to be

in the driver’s seat. While UNESCO’s role as implementer

is important, it must be remembered that the DESD is a

commitment that will be realized primarily by Member

States. Hence, under the coordination of UNESCO, main

actions will have to be taken at the national level by rele-

vant DESD partners, led by governments.

In the lead-up to the end of the DESD, it will be crucial

for ESD stakeholders and UNESCO to work together

towards establishing structures for ESD that will survive

the DESD in order to ensure that education will continue

to contribute to achieving sustainability beyond 2014.

The end-of-Decade conference, to be held in Japan in

2014, will provide an important final milestone in this

regard. Until then, UNESCO will work tirelessly to

ensure that the principles of sustainable development are

progressively integrated into all contexts and settings of

education. While the relevance of ESD to current sustain-

ability challenges is obvious, UNESCO believes that its

most important and long-lasting contribution will be the

positive impact on teaching/learning processes and peda-

gogical practices and the way we understand the purpose

of education around the world.

UNESCO Literacy Programme in Buterere, Burundi