Tomorrow Today

Foreword

[

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

Education for sustainable development is born out of a very simple idea: reaching sustainability will

require more than legal frameworks, financial resources and green technologies, it also needs us to

change the way we think – change that can best be obtained through education.

The international community first recognized the role of education in achieving sustainable

development in 1992, when participants at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro adopted Agenda

21, Chapter 36 of which is devoted to promoting public awareness and training. Since then, these

policy ideas have taken shape, and educators around the world are seeking to ensure that their teaching

incorporates the principles and values of sustainability.

As the United Nations agency with a mandate for education, UNESCO is uniquely placed to support

countries to promote sustainable development through formal and non-formal learning. As leader of

the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), proclaimed by the

UN General Assembly in 2003, the Organization facilitates partnerships with a wide range of players,

including youth and media groups; fosters research and the sharing of information and good practices;

and provides a framework for monitoring and evaluation. It has also convened major events such as the

2009 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Bonn, Germany.

The publication

Tomorrow Today

, which is being produced in time for the presentation of the DESD

mid-Decade report to the UN General Assembly in November 2010, sets out the opportunities and

emerging challenges in the area of sustainable development, and identifies innovative means for

addressing them. The diverse voices in this book clearly demonstrate that reorienting our education

systems in line with the principles of sustainable development is essential for helping learners to

understand and act upon such threats as climate change, poverty, food scarcity and the loss of

biodiversity.

Building the sustainable world of tomorrow requires concrete action today. This book provides some

answers as to how, through education, we can prepare a better future for all.

I thank our partner Tudor Rose and all the contributors who have made

Tomorrow Today

possible.

Irina Bokova

Director-General of UNESCO