Tomorrow Today

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Promoting good practice in education for

sustainable development: the recognition of

Official Decade Projects in Germany

Gerhard de Haan, Professor for Educational Future Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin

and Chair of the German National Committee for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

ncreasing the visibility of good practice in education for

sustainable development (ESD), promoting innovative

approaches to ESD, providing successful models that can be

emulated, and acknowledging the commitment of educational

practitioners – these are the objectives for recognizing high-

quality ESD projects in Germany as Official Decade Projects.

An award scheme for these projects substantially contributes

to building momentum for the UN Decade of Education for

Sustainable Development (DESD) and can be easily replicated in

other countries. The award scheme in Germany was instituted in

the context of the national implementation of the DESD, which

is coordinated by the German Commission for UNESCO and its

National DESD Committee on the basis of a unanimous reso-

lution by the German Parliament and with support from the

Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

A wide range of activities

ESD equally affects learning in nurseries, schools and universi-

ties, in vocational and in-service training and at extracurricular

educational and cultural facilities, as well as in research institutes,

businesses and public administration. ESD also takes

place outside educational institutions, such as in the

family, among friends, through the mass media and in

consumer advice. A wide range of stakeholders practice

ESD. Accordingly, among the over 1,000 initiatives that

have been awarded the title Official German Decade

Project so far, we can find:

• Schools with a marked sustainability profile

• University courses on sustainable management

• Projects on initial and in-service vocational training

for sustainable construction

• Initiatives for sustainable development in chemical

industry careers

• Environment centres and outdoor education centres

that move beyond environmental education and

adopt ESD as an all-encompassing principle

• Solidarity projects for school students, which

partner with countries from the South

• Cultural and media projects for children at nursery

schools

Preparations for an award ceremony for German DESD Projects

Image: Freya Kettner, DUK