Tomorrow Today

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afield. The University of Namibia (UNAM) has also devel-

oped a Curriculum of EE/ESD and an EE/ESD Information

Kiosk, which is being integrated into the University’s formal

curriculum for undergraduate studies.

In Tanzania, the National Environmental Management

Council (NEMC) has developed a resource entitled:

‘Young farmers – safe use and handling of pesticides

and application of alternative methods of pest control, a

guide for primary schools’. At Chumbe Island Coral Park,

a Ranger Teaching Pack has been developed and is one

of the most comprehensive packs available in support

of coastal education and poverty alleviation in poorer

regions of Tanzania. The Tanzania Education Institute is

developing innovative ‘fuel-wood’ replacement techniques

through recycling in a Change Project called ‘Waste paper

management and development of paper coal’.

In Asia, the ITP Change Projects have brought about

immense innovation in experimenting and researching

ESD in formal education.

In Bangladesh, an ITP 2009 Change Project, ‘Creation

of students’ elected council in 100 project schools’

has supported the establishment of student councils

that will become the major decision-making mecha-

nism along with teachers and the School Management

Committee (SMC), especially by ensuring participatory

processes inside and outside the curriculum.

In Sri Lanka, the ITP institutional team from the National

Commission for UNESCO worked with over 10 ASPnet

schools towards integrating the principles and values of

ESD, not just in the teaching and learning in school, but in

school management, policies, systems and even the build-

ings and campus in general. Two of the project schools

received global recognition for ‘Best Practice in the Region

towards achieving MDGs through ESD’.

In China, ITP participants from the Compulsory

EducationOffice of the EducationDepartment in Shandong

Province developed a Change Project titled ‘Project for

implementing environmental education and sustain-

able development education in the primary and secondary

schools in Shandong Province’. This project became the

formal EE and ESD policy in Shandong in April 2008.

In India, an experimental Change Project in 2007

titled ‘A/V-based teaching-learning materials’, support-

ing teachers who have to teach more than one grade at

a time, was inspired by the teaching-learning principles

and values of ESD. The initiative, now supported by

UNICEF and called ‘Saral Shiksha’ (easy education), is

currently in 100 schools in the state of Gujarat and will

be implemented in over 7,000 more in the coming years.

Some key learnings from the programme

• Policy and practice are dynamic processes, which

enhance each other: policy alone is not a sufficient

instrument for change, but must be interpreted and

implemented, so that lessons learned are applied in

the policy formulation process

• An understanding of different educational traditions

is essential for understanding the challenges and

barriers to implementation of ESD

and in a selected country in Africa/Asia, and a final national workshop to

report outcomes of projects.

Recently, the training programmes have been engaging an ‘insti-

tutional team’ including a participant, a co-participant and their

supervisor. This has meant that, rather than simply developing the

capacity of an individual, the institution itself is strengthened. This

orientation to social change has been found to be very effective in

supporting the post-training impact and application of new actions,

practices and learning within the participating institutions.

Regular workshops for alumni of the training programmes are also

organized in order to keep the ESD ITP network going and to follow

up and mainstream the Change Project implementation. By sharing

and analysing experiences, participants are better equipped to initi-

ate and support change in the field of ESD in formal education. The

alumni workshops serve as extensions of the training programme and

as such, are often linked to international ESD conferences to enable

participants to interact with ESD practitioners from all over the world.

In line with the UNESCO recognition that ESD will take many

forms, as it plays out in local contexts, the training programmes

have been designed to create space for participants to share and

explore their locally responsive practices within the global context

of the DESD. This approach requires a high level of participation

from everyone involved, as they need to share experiences from

their contexts and analyse presentations for activities and insights

that could enhance their work. By organizing part of the scheduled

programme in the African and Asian regions, a focus is given to

locally relevant ESD practices, whilst also enhancing opportunities

for regional networking, interaction and learning.

The planning and implementation of the training programmes have

been collaborative processes from the outset. This has been achieved

through partnering with regional or local institutions and organizations,

supporting participants to define their areas of interest and focus, and

by designing the programmes in such a way that the sharing of knowl-

edge and creative ideas is optimized among the participants. The ITP

programmes also make sure that analysis and reflection or monitoring

and evaluation are given ample time so as to refine and strengthen the

programmes and future courses. Such techniques also enable partici-

pants to review and strengthen their work through reflexive processes

that bring about meaningful and effective changes within and throughout

their institutions.

Change Project implementation

Follow-up on Change Projects in the regions has revealed many

remarkable outputs, as can be seen in these examples from Africa:

In Lesotho, the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture has set

upEco Schools, while the LesothoCollege of Educationhasmainstreamed

ESD into the teacher education curriculum through the use of Outdoor

Learning Activities. The Ministry of Education is also working towards

introducing a bio digester as a sustainable energy source at school level.

In Namibia, Hochland High School developed a booklet called

carbon footprint

and Liina Nantinda, an ITP participant, was invited by the

Prime Minister of Namibia to present the resource at the COP15 summit

in Copenhagen in December 2009. The Minister of Education has also

asked the school to assist in sharing this resource and associated climate

change activities in other schools across Namibia. TheNamibianNational

Institute for Educational Development (NIED) has developed an EE/ESD

Electronic Portal and guidelines for integration of environmental learn-

ing/education across the curriculum. The portal is used extensively by the

Namibia Environmental Education Network across Namibia and further