<p><font color="#33711E"><strong>Education for a Sustainable Future (ESF)</strong></font></p>
‘Education for a Sustainable Future’ (ESF), 18 - 20 January 2005, in Ahmedabad, India, was the first international event to mark the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). It brought together around 800 learners, practitioners, academics and activists from over 50 countries. The three-day event discussed what the Decade can do to re-orient the vision of development, and shows how educators can facilitate this process, but also laid out roadmaps for ESD action in 20 sectors through separate workshops.
The objectives of Education for a Sustainable Future are to:
- Share the understanding, current status and needs of ESD.
- Showcase best practices for ESD from different parts of the world.
- Strengthen networking and active participation of all stakeholders for ESD for the next decade.
- Develop a strategy and a blueprint of action for the Decade, including India's strategy and its role in the Decade.
- Work towards developing guiding principles, roadmaps and priorities for Education for Sustainable Development in the Decade.
Ways of Sharing
The Conference highlighted the role of ESD in the context of the expectations for the Decade. During the plenary sessions, keynote speakers from across the world helped focus the conference on critical issues facing educators. Participants discussed sector-specific concerns and developed roadmaps for ESD action, at 20 concurrent workshops.
Workshop Themes
- Education for Sustainable Livelihoods
- Enabling Cleaner Solutions - Industry and
Environment - Communication for Biodiversity Conservation
- Ideas to Action - Policies and Practices for
Sustainable Development - Education for Water and Sanitation
- Education towards Sustainable Human Settlements
- Participation in Sustainable Waste Management
- Educating for Sustainable Energy Management
- Education for Ocean Conservation
- Education for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions
- Reorienting Formal Education
- Training Professionals in ESD
- Local Initiatives as Global Learning Opportunities
- Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for SD
- Using Media for SD
- Youth and ESD
- Open and Distance Learning for ESD
- ESD: Values and Perspectives
- University Leadership for ESD
- Community-based Approaches for ESD
The participants also studied the UN DESD Draft Implementation Scheme with a view to enrich and enhance the document. Participants were encouraged to contribute their vision for the Decade in a special space that was termed “The Declaration Wall”. An international committee drafted a Declaration based on the comments on the Wall.
The draft of the Ahmedabad Declaration was discussed, and unanimously adopted at the final plenary session of the Conference. The plenary also received inputs and feedback from the workshops relating to the UN DESD Draft Implementation Scheme.
Exhibitions were an important medium for sharing information at the Conference. Over a hundred participants put up displays of their organizations and projects. The exhibition also showcased local crafts and arts. The Conference received more than a hundred papers on various aspects of ESD, which were shared with all participants.
Outputs
The Ahmedabad Declaration articulates the spirit of ESD and a joint vision for the Decade. This declaration is being shared widely with the international community of educators and practitioners. It has already been translated into Spanish and is being translated into several other languages.
The feedback from the Conference on the UN DESD Draft Implementation Scheme has been shared with UNESCO, UNEP and other key stakeholders. The sectoral roadmaps and action plans are being shared with relevant stakeholders for further inputs and comments. The Conference website is being developed as an ongoing forum for discussion on ESD issues and the activities for the Decade.
Resources:
Report:
Inputs from the International Conference 'Education for a Sustainable Future’, Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, India (18 - 20 January 2005)
Weblink: