Co-organized by UNESCO Bangkok/Jakarta/Phnom Penh/Islamabad,
UNESCO International Bureau of Education and
Thai National Commission for UNESCO

1-5 June 2009
Nakon Prathom, Thailand

The Regional Workshop on the Thematic Issues in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) under the Mobile Training Team (MTT) Project was held at the National Institute for the Development of Teachers and Education Personnel (NIDTEP) in Nakon Prathom, Thailand, on 1-5 June 2009.

The following ESD thematic issues were identified to see how they can be incorporated into specific school subjects:

• Natural Disaster Preparedness;
• Inter-cultural understanding;
• Environmental Protection;
• Gender Sensitizing;
• HIV/AIDS Prevention Education;
• Education for International Understanding.

More specifically, the objectives of the Workshop were to:

• Engage deans/directors of teacher education institutions (TEIs), teacher educators and teachers in reorienting teacher education programmes to address sustainability, and to expand the ESD-Net network.
• Expose teacher educators and teachers to the issues, content, skills and values related to the thematic issues identified.
• Examine how these issues, knowledge, perspectives, skills and values can be incorporated into the teaching and learning practices.
• Promote action research to document ‘good practices’ of curriculum development, pedagogical approaches and institutional policies for ESD.
• Facilitate collaboration in the development of educational resources on these thematic issues as an integral part of the education process.

The Workshop was attended by 83 participants, including delegates from Ministries of Education; deans and teacher educators from South, East and Southeast Asia; teachers from ASPnet schools and ESD-Net; and UNESCO staff. Eight resource persons from different institutions and having different areas of expertise guided the participants through a variety of interactive and hands-on activities to understand the ESD thematic issues better.

Furthermore, a Cultural Night was organized by the participants themselves to exchange and enhance cultural understanding among the 14 countries represented at the Workshop. The participants also displayed cultural artifacts, such as costumes, handicrafts, games, food and music, from their respective countries.

The last day of the Workshop reflected the intensity of the interactions and discussions that took place throughout the Workshop with the active participation and positive feedback from the participants. Proposals for follow-up activities on relevant and feasible national-level Action Plans are expected to be developed and submitted to UNESCO. These Action Plans will be posted and shared online on this website. In the meantime, an online ESD-Net forum will be established to facilitate continuous dialogue and proactive cooperation among the participants.