UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development

(1)    World Conference Center Bonn (Bundeshaus), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 2
(2)    UN Campus, Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10
(3)    Deutsche Welle, Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 3
(4)    Deutsche Post World Net, Kurt-Schumacher-Str./Platz der Deutschen Post
(5)    Federal Network Agency, Tulpenfeld 4
(6)    Haus der Geschichte der BRD, Willy-Brandt-Allee 14
(7)    Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Welckerstr. 11
(8)    Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development,
Dahlmannstraße 4
(9)    Kunstmuseum Bonn (Museumsmeile), Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2
(10)    Art and Exhibition Hall oft the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4

Relevance of ESD for key sustainable development challenge

ESD can contribute substantially to addressing key sustainable development challenges. Indeed, without reorienting education, successfully confronting issues like water and climate change, among many others, will not be possible. Moreover, introducing sustainable development issues into all areas of education will help to make education more relevant. Engaging students and learners in contemporary questions related to development brings education closer to life and enhances the learning experience by stimulating motivation and interest. The following workshops were organized within this thematic cluster:

1) Education for Water Sustainability

2) Strengthening the educational response to climate change internationally?

3) Advancing sustainable lifestyles and responsible consumption through ESD

4) ESD and disaster risk reduction: building disaster-resilient societies

5) Educating for food security: the contribution of ESD

6) AIDS, Health and Education for Sustainable Development

7) Mainstreaming Biodiversity into education and learning

8) The economic pillar of Sustainable Development: educational approaches

Building partnerships for ESD

With sustainable development relating to all areas of society, reorienting education towards sustainable development must be a multi-stakeholder endeavour. Learning for sustainable development takes place not only in education institutions but also in many other sectors of society as well. Education stakeholders therefore need to reach out to other important actors and build strong partnerships. Because sustainable development is a global challenge, international partnerships and the integration of the local and the global are decisive elements for ESD as well. How strong partnerships for ESD can be built was addressed in the following workshops:

9) UNESCO Biosphere Reserves as learning sites for integrating local and global sustainability issues

10) The Role of Private Sector in Education Sustainable Development

11) Media as partners for ESD

12) ESD in North-South-South & South-South partnerships and development cooperation

Capacity Development for ESD

If ESD is to become a central aspect of all education, supporting structures at the global,national and local levels are required. Among other things, this implies political frameworks that enable the inclusion of sustainable development issues and principles into all areas of teaching and learning. The active involvement of civil society is equally key to introducing a broad concept such as ESD into education. Finally, ESD implementation itself must be a learning experience. Monitoring and evaluating progress must therefore be an important concern for all stakeholders. The following workshops addressed capacities for the successful implementation of ESD:

13) Global responsibilities and local realities to foster ESD through institutional frameworks

14) The role of Civil Society in ESD

15) From the margins into the center: Establishing ESD in education plans and curricula

16) Teacher Education to address sustainability

17) Monitoring and Evaluation of ESD – Results and lessons learnt from the DESD M&E process and indicators for measuring progress in ESD

ESD and the teaching-learning process

The integration of ESD into education varies among different fields of teaching and learning. Requirements, practices and opportunities of ESD vary from one education setting to the other. Moreover, when addressing the role of ESD in education, the important question of how Education for All and ESD relate to each other must be considered. The main thrust of each workshop in this cluster was: how can ESD contribute to improving the quality of teaching-learning processes?

18) Synergies and differences between EFA and ESD

19) Better schools at preschool, primary and secondary levels through ESD

20) The role of HE and research in ESD

21) ESD and lifelong learning

22) ESD and TVET – developing skills and labor force competencies