A PAPER PRESENTED BY DR. CHRISTOPHER NWANORO THE PRESIDENT, LOTUS INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND ON THE TOPIC “EDUCATION A KEY FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE” AT THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SYMPOSIUM ORGAINZED BY THE AFRICA-ASIA YOUTH FOUNDATION AT GALGOTIAS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, GREATER NOIDA, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA ON 14TH AUGUST, 2019.
EDUCATION A KEY FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Education has a long history as an international priority, and the right to education was first enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Improving education and ensuring all people are afforded a high standard of education will be reaffirmed as a key global goal of development under the post-2015 development agenda. The recent synthesis report of the UNSG on the post-2015 development agenda stated that “high-quality education and life-long learning” and the capacity of teachers are key factors in empowering youth as a “globally connected engine for change” (UNSG, 2014: 21-2). In fact, many people around the world believe that education is the most important goal for this agenda, at ‘My World 2015’ individuals can rank their top priorities for the agenda. Over 7.6 million people have voted, and of the sixteen potential priorities, provision of good education is consistently ranked as the highest priority across all cohorts and has received prioritization by over two-thirds of all voters. We will focus on the current proposal for SDG on education and the Education 2030 agenda with a critical perspective on how they may best galvanize the achievement of sustainable development in an integrated and inclusive manner.
Education serves as an important means of implementation for sustainable human development due to the number of positive benefits it brings across the development goals. Improvements in education clearly aid in poverty reduction and economic growth. At an individual level, each additional year of schooling strengthens individual earning potential by an average of 10%. At a national level, an increase in average school attainment by one year has a demonstrated correlation to a 0.58% increase in national GDP per capita growth rates. However, quality improvements in education provide an even more significant boost to economic growth compared to simply increasing attainment. Education is also an important means of implementation for sustainable development, and it provides an important construct where the perceived tensions between economic, social and environmental development can be harmonized and integrated into a single concept and pursuit of sustainable well-being for all. This goes beyond education being named as a single SDG, thus requiring better understanding of education’s role as a cross-cutting means of implementation to strengthen achievements across many other goals. “The SDGs call on governments to take a fresh look at the content of education. Education will be the lynchpin of a sustainable development agenda whose success relies on individuals, throughout their lifetime, acquiring relevant knowledge and developing positive attitudes to address global challenges.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an interdisciplinary learning methodology covering the integrated social, economic, and environmental aspects. The concept of sustainable development emerged as a response to a growing concern about human society’s impact on the natural environment. The concept of sustainable development was defined in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission (formally the World Commission on Environment and Development) as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland, 1987). This definition acknowledges that while development may be necessary to meet human needs and improve the quality of life, it must happen without depleting the capacity of the natural environment to meet present and future needs. The sustainable development movement has grown and campaigned on the basis that sustainability protects both the interests of future generations and the earth’s capacity to regenerate. At first it emphasized the environment in development policies but, since 2002, has evolved to encompass social justice and the fight against poverty as key principles of sustainable development.
Good quality education is an essential tool for achieving a more sustainable world. This was emphasized at the UN World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 where the reorientation of current education systems was outlined as key to sustainable development. Education for sustainable development ESD promotes the development of the knowledge, skills, understanding, values and actions required creating a sustainable world, which ensures environmental protection and conservation, promotes social equity and encourages economic sustainability. The concept of ESD developed largely from environmental education, which has sought to develop the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviors in people to care for their environment. The aim of ESD is to enable people to make decisions and carry out actions to improve our quality of life without compromising the planet. It also aims to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects and levels of learning. With a world population of 7 billion people and limited natural resources, we, as individuals and societies need to learn to live together sustainably. We need to take action responsibly based on the understanding that what we do today can have implications on the lives of people and the planet in future.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) empowers people to change the way they think and work towards a sustainable future. It aims to improve access to quality education on sustainable development at all levels and in all social contexts, to transform society by reorienting education and help people develop knowledge, skills, values and behaviors needed for sustainable development. It is about including sustainable development issues, such as climate change and biodiversity into teaching and learning. Individuals are encouraged to be responsible actors who resolve challenges, respect cultural diversity and contribute to creating a more sustainable world. A strong education system broadens access to opportunities, improves health, and bolsters the resilience of communities – all while fueling economic growth in a way that can reinforce and accelerate these processes. Moreover, education provides the skills people need to thrive in the new sustainable economy, working in areas such as renewable energy, smart agriculture, forest rehabilitation, the design of resource-efficient cities, and sound management of healthy ecosystems.
Most importantly, education can bring about a fundamental
shift in how we think, act, and discharge our responsibilities toward one
another and the planet. After all, while financial incentives, targeted
policies, and technological innovation are needed to catalyze new ways of
producing and consuming, they cannot reshape people’s value systems so that
they willingly uphold and advance the principles of sustainable development.
Schools, however, can nurture a new generation of environmentally savvy
citizens to support the transition to a prosperous and sustainable future. Since
the United Nations declared 2005 – 2014 as the decade for Education for
Sustainable Development, the subject has been a hot topic in schools.
Converse to the traditional way of teaching, Education for Sustainable
Development means adopting a more holistic approach to education with the aim
of ‘creating a better world for this generation and future generations of all
living things on planet Earth’. This allows every child to acquire the
knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable
future. Humans tend to look at development as a needed and normal process, but
when this process becomes increasingly dependent on over-exploitation of our
natural resources, the replenishment of these reserves and supplies is
affected; and managing this imbalance demands assuming a slightly different
school of thought. One way to cultivate this mindset in our youngsters is by
encouraging sustainable lifestyles through Education for Sustainable
Development.
Living sustainably is about changing our attitudes in a way that helps transform our lives into something that doesn’t impact too heavily on our current routines, while using the planet’s resources in moderation. Education for Sustainable Development incorporates key environmental challenges like climate change into core subjects like math, science and art, and involves modifying the teaching-learning process to a more all-encompassing approach. Students are thus able to relate what they learn in the classroom to their real life actions, and will increasingly be in a better position to take the lead in changing behaviors and adopting sustainable lifestyles, the more this type of education is adopted. As schools no longer function in isolation, their integration with the world outside has exposed students to different people and cultures’, giving them the opportunity to appreciate what the planet offers, while respecting the need to use resources efficiently and responsibly. The decade of Education for Sustainable Development is already proving popular with thousands of students across the world taking part in environmental education. Evident example of how environmental education is helping to shape a sustainable future is from an Eco-School in the UAE recently awarded the Green Flag, a symbol of excellence in environmental performance. These students identified the need for more wall space to spread environmental awareness messages in their school, so they created a huge mobile wall of used cartons piled one above the other! Besides reducing the amount of waste produced in their school and saving school funds, these students put forward the important message within their school community and beyond, of thinking innovatively to make maximum use of available and reusable resources.
Education for Sustainable Development is not only about being
environmentally-friendly; it also involves developing life-skills including
leadership, communication and management; all of which are extremely important
for personal development. By equipping young people with these relevant
capabilities in addition to their environmental knowledge, they can excel at
living lives which not only further humanity, but that care for and respect our
planet’s resources too. Education for Sustainable Development can help
change our future. Continued support from authorities, appropriate policies and
laws, responsible action by individuals and communities, and above all a deep
compassion for our planet will together serve to alleviate the global
environmental crises we face today.
This type of learning goes beyond the school. What a child learns during this
process shouldn’t stop there – it must be practiced by the family too. Wise use
of water and energy both at home and in the work place must be part of our
natural behaviour as parents and care-givers.
Finally, education can bring about a fundamental shift in how we think, act, and discharge our responsibilities toward one another and the planet. After all, while financial incentives, targeted policies, and technological innovation are needed to catalyze new ways of producing and consuming, they cannot reshape people’s value systems so that they willingly uphold and advance the principles of sustainable development. Schools, however, can nurture a new generation of environmentally savvy citizens to support the transition to a prosperous and sustainable future. We cannot secure a sustainable future in a matter of months. But, with a well-designed set of commitments and targets, we can move onto the right path. And, with effective educational programs that instill in future generations the importance of restoring Earth’s balance and delivering a prosperous future for the many, rather than the few, we can stay on that path. Greater efforts must be put in by families and communities to reduce waste, recycle regularly and opt for public transport to demonstrate the importance to our children of living more sustainably. Our homes and communities can be the ideal platform for children to exercise and experience what they learn in the classroom. Thank You
