Education for sustainable development (ESD) is education that encourages changes in knowledge, skills, value and attitudes to enable a more sustainable and just society.
ESD aims to empower and equip current and future generations to meet their needs using a balanced and integrated approach to the economic, social and enviromental dimensions of sustainable development. ESD is the term most used internationally and by the UN.
In SonTa, ESD is our exact focus, we recognize its major role for a better future and feel Arusha is the best place to provide children with the self-sufficiency they might need in the future.
| Environmental sustainability |
Economic sustainability |
Social sustainability
|
| Natural resources management |
Alternative futures |
Sustainable communities |
| Food and farming |
Leadership and change |
Cultural diversity |
| Ecological systems |
Learning organisations |
Intercultural understanding |
| Waste / water / energy |
Corporate Social Responsibility |
Sustainability in the built environment |
| Biodiversity |
Consumerism and trade |
Travel, transport and mobility |
| Climate change |
Globalisation of economy |
Health and wellbeing |
| |
Accountability and ethics |
Peace, security and conflict |
| |
International development |
Citizenship, government, democracy |
| |
Sustainable and ethical tourism |
Human rights and needs |
| |
Population |
|
UNESCO, 2014
"Education for Sustainable Development allows every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future.
Education for Sustainable Development means including key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption.
It also requires participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and take action for sustainable development. Education for Sustainable Development consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way.
Education for Sustainable Development requires far-reaching changes in the way education is often practised today."
Council of the European Union, 2010
"ESD is essential for the achievement of a sustainable society and is therefore desirable at all levels of formal education and training, as well as in non-formal and informal learning."
Sustainable Development Education Panel Report, 1998
"ESD is about the learning needed to maintain and improve our quality of life and the quality of life of generations to come ... ESD enables people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions about the way we do things individually and collectively, both locally and globally, that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future."