Education for Sustainable Development: Cure or Placebo

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Education for Sustainable Development  Cure or
Placebo?  

• David V. J. Bell, PhD(dvjbell_at_rogers.com) Profe
  ssor Emeritus and Former Dean,Faculty of
  Environmental Studies,
• York University
• Chair, Learning for a Sustainable
  Future(www.lsf-lst.ca)
• Facing Forward - Looking BackCharting
  Sustainable Development in Canada
• 1987-2007-2027
• Ottawa, Ontario October 18th 19th 2007

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Outline

• Where Have We Been?
• Our Common Future and Agenda 21
• ESD in Canada
• Where Are We Now?
• UNDESD and UNECE
• Canadas Response
• Where Are We Going?
• Cure or Placebo?
• What we need to do over next 20 years

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Our Common Future

• Strengthen basic education
• Communicate effectively with people
• The changes in attitudes, in social values,
  and in aspirations the report urges will depend
  on vast campaigns of education, debate, and
  public participation.
• A new kind of education also needed
• Education should therefore provide
  comprehensive knowledge, encompassing and cutting
  across the social and natural sciences and the
  humanities, thus providing insights on the
  interaction between natural and human resources,
  between development and environment.

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Agenda 21

• Education mentioned in every chapter
• Ch 36 Promoting Education formal, Public
  Awareness informal and Training non-formal
• 4 thrusts
• improve basic education (especially in the
  developing countries)
• reorient existing education to address SD
  (strengths approach)
• develop public understanding and awareness
• provide training for all sectors of society
  including business, industry and government.

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Other ESD Milestones

• International Conference on Environment and
  Society Education and Public Awareness for
  Sustainability (1997 Thessaloniki, Greece)
• UN CSD reviews Ch. 36 of Agenda 21(1998)
• WSSD (2002)
• UNDESD (2005 2014)
• UN University Institute of Advanced Studies
  (UNU-IAS) initiatives (including Regional Centres
  of Expertise on ESD)

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ESD in Canada

• Brundtland hearings led to NTFEE
• NTFEE recommends round tables
• NRTEE establishes LSF in 1991
• Jack McLeod (former CEO of Shell) Chair
• Jean Perras Executive Director
• UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair in Reorienting Teacher
  Education Toward Sustainability established at
  York University in 1999
• Chuck Hopkins appointed
• EC Framework for Environmental Learning and
  Sustainability Education in Canada (for WSSD)

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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF)

• A national, bi-lingual, non-profit organization
  founded in 1991
• Required to self-fund
• Promotes, through education, the knowledge,
  skills, perspectives and practices essential to a
  sustainable future
• Partners with business, community, educators,
  students, and governments across Canada to
  encourage sustainability action projects

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Outline

• Where Have We Been?
• Our Common Future and Agenda 21
• ESD in Canada
• Where Are We Now?
• UNDESD and UNECE
• Canadas Response
• Where Are We Going?
• Cure or Placebo?
• What we need to do over next 20 years

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The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (UNDESD) 2005 to 2014

• March 2005 - UN Economic Commission for Europe
  (UNECE) High-level meeting of Environment and
  Education Ministries adopted
• ESD Strategy
• Vilnius Framework for its implementation
• The Canadian delegation
• Gerald Farthing CMEC (formal)
• Diane Rochon, Ministère de lÉducation Québec
• Suzan Bowser, EC (non-formal)
• David Walden, Canadian Commission for UNESCO
  (informal)

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UNECE Strategy

• Goal to develop and incorporate ESD into the
  formal, non-formal and informal education
  systems.
• Objectives
• ensuring policy, regulations operations support
  ESD
• promoting ESD though formal, non-formal
  informal learning
• equipping educators with the competence to
  include SD in their teaching
• ensuring that ESD tools materials are
  accessible
• promoting research development of ESD and
• strengthening cooperation on ESD at all levels
• fostering conservation, use, and promotion of
  knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in ESD.

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Partnering to Respond to UNDESD

• Environment Canada
• Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth
  (MECY)/Manitoba Advanced Education and Literacy
  (MAEL)
• Learning for a Sustainable Future

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ESD Strategic Initiatives

• Provincial/Territorial ESD Working Groups
• National ESD Expert Council
• Canadian Sustainability Curriculum Review
  Initiative
• ESD Resource Database
• Youth Taking Action Forums
• Sustainability Model School Project
• Sustainability Education Academy

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Outline

• Where Have We Been?
• Our Common Future and Agenda 21
• ESD in Canada
• Where Are We Now?
• UNDESD and UNECE
• Canadas Response
• Where Are We Going?
• Cure or Placebo?
• What we need to do over next 20 years

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Education Cure or Placebo?

• Whats the disease? (Youve got humans!)
• Is it really that bad?
• Does education really help? Or does it buy time
  for more Business As Usual?

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Some Ancient Chinese WisdomIf you are thinking
a year ahead, sow seed, If you are thinking ten
years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking
one hundred years ahead, educate the
people.  Kuan Tzu Chinese Poet, c. 500 B.C.
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Looking Back 100 Years

• population (about 2 billion)
• global governance (few countries, many empires,
  national economies)
• technologies (automobile and telephone just
  beginning to have an impact)
• miniscule civil society sector
• environmental awareness
• no concept of global climate change
• little understanding of pollution or its impacts
  on health
• few concerns about biodiversity, deforestation
• no one imagined seeing planet earth from space

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Looking Ahead 100 years How will we

• Meet basic needs for food, water, shelter, and
  energy of 10 billion people?
• Stabilize the climate by reducing GHG emissions
  globally by more than 60?
• Reduce proportion of the worlds population
  living on US2 per day or less? ( currently
  nearly half -- 3 billion)
• Achieve a low carbon factor 10 economy?
• shift from take-make-waste production cycle to
  cradle-to-cradle? (Theres no waste in Nature)
• Achieve a more peaceful, secure world?

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What do we need to do?

• Do we need a culture shift?
• Is this sufficient or merely necessary?
• What would it entail?
• Where should we be in 20 years?

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What will this require?

• ESD as basic, general education for the 21st
  century
• Reorientation of all professional and technical
  post-secondary education
• Improved non-formal ESD in all sectors
  (especially governments?)
• Strengthened informal ESD including in advertising

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Funding for ESD

• Complicated by the division of powers
• Budget cuts, shifting priorities in EC
• Lack of an overall GoC approach
• Variable support from provinces and territories
• Result
• Canadian government providing much less funding
  than many other UNECE countries
• Some national initiatives funded by LSF!

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Is there any hope?

• A pessimist is an informed optimist.
• Russian proverb
• Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up.
• David Orr

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The Aboriginal Thanksgiving Address
Finally, we acknowledge one another, female and
male. We give greetings and thanks that we have
this opportunity to spend some time together.
We turn our minds to our ancestors and our
Elders. You are the carriers of knowledge, of our
history. We acknowledge the adults among us. You
represent the bridge between the past and the
future. We also acknowledge our youth and
children. It is to you that we will pass on the
responsibilities we now carry. Soon, you will
take our place in facing the challenges of life.
Soon, you will carry the burden of your people.
Do not forget the ways of the past as you move
toward the future. Remember that we are to walk
softly on our sacred Mother, the Earth, for we
walk on the faces of the unborn, those who have
yet to rise and take up the challenges of
existence. We must consider the effects our
actions will have on their ability to live a good
life.
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Appendix Additional slides

• UNECE Vision
• Elements of Canadas strategy

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STRATEGY FOR EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

• Vision
• Our vision for the future is of a region that
  embraces common values of solidarity,
• equality and mutual respect between people,
  countries and generations. It is a region
• characterized by sustainable development,
  including economic vitality, justice, social
• cohesion, environmental protection and the
  sustainable management of natural resources,
• so as to meet the needs of the present generation
  without compromising the ability of
• future generations to meet their needs.
• Education, in addition to being a human right, is
  a prerequisite for achieving sustainable
• development and an essential tool for good
  governance, informed decision-making and
• the promotion of democracy. Therefore, education
  for sustainable development can help
• translate our vision into reality.
• Education for sustainable development develops
  and strengthens the capacity of individuals,
• groups, communities, organizations and countries
  to make judgements and choices in favour
• of sustainable development. It can promote a
  shift in peoples mindsets and in so doing enable
• them to make our world safer, healthier and more
  prosperous, thereby improving the quality of
• life. Education for Sustainable development can
  provide critical reflection and greater

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National ESD Expert Council

• Mission
• Promote a Canadian culture of sustainability
  by developing and strengthening collaboration and
  leadership in education and training.
• Goals
• Strengthen, promote communicate ESD activities
  in Canada
• 2. Provide leadership support innovation in
  ESD.
• 3. Identify address gaps at a national level
• Disseminate ESD research
• Monitor report on ESD progress
• Funding of NESDEC and Provincial WGs.

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Provincial/Territorial ESD Working Groups

• Goal To support and foster a culture of ESD in
  each jurisdiction
• Objectives
• Build ESD into the formal/non-formal and informal
  education culture
• Establish strategic collaborations between
  governments, education sector leaders, business,
  and community NGOs
• Bring together stake-holders for policy input,
  debate, exchange, planning
• a sense of urgency and the latest science on
  critical sustainability issues
• Pilot Working Group established in Manitoba June
  2005
• Groups now in B.C., Alberta Sask., Ont., N.B.,
  N.S., and Nunavut

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Canadian Sustainability Curriculum Review
Initiative

• Goal To infuse ESD into School curriculum policy
  and instructional methods
• Objectives
• Identify fundamental concepts, skills, values,
  and instructional methods for the following
  themes
• Energy - Transportation
• Climate Change - Citizenship Community
• Ecosystems - Human Health Environment
• Water - Indigenous and Local Knowledge
• Biodiversity - Food and Agriculture

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Youth Taking Action Forums

• Goal To empower youth to take action on
  important sustainability issues in their schools
  and communities.
• Objectives
• Increase awareness and understanding of local
  sustainability issues
• Empower youth by engaging them in community-based
  action projects that develop their leadership
  skills.
• Increase the teaching of sustainability issues
• Enhance the capacity of local NGOs to deliver
  sustainability programs.
• Share and celebrate success.

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Education for Sustainable Development Model
School Project

• Vision To inspire the effective integration of
  excellent ESD practices into Stouffville District
  Secondary School as a model of ESD for schools
  across Canada
• A commitment to sustainability is evident in
• School Culture the school mission, improvement
  plan, extra-curricular activities
• School Operations the way the school is run is
  sustainable
• Physical Surroundings the building and the
  surrounding area are consistent with the goals of
  sustainability
• Curriculum curricular expectations and
  instructional
• strategies facilitate ESD learning

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Sustainability Education Academy for Education
Leaders

• Goal to motivate and equip senior education
  officials to lead the integration of ESD as a
  core value in all aspects of formal education
  including policy, curriculum, teaching,
  learning, professional development, and the
  sustainable management of human, physical and
  financial resources.
• Three day Seminar modeled after Sustainable
  Enterprise Academy
• In partnership with LSF, Schulich School of
  Business, York U. Faculty of Education, and the
  UNESCO Chair in ESD.

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Resources for Rethinking ESD Resource Database

• Goal
• To provide teachers with tools to facilitate the
  effective integration of ESD into formal school
  programs (K-12) across Canada
• Objectives
• Improve access to resources by providing teachers
  with a searchable ESD resource database, that
  links resources to all provincial/territorial
  curricula.
• Provide quality resources by ensuring all
  resources are professionally reviewed by
  classroom teachers.
• Enhance capacity of ESD publishers to produce
  quality resources for teachers.