EfE themes: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
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The work under the Environment for Europe process on "education for sustainable development" (ESD) aims at advancing sustainable development in education to support environmental protection and sustainable management of natural resources, poverty eradication, sustainable consumption and production, enhancing justice and civil rights, gender equality and the rights of children.
The work area "education for sustainable development" has been initiated at the 2003 Kiev Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference. Paragraph 58 of the Kiev Declaration was dedicated to this subject:
"We recognize that education is a fundamental tool for environmental protection and sustainable development and that environmental education has increasingly addressed a wide range of issues included in Agenda 21. We invite all countries to integrate sustainable development into education systems at all levels, from pre-school to higher education and non- formal as well as informal education, in order to promote education as a key agent for change. We welcome the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly, at its 57th session (December 2002), of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development starting in 2005, and will take the lead in promoting it regionally in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other relevant organizations. We endorse the Statement on Education for Sustainable Development and invite Education and other relevant Ministers to take an active part in the development, in close cooperation with UNESCO, of the Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development by 2005."
A High-Level Meeting of Environment and Education Ministries held in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2005 adopted the UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development. Click here to view this Strategy. The work related to this Strategy is implemented by UNECE and UNESCO and contributes to the "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" led by UNESCO on the global level. A Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development has been established to decide on the ESD Strategy's implementation and review its progress. UNECE provides secretariat support to this Steering Committee. In addition, an ESD Bureau has been established to support the work of the ESD Steering Committee.
Paragraph 12 of the Belgrade Ministerial Declaration was dedicated to ESD:
"We, the Ministers and Heads of delegation of States that have adopted the UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), welcome the Statement on ESD made by their Ministers of Education and of Environment, and the outcome of their joint session, and urge countries to further strengthen efforts for the implementation of the UNECE Strategy for ESD at all levels by the end of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. We also stress the importance of the ESD process as a prerequisite and framework for capacity-building initiatives and multi-stakeholder partnerships in the region."
Click here to view UNECE's dedicated website on education for sustainable development. Click here to view UNESCO's dedicated website on education for sustainable development.
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Documents related to ESD discussed at the 2007 Belgrade Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference
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The following documents related to "education for sustainable development" have been submitted to the 2007 Belgrade Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference:
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Draft Statement on Education for Sustainable Development by the Ministers of Education and of the Environment of the UNECE Region (submitted by: UNECE). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
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Learning from Each Other: Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward: Report on Progress in Implementation of the UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (submitted by: UNECE Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development). View document: ENG/ add., FRE/ add., RUS/ add.
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Good Practices in Education for Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region (submitted by: UNECE and UNESCO). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS. View dedicated website.
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Policies for a Better Environment - Progress in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (submitted by: EAP Task Force). View document: full text ENG/RUS, summary.
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Progress Report on Partnerships in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (submitted by: EAP Task Force). View document: ENG, RUS.
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Last update of this page: 17 April, 2008.
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