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Identifying Key Issues of Education for Sustainable Development

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  • Peter Glavič

    (Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Maribor, Smetanova 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia)

Abstract

This paper elaborates and presents key issues established for a course on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD is supported by the United Nations (UN) organization and its agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Quality education is also one of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The evolution of sustainable development and ESD is overviewed first in order to define the most important content of ESD in future teaching. Because of the fast development of humankind in all the SD pillars (economic, social and environmental), the climate crises as well as the new technologies and knowledge emerging, education leaders and teachers are lacking modern and effective content for ESD. Therefore, twelve key issues of ESD are identified and elaborated in the present article. The issues are organized into four groups (approach, contents, teaching, and organization) with three items each. The approach is including ESD scope, policy, and cooperation, the contents part deals with the three ESD pillars — environmental, social and economic; the third group, teaching, regards ESD methodologies, transformative teaching and learning, and capacity building; the organization group presents ESD metrics, documents, and institutions. The twelve issues have been synthesized after reviewing the available literature, enhanced by the participation in several international projects on education. In addition, they were further elaborated from feedback obtained from three international conferences focused on education for sustainable development, social responsibility, and sustainable consumption and production. The key goals suggested by the audience of the international conference in Vienna were holistic education, stakeholders’ awareness, participation and cooperation, and building capacity of stakeholders, while the challenge was found to be the timely evolution of human society towards the deep transformation. This paper is an informed perspective proposing content for an Education for Sustainable Development course.

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  • Peter Glavič, 2020. "Identifying Key Issues of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:16:p:6500-:d:397863
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    4. Miquel Àngel Essomba & Pilar Lleonart & Laura Alfonso & Hye Bin, 2022. "Education for Sustainable Development in Educating Cities: Towards a Transformative Approach from Informal and Non-Formal Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Meiai Chen & Tingting Pei & Eila Jeronen & Zhihui Wang & Lihua Xu, 2022. "Teaching and Learning Methods for Promoting Sustainability in Tourism Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Beineán Conway & Keelin Leahy & Muireann McMahon, 2021. "Design Education for Sustainability: Identifying Opportunities in Ireland’s Second Level Education System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Aida Mammadova, 2021. "Integrating Japanese Local Government and Communities into the Educational Curriculum on Regional Sustainability Inside the UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Valeska V. Geldres-Weiss & Nathaniel P. Massa & Joaquín Monreal-Pérez, 2021. "Export Promotion Agencies’ Lived Turmoil, Response and Strategies in COVID-19 Times," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-24, November.

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