No; UN-ESD is not some new desperate acronym invented by UNESCO. Rather, it's an award to the UK's Association for Science Education for managing to ignore ESD for so long.
Whilst some may think that the ASE's long and sustained disinterest in all things to do with sustainability is a job well done in holding the ground for proper science against passing, voguish fads and fancies, others are convinced that it has had a negative effect on how English science teaching has been able to help young people understand such vital issues.
I'm wondering if, at long last, things might be changing at Fortress ASE as there are attempts by members to have a Sustainability/Global learning theme at the 2019 Conference in Birmingham. A recent mailing said this:
[ Sustainability/Global learning] is such an important topic, as borne out by young people themselves when they embark on their university careers. For seven years in a row, 80 per cent of students have told the NUS survey that they want their institutions to be doing more on sustainability, and 60 per cent want to learn more about it. The ASE therefore is very keen to reflect this evidence and student interest in the programme that we offer to STEM professionals and we hope that you will be able to offer a workshop.
About time too. Let's hope this is successful – just think what might have happened if the ASE's panjandrums had campaigned for the Blair government's sustainable schools agenda to be extended and introduced into the mainstream of school life rather than remaining at the margins with the result that it was so easily snuffed out.
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