Shaping the Future We We Want, the UN DESD Final Report is here. The report says:
"A solid foundation has been laid for ESD at the end of the DESD, achieved by raising awareness, influencing policies and generating significant numbers of good practice projects in all areas of education and learning."
By happy coincidence, at the end of 10 years of work, "10 key findings and trends have emerged" that will guide ESD into the future:
ESD, an enabler for sustainable development
1. Education systems are addressing sustainability issues
2. Sustainable development agendas and education agendas are converging
Importance of stakeholder engagement for ESD
3. Political leadership has proven instrumental
4. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are particularly effective
5. Local commitments are growing
ESD is galvanizing pedagogical innovation
6. Whole-institution approaches help practise ESD
7. ESD facilitates interactive, learner-driven pedagogies
ESD has spread across all levels and areas of education
8. ESD is being integrated into formal education
9. Non-formal and informal ESD is increasing
10. Technical and vocational education and training advances sustainable development
These are, of course, findings that are meant to apply everywhere – in general terms – but probably not anywhere in their entirety. Conveniently, they are the sort of findings that UNESCO would like to have found after 10 years hard labour – try writing them in the negative to see what I mean.
Usefully, however, these 10 points provide an evaluative yardstick for any political jurisdiction, however small or large, to use to see the degree to which the finding applies there. What you have to do it to put "To what extent is / are ..." in front of each of the 10 statements, and then look for the evidence. Happily, this would fit with work on the forthcoming Global Action Plan as it would enable the identification of the 'gap' between global evaluative rhetoric and on-the-ground reality.
Respond