The Scottish Government's independent advisory body on sustainable development
Education, Young People and Skills
Children and young people have a greater stake in the future than the rest of us.
"There can be few more pressing and critical goals for the future of humankind than to ensure steady improvement in the quality of life for this and future generations, in a way that respects our common heritage – the planet we live on. As people we seek positive change for ourselves, our children and grandchildren; we must do it in ways that respect the right of all to do so.
"To do this we must learn constantly – about ourselves, our potential, our limitations, our relationships, our society, our environment, our world. Education for sustainable development is a life-wide and lifelong endeavour which challenges individuals, institutions and societies to view tomorrow as a day that belongs to all of us, or it will not belong to anyone." -UNESCO
Knowledge, awareness, understanding and skills play a major part in making Scotland sustainable, because sustainable development means changing the way we live and work. It requires us to learn new approaches and attitudes for improved use of our planet’s limited resources, and we need to get much better at thinking about, and acting on, the long-term consequences of our actions locally, nationally and globally.
Sustainable development education is an approach which aims to deliver knowledge and understanding of these issues and how to act on them. It informs people’s values through an exploration of the fundamental principles of the way we live our lives now, and the impact our lifestyles have on the environment and society.
SDC Scotland wants to see a Scotland where:
- Learning for sustainable development is a core function of the formal education system
- There are lifelong opportunities to learn
- The sustainable development message is clearly understood
Our work programme
SDC Scotland manages the UN Decade for Sustainable Education steering group, which oversees ongoing work in the 4 different relevant sectors- schools, further education, higher education, and lifelong learning.
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development began on January 1 2005, and aims to promote education as a basis for a more sustainable society.
The overall goal of the decade is to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. This educational effort will encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations.
The objectives for the DESD are to:
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facilitate networking, linkages, exchange and interaction among stakeholders in ESD;
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foster an increased quality of teaching and learning in education for sustainable development;
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help countries make progress towards and attain the millennium development goals through ESD efforts;
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provide countries with new opportunities to incorporate ESD into education reform efforts.
More details can be found on UNESCO's website.
UN Decade Action Plan Steering Group
First half of the decade
The Scottish Government asked the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland to establish and manage a working group to advise on the implementation of the first Action Plan (for the first 5 years of the decade) and development of the next Action Plan (to cover the second half of the decade). The group represents a broad spectrum of interests in education for sustainable development. A list of members can be found below.
Find Scotland’s first action plan for the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development here and a progress report Learning for Our Future Implementation Plan Progress Report - January 2008.
Second half of the decade
On 21 January 2008, the Scottish Government organised an event to look at how far Scottish education for sustainability institutions, programmes and communities have come in the past five years. The one day conference provided the opportunity to explore Scotland’s contribution to the first half of the Decade and plan for the second half. A summary of the day can be found here.
We are currently in the process of taking the 2nd half of the decade forward. The 21 January event already looked at broad objectives for the next five years, and The Scottish Government, with support from the SDC, is now organising events to inform the next action plan.
Papers and supporting documentation
» A full list of Steering Group Membership
First meeting 29 January 2008:
Second meeting 2 June 2008:
Third meeting, 3 October 2008:
Fourth meeting, 10 February 2009:
Further reading
» Sustainable Development Commission summary Review of Progress - September 2007
» Learning Teaching Scotland has looked at the state of SD in Scottish schools - This report is now about 18 months old.
» The Council for Environmental Education recently published an overview of existing research into what the barriers and enablers to SDE in schools are - It is based on the English education system but a lot of it is relevant to Scotland.
