Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims, first and foremost, to promote basic education so that informed and sustainable development may be carried out. It also aims to reorient existing education toward sustainable development and achieve public understanding and awareness through training. Although discussion about ESD provides a framework for teachers to use in the classroom, it often fails to pinpoint exactly what is required of teachers to move forward in this area. The problem, in part, stems from the exclusively local grounding of these discussions, which turn out to be ill equipped to inspire broad reflection on how to improve ESD.

In light of these challenges, this manual offers guidance for ministries of education, non-profit organisations, school system, communities, and other organisations as they work to prepare for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005 - 2014). It addresses the potentially powerful alliance of school systems and communities working together, in partnership, to meet local sustainability goals. Together, the author holds, these groups "can reorient existing curriculums to create locally relevant and culturally appropriate education."

The ESD Toolkit has 8 major components:

1. An introduction to sustainability.
2. A description of the major thrusts and components of education for sustainable development and a method of bringing ESD to the school level.
3. A discussion of 12 major issues that have slowed the progress of ESD.
4. A case study of the Toronto Board of Education's community consultation and subsequent curriculum revision that indirectly addressed ESD as a result of the citizens' visions and desires.
5. A description of management techniques for initiating change in schools.
6. A brief description of public participation methods for including the citizenry in community decisions regarding sustainability and ESD.
7. Exercises to help schools and communities to understand sustainability, create sustainability goals, reorient the curriculum to address sustainability, and initiate change within an educational system.
8. Links to websites focusing on sustainability, education for sustainability, United Nations documents, and communities that have developed sustainability plans.

Click here for this resource online.

Click here for this resource in PDF format (English).

Click here for this resource in PDF format (Spanish).