COPERNICUS -

THE UNIVERSITY CHARTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Geneva, May 1994

Preamble

Man's exploitation of the biosphere is now threatening its very existence and delicate balance. Over the last few decades, the pressures on the global environment have become self-evident, leading to a common outcry for sustainable development. In the words of the Brundtland report, we must learn to care for the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations everywhere to meet their own needs.

The awareness is there. What is required is a comprehensive strategy for building a sustainable future which is equitable for all human beings, as highlighted by the Rio Conference (UNCED) in 1992. This requires a new frame of mind and new sets of values.

Education is critical for promoting such values and improving people's capacity to address environment and development issues. Education at all levels, especially university education for the training of decision-makers and teachers, should be oriented towards sustainable development and foster environmentally aware attitudes, skills and behavior patterns, as well as a sense of ethical responsibility. Education must become environmental education in the fullest sense of the term.

The role of universities

Universities and equivalent institutions of higher education train the coming generations of citizens and have expertise in all fields of research, both in technology as well as in the natural, human and social sciences. It is consequently their duty to propagate environmental literacy and to promote the practice of environmental ethics in society, in accordance with the principles set out in the Magna Chart of European Universities and subsequent university declarations, and along the lines of the UNCED recommendations for environment and development education.

Indeed, universities are increasingly called upon to play a leading role in developing a multidisciplinary and ethically-oriented form of education in order to devise solutions for the problems linked to sustainable development. They must therefore commit themselves to an on-going process of informing, educating and mobilizing all the relevant parts of society concerning the consequences of ecological degradation, including its impact on global development and the conditions needed to ensure a sustainable and just world.

To achieve these aims and fulfill their basic mission, universities are urged to make every effort to subscribe to and implement the ten principles of actions set out below.

Principles of action