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Manitoba and the UN Decade for Education in Sustainable Development

Contributing to education in our home province

Manitoba and Canada work on the Decade

Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth (MECY) has taken a leadership position nationally in working with Learning for a Sustainable Future and Environment Canada on activities for the 2005 to 2014 Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, established by the United Nations.

A National ESD Expert Council has been established, together with the creation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) provincial working groups. MECY has started to pilot provincial activities as a showcase to other provinces. The Manitoba ESD Working Group is focusing on education and training institution policies, school activities, K-12 curriculum, and learning outcomes and resources. IISD is working with MECY to develop materials for senior education officials (principals, trustees, superintendents, etc.) and educators in order to build awareness and support for ESD activities, and provide tools for their participation.

IISD's three major interests are:

• Policies for Education for Sustainable Development IISD is exploring the role of ESD policies in guiding institutions to strengthen their sustainability learning and living practices. We also maintain a Sustainable School and Campus Policy Bank, to provide models of policies for K-12 and tertiary level institutions.

• How Information and Communications Technologies can support Education for Sustainable Development: Current uses and trends (PDF - 559 kb)
  In order for formal education to contribute to sustainability, traditional systems and methodologies need to be re-oriented. IISD.
  Read more...

• Tracking Progress
  Indicators are an important way for countries and regions to make sure they are moving in the right direction with their education policies and programs. The following indicators have been developed to help guide and measure the progress of the UN Decade.

  • United Nations Economic and Social Council, Economic Commission for Europe Indicators for Education for Sustainable Development (PDF - 76 kb)
    This UNECE publication reports on the work of an expert group established with the mandate to develop indicators to measure the effectiveness of the implementation of the strategy. (See the history and progress of this group's work).

  • Asia-Pacific Guidelines for the development of National ESD Indicators (PDF - 2.2 mb)
    This publication (draft version – Nov. 2006) by UNESCO Bangkok, Commission on Education and Communication of IUCN – World Conservation Union, and Australia's Macquarie University, aims to provide ESD stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region with a practical resource from which to develop ESD indicators and a monitoring and assessment framework at the national level. (See the indicators project website.)

  • Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators – 2005 Edition
    This publication from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development provides statistics on how education systems operate worldwide, including data on spending, an overview of who participates, and the results achieved. The results show a range of comparisons on student performance in key subject areas, to the impact of education on earnings and adults' chances of employment. (Available on the OECD site at a cost of US$51.)

IISD is particularly interested in the challenge of assessing changes in societies in knowledge, choices and attitudes that can be attributed in some measure to the work of the UN Decade. We are initiating research into how to establish a baseline of sustainable development awareness, and what will be required to monitor that baseline over the next few years.

About the UN Decade

During the UN Decade, UNESCO, the appointed task-leader, will be assisting governments, educators and all relevant stakeholders to develop innovative and culturally relevant strategies for ESD. ESD does not imply creating a new educational program, but requires the re-orientation of educational systems so that they integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of learning, and encourage change in behaviour that promotes justice and sustainability for all.

UNESCO has translated this into four objectives.

1. Facilitate networking, linkages, exchange and interaction among stakeholders in ESD.

2. Foster an increased quality of teaching and learning in education for sustainable development.

3. Help countries make progress towards and attain Millennium Development Goals through ESD efforts.

4. Provide countries with new opportunities to incorporate ESD into education reform efforts.

UNESCO: Education for Sustainable Development: United Nations Decade (2005–2014) is the official UNESCO site tracking ESD activities around the globe.

Other international actors on ESD

• World Conservation Learning Network
  The Commission on Education and Communication of IUCN, The World Conservation Union, is taking part in the UN Decade by gathering publications, posting events and sharing information in their Global Learning Network, geared toward building professional capacity for environmental sustainability.

• World Summit on Sustainable Development Education Caucus
  Maintains an active listserv monitoring commitments on education and public awareness agreed to at the 2002 Summit in Johannesburg, and how the UN Decade will contribute to those commitments.

  • To subscribe: wssd-educationcaucus@umich.edu

  • To contact list owners: alanmcw@umich.edu

• Australia jumpstarted the development of its ESD action plan by expanding its National Action Plan for Environmental Education, released July 2000. Its ESD action plan serves as a reference for several other country-initiatives. Learn more at Sustainability Education.

• In the Mediterranean, the Education Initiative for Environment and Sustainability (MEDIES) provides useful material for all those involved with Environmental Education (EE) or ESD in the region, and serves as an interactive point for sharing, browsing and searching websites of relevant organizations, government bodies and NGOs.

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