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 and to integrate sustainable development into education at all levels and all areas of life including communities, the workplace and society in general. More details can be found on UNESCO's website.
The Scottish Sustainable Development Strategy - Choosing our Future - highlighted the importance of learning for sustainable development. In August 2006, the Executive published an Action Plan - Learning for our Future - setting out the first wave of actions to be taken in Scotland over the first five year period in support of the UN Decade, building on existing work in line with the plans announced by the then Education Minister, Peter Peacock, in June 2005.
UN Decade Action Plan Steering Group
Following the commitment in the Action Plan the Scottish Government has asked the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland to establish and manage a short-life working group representing a broad spectrum of interests in education for sustainable development to advise on the implementation and development of the Action Plan. Meeting papers and supporting documentation can be found here.
Curriculum
The Executive set out - for the first time - a set of clear statements about the purposes of education in Scotland. Concepts of responsible citizenship and sustainability are at the heart of the vision for future education set out in A Curriculum for Excellence. The aim is for young people in Scotland to be:
- Successful learners, enabled to make reasoned evaluations and link and apply learning in new situations
- Confident individuals, who can develop and communicate their own views of the world and their place in it
- Effective contributors, clear thinking and articulate with problem solving skills and 'can do' attitudes to life; and
- Responsible citizens, who can develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it, evaluate environmental, scientific and technological issues, enabling them to develop informed, ethical views of complex issues.
This is an ambitious agenda, shifting the balance of the curriculum from a highly content-based system to one which concentrates on outcomes for young people. It also identifies very clearly the potential contribution young people can make to debate and action on global and local issues. In short, greater emphasis is being given to preparing young people to be citizens of the modern world.
Sustainable Development Liaison Group (SDELG)
The Sustainable Development Education Liaison Group (SDELG) is funded by the Government's Education Department, managed by Learning and Teaching Scotland and has an appropriately broad membership of relevant organisations. The SDELG has been given the responsibility of devising policy to enable SDE to be implemented and to have an enhanced position within the school curriculum in Scotland.
The SDELG is taking forward a two-year programme of work to provide a framework for SDE that will support teachers within a future-orientated, flexible curriculum. This framework will draw upon examples of good practice, such as those outlined above. The intention of the group is to provide online support for integrating elements of SDE within mainstream subject areas and to link SDE to other cross-curricular matters such as citizenship, inclusion, health-promoting schools, Grounds for Learning and international school links. Case studies, resources and lesson planning tools will make it easier for teachers and school managers to adopt SDE.
Eco-Schools
Scotland has the highest percentage of schools in Europe who are involved in the Eco-schools programme, a whole-school approach involving teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and the wider community as well as pupils in learning about sustainable development issues. Considerable progress has been made and at the end of the 2006/07 school session over 85% of schools were registered Eco Schools.
Schools Estate
One of the Government's key priorities is to modernise the school estate, and investments in renewing school buildings in Scotland will exceed £2.3 billion by the end of this decade. This provides the opportunity for school children across Scotland to benefit from new learning environments which incorporate the principles of sustainable design and construction. Consultation with stakeholders is central to the school estate strategy, and authorities are increasingly involving pupils in the design process for new school projects, thereby enhancing and developing the link between education for sustainable development and making real improvements in the built environment.
An example of this approach is a project funded by the Government's Future Learning and Teaching Programme. 'Design for Learning: 21st Century Schools' is a programme to generate ideas for buildings which will inspire and motivate teachers and pupils to maximise their individual and collective potential. The project aims to promote new ideas about how we might build, renovate and use school buildings in order to raise educational achievement, promote sustainable development and support a culture of lifelong learning and local communities.
Further and Higher Education
Scotland's universities and colleges have a vital contribution to the UN Decade, in developing and managing their estates, in spreading knowledge to students and the wider community, supporting research that leads to more sustainable technologies or approaches and introducing education for sustainable development into curricula where appropriate. The Government is working with the Funding Council to develop guidance and examples of best practice in all of these areas.
The Funding Council are reviewing Sustainability Literacy - to assess how extensively sustainable development topics are embedded into the curriculum in colleges and universities - and will be working with the Higher Education Academy on delivering change in teaching and learning on this challenging cross-disciplinary topic.
The Executive is funding the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges in Scotland to deliver a Campus Sustainability Programme (CaSPr) which was launched at a national conference in November 2005 in Edinburgh. This sector-led initiative will provide a peer-to-peer training and capacity-building network to raise performance in the sector - initially targeting waste management, travel plan developments and energy and water efficiency improvements. Further topics to be covered will include sustainable procurement, sustainable construction and campus biodiversity along with general support for ESD.
Lifelong Learning
Education for sustainable development is for everyone, at whatever stage of life they find themselves. There are many examples in Scotland of programmes which are supporting individuals and communities to learn by doing, linking training and development packages with practical conservation and environmental improvement programmes. One example is the acclaimed Environmental Placement Programme run by the Business Environment Partnership and others to place undergraduates in a real-life placement during the summer vacation - carrying out practical audits for small and medium sized companies. Another is the programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules available to Scottish organisations seeking to improve their energy and waste management skills - delivered at Stow College.