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Education 21 offers a very distinctive approach to education for sustainable development, yet it stems from some quite basic ideas. The first of these (implicit in Agenda 21 itself) states that policies for sustainable development will only succeed if supported by integrative education programmes as essential components. Although such programmes will tend to be locally based, a comprehensive international policy framework for education is necessary to facilitate action. The following related points are key:
? Education 21 is as much about social and ethical aspects as the scientific and technological concerns of sustainable development. It provides a framework of values about the world that embraces justice, equity and human rights.
? Education 21 embraces all forms of education; formal, non-formal and informal; part-time and full-time; school, further, higher, professional and adult; workforce training. It includes open and distance learning, and extends to education via the media and the internet.
?
Education 21 is about developing attitudes and skills, as
well as knowledge and understanding.
As a grouping, the education community is much broader than the school teaching profession. In the present context, it embraces representatives of all those individuals (and groups) with a commitment to education in support of sustainable development. It should be appreciated, then, that the education community:
? permeates all the sectors that are significant for sustainable development, for example industry, agriculture and health: it extends from government and local authorities to the private sector and NGOs. It represents a vital, integrating force.
? represents an enormously potent, but largely untapped human-resource for sustainable development. It possesses a reserve of knowledge and skills for sustainable development that can be invaluable in a range of contexts as well as education. It is vital that the education community is at the heart of all the processes that are working to achieve sustainable development.
Other key groupings such as children and youth, women and farmers are accorded a special status by Agenda 21, and are designated as major groups. This is an official label and these groups have special access to the UN system.
Education 21 provides a means by which the excellent education policies of Agenda 21 can be implemented. It supplies a common programme framework, an international rallying banner, an empowering mechanism for the education community, and offers a means for releasing latent resources, and harnessing them in support of sustainable development.
Building Education 21: things
achieved so far
At the April 1996 meeting of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), the efforts of the representatives of the education community led to considerable progress:
? The profile of education as necessary to the achievement of sustainable development was raised;
? A platform was provided for people to express interests and concerns for education who were not attending primarily as educationalists;
? Progress was made with the NGO community to establish recognition for the educational community, which now has a representative on the CSD NGO Steering Committee;
? The wording of the CSD's education policy was significantly improved by reference to the education community in a number of relevant places;
? Several points from Agenda 21 were given renewed and stronger emphasis. For example, the representatives of the education community lobbied hard in support of a range of progressive policies concerned with:
? building a broad, strategic alliance between all the international bodies concerned with education for sustainable development,
? creating new links and partnerships between different sectors (agriculture, industry, forestry, marine resources and so on) at all levels,
? pressurising the Bretton Woods institutions to review their investment in education,
? developing the appreciation of education as lifelong, and of learning as subject to many influences,
? prioritising basic education for all, in the context of sustainable development, but also
? valuing traditional learning, which the high status of new education should not be allowed to eclipse;
? At the 1996 meeting the CSD secretariat informed the representatives present that, although they could not formally recognise the education community as a major group, if the education community behaved like a major group, CSD would treat it as if it were one. Clearly, we are responding to this challenge.
The recognition of Education 21 as a comprehensive programme and of the education community as a major group, then, are our main objectives. Some of the work needed to ensure a successful outcome will need to be undertaken at an international level, but not all. National groups work within reach of both the international agencies and the practitioners on the ground. Many such groups will indeed be needed to ensure that Education 21 is adaptable to the variety of national and local conditions which it should serve. In order to give substance to the CSD's agenda, some of the more urgent tasks for a national group should be to:
? develop a model of education for a sustainable system which can be widely shared and adapted;
? show how education with a sustainable development focus can be integrated into existing systems of formal education without impracticable disruption;
? develop the staff training programmes necessary to make this possible;
? strengthen partnerships with other environment-related education programmes in other sectors, for example agriculture and health;
? relate education more closely to the sustainable development priorities of a country or locality;
? investigate ways of demonstrating how lifestyles can be improved, and resources better husbanded as a result of these measures;
? establish connections with similar groups in other countries to encourage sharing and exchange of experience and resources;
? experiment with new methods of exchange, including new communication technologies, distance learning techniques and media presentation;
? explore the cultural roots of environmentally-related behaviour, both in the home and the community;
? convince those in authority at all levels that they have a duty to educate by example.
AN INTERNATIONAL WORK PLAN
At Earth Summit II and during the PrepComs, representatives of the education community will be lobbying hard for an international work plan to be adopted. The following are essential elements:
? During 1998 countries should establish a national Education 21 working group of appropriate representatives from the education community to work along side existing national round tables or panels for sustainable development to enable the development of Education 21 programmes. This group should act as a catalyst and foster a sense of common purpose in relation to Education 21 across the education community. It should also provide a focus for international enquiry, cooperation and action.
? By the end of 1999, prompted and encouraged by the national Education 21 working groups, organisations with an educational role should have consulted with their stakeholders to share ideas and listen to different perspectives on how to engage with the challenge posed by Education 21. All people participating in this process should be considering how they need to reform themselves and what they can contribute to Agenda 21 initiatives. This consultation should raise awareness of the importance of education in meeting Agenda 21 objectives and encourage the development, adoption and continuous evaluation of Education 21 programmes.
? Within the year 2000 most countries should have published and launched their Education 21 support strategies, designed to encourage the continued development of a diversity of programmes to enable responsible citizenship for sustainability.
? By the end of 2001, most organisations and informal groups within the education community should have established operational Education 21 programmes.
Fact-File - For Those Just Joining the Process -
The Earth Summit (formally known as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, June 1992, was a milestone event in recent times. It alerted humanity to the requirement for ensuring that present day development does not so damage the environment as to prevent future generations from being able to meet their own needs. In other words, the summit established the case for sustainable development policies. One document to be agreed, the Rio Declaration, contained an important summary of the principles of sustainable development but the real achievement of Rio was Agenda 21.
Agenda 21
One of the most significant outcomes of the Earth Summit was the adoption of Agenda 21, a comprehensive blue-print for the global action needed to move towards sustainable development. Within an agreed framework, it requires countries and other organisations to implement their own action programmes within the agreed framework. In Agenda 21, chapter 36 is devoted to education. In addition to this, however, many of the other chapters contain references to education and/or training.
NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations)
If Agenda 21 was one of the most significant and visible outcomes of the Earth Summit, behind it lay another agenda. In the years to intervene since the ground-breaking UN Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972, disenchantment had set in with grandiose policies handed down from authorities, and also with the high costs entailed (often environmental as well as financial) when implemented. The communities affected felt little ownership of, or commitment to these policies.
At the Rio Earth Summit, it was realised that sustainable development policies would only succeed if they were progressed in partnership with NGOs and community groups. The Earth Summit therefore placed unprecedented emphasis on the role of these groups. In relation to the present proposals, it will not escape the reader that Education 21 has emerged from within the NGO community, and that any success enjoyed thus far is due to lobbying by NGOs.
Major Groups
Agenda 21 then is not just directed towards countries and governments. It insists that other groupings have a central role to play. Amongst these groups, Agenda 21 identifies a number of major groups (or stakeholders as they are sometimes called) - groups whose active involvement is essential if sustainable development is to be attained.
At present, Agenda 21 identifies nine major groups: women, children and youth, indigenous peoples, NGOs, local authorities, trades unions, business and industry, the scientific and technological community, and farmers. One of the aims of Education 21 is to achieve major group designation for the education community.
As well as posing challenges to and placing responsibilities on organisations, major group status affords special access rights to the UN system.
The Commission on Sustainable Development
The adoption of Agenda 21 at Rio required the UN to establish a new functioning commission of the UN Economic and Social Council called the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). The CSD has several terms of reference, but in the present context the following are key:
? To receive and analyse relevant information from competent major groups in the context of Agenda 21 implementation;
? Within a UN framework, to enhance dialogue between major groups, the independent sector, and other bodies;
? To provide recommendations to the UN General Assembly.
Earth Summit II
The Rio Earth Summit (1992) was not simply an event, it was the starting point of a process. As we have seen, the CSD was set up at Rio to help stimulate the implementation of the policies that had been adopted. A longer term follow-up activity agreed at Rio was the decision to hold a major review of the progress achieved after the elapse of five years. This conveniently brings us to 1997!
Although Rio itself was a UN conference, the review will be conducted by the General Assembly (strictly speaking a United Nations General Assembly Special Session - UNGASS, but generally referred to as Earth Summit II). This meeting provides the most promising opportunity since Rio to develop further the policies contained in Agenda 21.
It is at Earth Summit II that we hope Education 21 will be finally adopted by the UN. However, as you will see below, the real work of building support for new proposals has to start a long while before the actual meeting.
The Earth Summit II PrepComs
Major international meetings such as Earth Summit II do not happen spontaneously. They require detailed planning. Preparatory meetings or PrepComs are held to identify key issues and build the agenda for the main event. In relation to Earth Summit II, the two meetings of the CSD scheduled for 1997 will serve as the PrepComs.
During PrepCom 2, the second week will be devoted to reviewing the achievements of major groups since the Rio Earth Summit. During this period, the education community will be holding major meetings at the PrepCom to build support for Education 21. Actually of course, representatives of the Education Community will also be present at PrepCom 1 to prepare the ground for PrepCom 2......
Key Dates and Venues
PrepCom 1: UN, New York, 24 February - 7 March 1997 (PrepCom 1 is also the fifth intersessional meeting of the CSD).
PrepCom 2: UN, New York, 7-25 April 1997 (PrepCom 2 is also the fifth sessional meeting of the CSD).
Earth Summit II: UN, New York, 23-27 June 1997 (Earth Summit II is also known as the United Nations General Assembly Special Session).
UNED-UK
UNED-UK has as its primary objective "the promotion of global environmental protection and sustainable development, particularly through support of the UN Environment Programme, the UN Development Programme, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and all other relevant UN and inter-governmental institutions". As discussed elsewhere in this paper, such commitments have been most fully expressed in Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration, both agreed at the Rio Earth Summit, 1992.
UNED-UK enjoys close relationships with both UNDP, UNEP and the CSD. It supports UN institutions and processes through the following means:
? facilitating input from the membership of UNED-UK to the policy-making processes of the UN and other inter-governmental institutions;
? contributing to the preparation and implementation of a national strategy for Agenda 21, and supporting the work of CSD.
The Education for Sustainability Forum
is a grouping of some 20 United Kingdom NGOs with an interest in education
for a sustainable future. Its member organisations cover formal, non-formal,
youth and adult education. Its purpose is to monitor and build support
for Education in relation to sustainable development.
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If you and your organisation support the proposals in this paper, we would be very pleased to hear from you. Amongst the things you might consider doing are: ?
Letting UNED-UK know of your support
If you want further information, or
would like to discuss how you might best contribute to PrepCom II
and Earth Summit II meeting, then contact UNED-UK by telephone,
letter, fax or E-mail (see front of this document for details), or contact
one of the UNED-UK representatives at these meetings.
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