UN Decade of ESD in Scotland

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UN Decade of ESD in Scotland Whats next for
Further and Higher Education?
Betsy King, LfS Scotland Rehema White, University
of St Andrews
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UN Decade of ESD in Scotland and beyond?

• Scotlands FE and HE UNDESD goals 2005-14
• How did we do?
• Scotlands end of UN Decade conference
• Global perspectives on the Decade
• Celebrations and planning in Japan
• What next globally and for Scotland?

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Scotlands UNDESD goals for Further and Higher
Education

• For the UN Decade, we envisage a Scotland where
• Our universities and colleges play a key role in
  developing knowledge and understanding of
  sustainable development
• Estates developments embody the principles of
  sustainable development and encourage learners
  and staff to act sustainably
• Education for sustainable development is
  integrated into curricula
• The whole experience offered to learners
  contributes to the development of their
  sustainability literacy and citizenship skills,
  attitudes and behaviours
• Universities and colleges have access to the
  highest quality materials, advice and support to
  enable them to embed education for sustainable
  development into their courses and the wider
  student experience
• The value of sustainability skills is understood
  and articulated by institutions, learners and
  employers.

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Did we meet our goals? respondents in Delphi
process
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What Scotlands end of UNDESD conference said

• Workshop on FE/HE focused on past achievements
  but highlighted some ways forward including
• Build on success of estates and accredited
  curriculum and community holistic approach
• Student demand will increase provision of LfS
• Explore impact of LfS does it enhance learning
  overall?
• Maintain global perspective

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What next? Mind the GAP

• End of UNDESD (November 2014)
• Celebrations and planning in Japan
• A Global Action Programme adopted by the UN
• Linked to the new UN Sustainable Development
  Goals?
• Five years or longer
• Scotlands role in the GAP

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UNDESD Final Report Nov.2014 Shaping the Future
We Want http//bit.ly/1AfjAJt

• Successes and trends
• No. of countries including SD in education plans
  increases steadily
• ESD has encouraged multi-stakeholder approaches
• ESD has entered discourse on Quality Education
• Increase in no. of universities seeking to
  transfer influence beyond the university,
  particularly within local communities
• Challenges
• closer alignment and coherence across education
  and SD sectors
• political support for institutionalised ESD to
  ensure implementation at systemic whole
  institution level
• better knowledge more research, innovation,
  monitoring and
• evaluation for effectiveness of ESD.

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• UNDESD Report Key Findings
• Shaping the Future We Want http//bit.ly/1AfjAJt
  
• Need broader understanding of ESD
• Convergence between SD and education agendas
• Strong political leadership instrumental in
  advancing ESD
• Multi-stakeholder partnerships and networks
  within and beyond national boundaries have been
  particularly effective
• Whole institution change is important
• Educators are the major priority
• Importance of early years and tertiary education
• Technical and Vocational Education and Training
  (TVET) programmes are becoming more significant

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UNDESD 2005-14 ReportHigher Education

• global transformation of HE towards SD has yet
  to occur (p31)
• Need
• Whole institution approaches to curriculum change
• Capacity building for leaders

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UNDESD 2005-14 ReportTVET

• Internationally the skills needs of the Green
  Economy are recognised
• Nationally and locally implementation is slow
• Government, business and industry and educators
  need to work together
• Capacity building for leaders and
• educators needed

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UNESCO World Conference on ESD Nov. 2014 Japan

• 1100 people, 74 Ministers
• Four main themes
• Celebrating a decade of action
• Reorienting education to build a better future
  for all
• Accelerating action for SD
• Setting the agenda for 2014 and beyond
• This conference marking the end of the DESD is
  the culmination of
• a journey and the start of a new one
• (Irnia Bokova, Director General of UNESCO)

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Aichi-Nagoya Declaration - key messages for ESD
http//bit.ly/1CF0rWe

• Reorienting Education to build a better future
  for all
• In sum upscale the outcomes of the DESD to
  drive a paradigm shift across the education and
  training system
• Involves changes in purpose, policy, ethics,
  values, knowledge production approaches, teaching
  methods etc.
• Accelerating action for Sustainable Development
• In sum changes must begin now, with a renewed
  sense of urgency
• link education and action in all spheres to
  create socially
• just green economies and societies

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Global Action Programme on ESD

• Global Objectives
• to reorient education and learning so that
  everyone has the opportunity to acquire the
  knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that
  empower them to contribute to sustainable
  development and make a difference
• to strengthen education and learning in all
  agendas, programmes and activities that promote
  sustainable development.

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UNESCO Roadmap for implementing the GAP
http//bit.ly/1sUGrE8

• Priority Action Areas
• Advancing policy
• Transforming learning and training environments
• Building capacities of educators and trainers
• Empowering and mobilising youth
• Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level

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Global Strategies

• Building new momentum
• Partner networks for the 5 areas
• A Global Forum
• UNESCO prize for ESD?
• Urging national ESD co-ordination and action
• plans with targets
• GAP Secretariat at UNESCO

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What next for FE and HE in Scotland?

• FE established curriculum, leading on from CfE
  and eco-schools regulate and embed through
  certification requirements?
• HE research and teaching no set curriculum and
  fierce defence of academic freedom pursue via
  graduate attributes, critical thinking and
  innovative pedagogies? (beware employability
  rhetoric..)

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In Groups

• What are the opportunities to strengthen ESD in
  FE and HE now?
• What are the barriers?
• What resources do we need to enable us as
  individuals, institutions and a sector to develop?