Sustainable Schools in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Meeting the challenge?

Abstract

Within UNESCO’s conception of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), schools should be implementing approaches to teaching and learning that integrate goals for conservation, social justice, appropriate  development and democracy into a vision and a mission of personal and social change. ESD also involves  developing the kinds of civic virtues and skills that can empower all citizens and, through them, our social  institutions, to play leading roles in the transition to a sustainable future. As such, ESD encompasses a vision for global society that is not only ecologically sustainable but also one that is socially and economically  sustainable. This paper traces the history of ESD in Victorian schools and analyses the current sustainability policies and initiatives in terms of their achievement of the educational, environmental, economic and social indicators of ESD. It also problematises the feasibility, and desirability, of any one programme being able to incorporate all aspects of ESD as elaborated by UNESCO.