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Conceptualizing ESD

By Michael Scoullos

Although Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a concept has been introduced since Rio (1992), the acceptance and use of the term was accelerated only after the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002.

The WSSD offered a unique opportunity to adjust our position and promote our ideas for Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Environment and Sustainability (EfES) as they have evolved since the International Conference "Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability" (Thessaloniki, 1997).

Here I aim to explain and present in a visual way how we came up with the notion of ESD and its scope.

From EE to ESD

Starting from the Stockholm UN Conference on the Human Environment (1972), and throughout the process of setting the foundations of EE, most of the critical issues of today were already recognized then as "root causes" of environmental problems. However, the political context was different, and our understanding of environmental issues and their interconnections with social, cultural, ethical and economic issues was considerably less developed than now.

Over time, it was recognized that an appropriate kind of education was needed which would be able to contribute substantially to sustainable development. The "famous" model of SD is based on three pillars: Environment-Ecology, Economy and Society.

Is EE then the kind of education which could contribute to the achievement of SD?

One view suggests that EE serves only as the pillar of the "Environment," and therefore we need similar "balancing" educational components for Economy and Society. The other claims that EE already from the very beginning fully covered economic and social concerns through the recognition of the complex relations between socioeconomic development and the improvement of the environment.

Moving to the Thessaloniki Conference approach, (fig. 1), where the three pillars of SD remained independent and separate, EE was acknowledged as including many more elements of a socioeconomic character, and it was expressed as "Education for Environment and Sustainability" (EfES).

Fig. 1

However, figure 1 still does not include the interdependence and interrelationships between the three pillars of SD. To this end a pyramid representation is proposed (fig. 2).

Fig. 2

It is obvious that with education alone it is not possible to transform current development patterns into sustainable development. In Thessaloniki in 1997 we attempted to address this problem by proposing that education is one of the three components of the overall "Governance" needed to bring about sustainability--appropriate Institutions, Technology and Education. Eventually we come up with the model of SD as a double pyramid (fig. 3).

Fig. 3

The upper part represents the three interlinked components of sustainable development (Economy, Environment, Society) while the lower part represents the prerequisites and tools for its implementation (Institutions, Education, Technology).

UNESCO's Framework for a Draft International Implementation Scheme of the UN DESD rightly emphasizes the importance of culture which is proposed as the "fourth" pillar of sustainable development although this is not universally supported.

The position of the pyramid's facets is random, and therefore all interlinkages are possible, real and important. ESD should enhance our knowledge, ability and skills to understand them and act accordingly for the benefit not only of our generation but also for those yet unborn.

ESD is a dynamic concept that will build on existing initiatives and support in a balanced way the protection of the environment, a productive economy and a healthy society. The UN Decade offers a good opportunity for serious joint efforts.

Michael J. Scoullos is a professor at the University of Athens, and director of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He is also chair of MIO-ECSDE, the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development. In 1997 he chaired the International Conference on Environment and Society in Thessaloniki, Greece. mio-ee-env@ath.forthnet.gr

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