Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the aim, contents and significance of the education for sustainability (ESD) , together with the background of the Japanese proposal at WSSD. In 2002, a worldwide activity for the education for sustainable development was proposed by the Japanese Government in the occasion of World Summit of Sustainable Development (WSSD) which was held at Johannesburg. The proposal was formally adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2005 and then the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) was inaugurated by UNESCO which was designated its lead agency. Prior to the Japanese proposal, there have been discussions about the necessity of the education of sustainable development, because it requests people to think nature and society in considerably different manner from the traditional way. The characters of the traditional education such as disciplinary structure of knowledge, the basic aspects of science that are directed to analysis and separation of natural sciences and social sciences ; reveal the insufficiency of educating people who would act and confront the difficult challenges of sustainability. The Japanese proposal has given a timely trigger for the world to start cooperative actions for the ESD. We are now on the half way of DESD and must step into the phase of integrating our achievements cooperatively, not only within Japan but also internationally.