The expression “education for sustainable development” denotes a complex of concepts, theoretical constructs, policy prescripts and practical methods and tools connecting education and learning to the social, economic and ecological dimensions of sustainable development in their dynamic interaction. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is about how – through education and learning – individuals, groups, organizations and communities, locally, nationally, regionally and globally, can move towards a greater sustainability of their social, cultural and economic practices, relations, institutions and arrangements.

The purpose of the eleven articles in this special issue of Global Environmental Research is to give a glimpse into where the policy debate about ESD stands and how it might proceed as well as how in a variety of settings ESD is being practiced and thus ESD’s distinctive features are being operationalized and defined.

In this Preface we introduce the reader to the world of ESD which, at times, can seem impenetrable because of its complexity, its manifold manifestations and its language. First, we give the context of the various articles. They refer to the conceptualization, the policies and practices of ESD at various levels, whether international, regional, national or local. They deal with education and instruction as well as individual and social learning. They relate to ESD in formal settings (e.g., classrooms and schools), non-formal settings (e.g. nature reserves) or informal settings (e.g., community development). And, they deal more or less explicitly with issues of environment and ecology, economic, social and cultural development, as well as transition and transformation. Subsequently, we briefly introduce each of the eleven articles separately. Close reading of the articles leads us in the last section of this Preface to present a set of observations with relevance to the theory, policy, research and practice of ESD.

The articles in this special issue show the promise and potential of ESD in terms of concept, policy, practice and research. The editors hope that they can spur other practitioners, thinkers, researchers and policy makers to undertake greater and more systematic efforts at documenting and demonstrating what it takes to realize effective ESD in practice. This would be a great contribution to the Rio Earth Summit in 2012 and the UN DESD end-of-decade conference in Japan in 2014.

As the world prepares for ‘Rio plus 20,’ questions are being asked regarding the role and impact of education in the attainment of a more sustainable future. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21, a key contribution of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, consolidated arguments that education is critical to the achievement of sustainable development. It called for action to improve learning opportunities across the globe which challenge unsustainable practices and promote a better quality of life for all.

Since then, efforts have gathered pace internationally and have culminated in a United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014). National strategies, multi-stakeholder partnerships, international collaboration and local to regional initiatives have provided exemplars of how learning and education can contribute to a more positive future. Questions are now been asked about the extent to which these practices have been mainstreamed across education systems and opportunities; and, about how we know that these education efforts are making a difference. UNESCO, in particular, is seeking to monitor strategies, processes of learning and outcomes of education for sustainable development. This article reviews international efforts undertaken as part of the UN DESD to map global progress in education for sustainable development and asks the question, “are we learning to change our education systems and practices?”

This article presents lessons learnt from two DESD-related reviews in which the author participated: 1) a UNESCO commissioned study reviewing the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) (UNESCO, 2009a) in which the author acted as the global report coordinator, and 2) a review commissioned by the Swedish Development agency SIDA focusing on the current state of ESD, particularly in relation to development (SIDA, 2010). The article touches on some of the findings, some of which are more universal (e.g., the necessity of understanding the historical context in which ESD is emerging and its relationship with Environmental Education) and some more region specific (e.g., the perspective on SD and ESD as it relates to the Asia-Pacific region as has been singled out for this special issue). The article then zooms in on the concepts of ‘sustainability competence’ and cross-boundary social learning as emerging concepts in the second half of the decade that connect formal, informal and non-formal learning.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is and will continue to be vital to national efforts to pursue the goal of sustainability. The problems posed by increased CO₂ emissions, the depletion of the rainforests, increased levels of pollution, to name a few, require a search for solutions to capitalize on various advantages derived from education, awareness and training on sustainability. The importance of ESD is particularly pertinent in Europe, the continent with the highest concentration of industrialized nations, where awareness of environmental problems has not always been translated into action. This paper describes the current status of ESD in Europe and introduces the state of affairs in a number of European countries. It presents the results of a survey involving member countries of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), outlining some of factors that hinder progress at implementing ESD at the national level. Finally, it lists some measures for implementing ESD in practice.

Drivers and barriers to implementing ESD had already been surveyed (in 2000) prior to the designated ‘Decade,’ and we continue here with an interim survey on barriers in general with a special focus on UNESCO’s Action Goals (2009) for the 2nd half of the Decade, in order to overcome the existing deficiencies in implementing ESD. However these goals as well as UNESCO’s Strategy Goals since 2010 have lacked a prioritized ranking and thus a targeted strategy.

The analysis of the surveyed Action Goals presented here, conducted by international experts in 2009, classifies UNESCO’s goals as perceived as likely to be realized satisfactorily, nearly satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily, concerning the possible extent of successful implementation by 2014 and taking national peculiarities into account. Thus the results may serve to put the focus on suitable activities and support the stakeholders’ efforts to implement ESD through the gained insights, e.g., by coping with unsatisfactory results, such as lack of adequate resources or public awareness-raising, the need to train business leaders, gender equality issues, promoting the role and the contribution of the media in fostering public awareness and understanding of sustainability issues, etc. On the other hand, the analysis revealed drivers which can decisively support activities towards ESD, including ESD networking, involving NGOs and development partners to integrate ESD, implementing ESD policies through scientific communities, engaging the commitment, solidarity and potential of youth, etc. Applying this specific knowledge of drivers and barriers–integratively in a synergetic and reinforcing strategy – will serve as a framework for appropriate activities towards the end of the Decade and beyond. The survey was designed and conducted by a non-governmental German-Japanese Cooperation Project on DESD.

Since its establishment in 2003, the Japan Council on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J) has paid close attention to informal learning processes in community-based efforts to promote local sustainable development. ESD-J carried out two projects to collect information on and visualise community-based ESD practice: the “Asia Good ESD Practice Project (AGEPP)” (2006-2008), covering the Asian region, and the “ESD×Biodiversity Project” (2009-2011) at the national level. This article presents key elements of community-based ESD, derived from the observed cases of ESD in practice documented through these two projects.

‘Biodiversity,’ by its utilitarian connotation, represents an iconic term for nature and its environmental services. Biodiversity and ecosystems offer several critical goods and services to ensure the survival of all life, and in particular the well-being of humankind. Currently, loss of biological resources has reached alarming levels, primarily due to drivers within human control. It has served to create inequities in access to resources and to benefits derived from them, in addition to fostering a propensity for wasteful consumption. Redressing this situation requires strategic investments into education, awareness raising, human resource management and capacity enhancement tools among different stakeholders across various vocations and locations. This paper highlights the critical issues with regard to the maintenance and augmentation of biodiversity and ecosystems that can be supported by strengthening education systems and related initiatives.

The midway point has arrived of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014) launched to advance the goals of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Also, the Wetland Convention’s Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) Program has begun its third 6-year program, ending in 2015. The results of these two programs, a mix of successes and obstacles, have relevance for ecological sustainability knowledge acquisition and the subsequent sustainable use or ‘wise use’ of natural resources within and across scales.

This paper attempts to reflect on the wetland CEPA (WCEPA) program of Osaki-Tajiri, near the Kabukuri, Izu and Kejo wetlands, from the perspective of ESD. It also tries to identify ESD-related WCEPA learning processes, interrelations and interactions of the WCEPA program with the biophysical/ecological components of the wetland-paddy rice ecosystem and the outcomes, including co-benefits. Examples of activities or social-ecological interactions that portray an adaptive co-management and co-benefit approach toward sustainability are identified. Using ESD principles, WCEPA needs to improve its future activities to bring about an overall increase in resilience of the Osaki-Tajiri social-ecological system and, simultaneously, achieve its sustainability targets/goals.

The United Nations’ Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) aims, among other objectives, to foster and promote the mainstreaming of intercultural approaches within a social learning process through multi-sectoral, collaborative and interdisciplinary methods. Biological as well as cultural diversity are inherently linked and form an important part of the sustainable development education process. Traditional knowledge (TK), a central dimension of bio-cultural diversity, is also receiving increased attention in this context. However there are several socio-political and methodological challenges of integrating TK in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programs. Using the case of traditional medicine from Kerala state, India, this paper attempts to highlight the importance of and the issues pertinent to such integration in a local context. It also highlights the role of endogenous development processes to achieve different objectives, including specifically those related to ESD processes. Appropriate learning methods need to be designed with sensitivity to epistemological and contextual dimensions of traditional knowledge. For education programs to be effective they need to be addressed at various levels of social integration such as communities, civil society groups, nongovernmental organizations, formal and informal learning institutions, local administrative structures, and national, international, multilateral and policy forums.

This paper is about the challenges of “education for sustainable development” (ESD), by which we mean: how we learn to live in ecological and socio-cultural harmony with our neighbours and the Earth and choose to act for sustainability on a daily basis. We contrast conventional pedagogical approaches and curriculum design with the emerging body of good practice in ESD. We regard “learning to live sustainably” and “learning for sustainable development” as pedagogical equivalents, the first centred on individual and small group learning, the second centred on large group and societal learning. Knowledge transfer, the backbone of most education, has in our view only a modest role to play in learning to live sustainably. Indeed, the focus needs to be on the learning rather than the teaching. Further, we argue that nurturing the components of “action” and “care” in ESD will balance the bias towards “information” and produce a virtuous cycle of continuous learning for sustainability. In formulating the lessons we have learned about ESD, we bring into relief the essential (and undervalued) contributions of synthesis and leadership. We point to methods of accelerated learning and experiential learning and the role of feedback and indicators. In doing this, we draw on over 20 years’ experience with Global Action Plan (GAP) – an international community of practice, currently with member organizations in 20 countries – working at the forefront of education for sustainable development and related programs for sustainable behaviour change, including ‘carbon neutral’ households, communities, work places and schools.

A close reading of the paper should make clear that our ideal for ESD is to educate for strong social learning for strong sustainability.

This article challenges conventional wisdom approaches to social change that rely heavily on the communication of messages and ‘deficit development’ orientations. Drawing on the process sociology orientations of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu as well as a southern African open process framework, a situated and engaged meaning-making orientation has been developed. Here practical and applied work supports a deepening of engagement with the issues and risks faced in contexts of environmental and health risk. The article uses practical examples or mini-case studies to illustrate the points made.

Our vision is a world in which our work and lifestyles contribute to the well-being of all life on Earth (Center for Environmental Education, 2007).

The challenges of sustainability are adaptive challenges, and require the development of more effective mental models that support a transition to sustainability. Our ability to generate effective mental models is hampered by common deficient ways of thinking – and this deficiency is often shared by policymakers, private sector leaders and the general population. In this paper we provide an overview of these deficiencies and how systems thinking could provide the framework to answer to these challenges. We propose a set of skills, a visual language and technologies to increase our ability to learn systems thinking. Finally, we provide an overview of several educational initiatives currently showing promise at developing a sustainability-focused systems thinking capacity, as well as recommendations for additional educational approaches.