V. Integration of Education for Sustainable Development to English 121

There are few issues more important to our collective future than sustainable development, a term which has over the years come to be understood as encompassing a whole range of issues that relate to the on-going success of humanity's stay on this planet.

These issues certainly include environmental conservation and the challenge of appropriate development — the two main planks of “sustainable development.” But they also extend to the whole gamut of concerns relating to population and human consumption, human rights, women's advancement, food security, energy, industrial growth, urban planning — and even issues of peace and security.

      All these things relate to the ability of humanity “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” as sustainable development was defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987.

As with most good and important ideas, the real problem facing humanity today in terms of achieving sustainable development is how to motivate people to change underlying behaviors and activities that are problematic — in this case “unsustainable.”

     

     How, in other words, do we motivate people to use less energy, to contribute more to help alleviate poverty, undertake development that does not pollute or otherwise squander precious resources, and, ultimately, to make peace with each other?

Here is where the idea of a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) has a special role to play: in showing how various processes of education —which lie at the heart of promoting changes in human behavior — can be used on a global level to help turn things around.