topic Education

UN Decade "Education for Sustainable Development"

The United Nations have declared the years 2005 to 2014 the world decade on "Education for Sustainable Development". The aim of the Decade is to anchor the ideal of sustainable development in all areas of education. The Decade wants to provide education opportunities to all people, enabling them to acquire knowledge and values and learn about behaviour and lifestyles which are needed to ensure a liveable future and develop a future-oriented society.

Sustainable development is a political goal with great priority for the Federal Government. To achieve this goal, we need innovative solutions which bring into line economic performance, social equity and responsibility for the natural environment. Sustainable development can only be achieved if we shape the future with imagination and creativity, try new things and explore uncharted territory. Education will have to play a key role. The most important source of ideas and resulting innovations are people with a good education. Education is a key to knowledge. Education provides orientation in an increasingly complex world. Education is the key to the labour market. People will only be able to truly participate in social life through education.

Before the launch of the UN Decade, the German Bundestag unanimously called for the development of a national action plan "Education for sustainable development" on 1 July 2004. Politics and the civil society have adopted the aims of the Decade and developed numerous activities. Federal President Horst Köhler has become the patron of implementation in Germany.

In Germany, the Federal Government's activities within the framework of the Decade are coordinated by the BMBF. On behalf of and supported by the BMBF, the German Commission for UNESCO - similar to the UNESCO within the system of the United Nations - has taken the role of coordinator. It has appointed a National Committee through which it contributes to the coordination of the political players and the involvement of the civil society. The Federal Ministries, the Bundestag, the Länder, NGOs, the media, industry and science are represented on the National Committee. The National Committee has drafted the National Action Plan to implement the Decade in Germany. This plan states the strategic aims for the Decade and currently includes over 60 far-reaching education policy measures which are to contribute to integrating the ideal of sustainable development into the education system in the long term.

By invitation of the National Committee, about 100 important initiatives of education for sustainable development have gathered at the UN Decade's Round Table. The Round Table provides ideas for implementing the UN Decade and communicates the concerns of education for sustainable development to a broad public. In between the Round Table's annual meetings, the Working Groups are working on implementing the Decade.

In order to increase the visibility of education for sustainable development on the spot and to promote best practice, the National Committee awards a prize to "Official German UN Decade Projects". Several hundred successful and innovative projects have already received the award.

Sustainable development is a task for the international community. Linking German UN Decade activities to international projects is therefore an important element of the German implementation strategy. This includes joint activities with UNESCO in Paris, with UNESCO National Commissions in other countries and collaborations at European level.

The German implementation of the UN Decade is considered exemplary at international level. This is certainly one of the reasons why UNESCO is organizing the official Mid-Term Conference of the UN Decade in Germany, together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The "World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development - Moving into the Second Half of the UN Decade" will be held in Bonn from 31 March to 2 April 2009.

The main aims of the conference are to review what has been done to implement the UN Decade worldwide so far and to develop strategic guidelines for the second half. Particular attention is to be given to the different regional, national and cultural activities to implement the Decade. Different challenges and political framework conditions will be discussed.