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ESD - the decade begins! (21/01/05)

Hello everyone:

As many of you will be aware, 2005 sees the start of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD, also called EFS, Education for Sustainability, and EfES, Education for Environment and Sustainability, among others). Here are two ESD news items to start the decade off - an up-coming ESD conference and a new book on ESD methods:

1. An ESD conference will take place in Austria from April 20-23 entitled "Committing Universities to Sustainable Development". Full details are available here htttp://www.uni-graz.at/sustainability and for the moment conference organisers are calling for papers on the four following themes:

Responsibilities of universities: Universities as actors in society, university and knowledge transfer to society, responsibility of universities within a holistic education system.

Challenges for universities: Universities and globalisation, the "entrepreneurial" university, universities and their regional impact, universities as "agents of change", obstacles and opportunities within and outside universities on their way towards sustainability.

Opportunities for universities: Enhanced role of universities in society, efficiency in operation of universities, new identities for universities, participation of stakeholders within and outside universities, strategic management.

Responses from universities: Approaches in education and research to sustainable development, cooperation and networking with other universities and stakeholders, organisational responses to sustainability, responses to challenges and opportunities linked to sustainable development.

Further information is available from Sibylle Braunegg (e-mail : Braunegg@rns.tugraz.at).

2. A book that will be added to the CEPA methodology page on the Ramsar CEPA pages (http://www.ramsar.org/outreach_methodologies.htm) is the "Handbook on methods used in Environmental Education & Education for Sustainable Development" by M.J. Scoullos and V. Malotidi, published in 2004 by the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development, based in Greece.

Chapter A begins with an overview of the evolution of Environmental Education (EE) towards ESD, including perspectives for the 21st century. Chapter B provides the necessary theoretical framework on the methods used in EE, EfES and ESD, presenting various studies exploring which methods teachers use and why, and the factors that influence the choice of a method, with an emphasis on the learning objectives. Current trends and characteristics of the ESD methodological approaches are also presented. Chapter C looks at how the various teaching methods could be implemented, elaborating on the basic theoretical and practical characteristics of methods, as well as indicative ways of their implementation. The authors use activities from the educational package "Water in the Mediterranean " as examples (more on this package below). Finally, chapter D addresses the two widely used methodologies of EE, EfES and ESD, problem-solving and projects. These methodologies offer important frameworks that can include and integrate the various methods analysed in Part C. The chapter closes by presenting the ways by which a particular topic, the "water cycle", could be implemented using the different methods elaborated in the previous paragraphs.

A more detailed synopsis of the book is available here http://www.medies.net/staticpages/index.php?page=handbook. You can also download a PDF version of the whole book from this Web site but there is a slight complication here - you have to become a member of the MedIES network (Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment and Sustainable Development). Don't be put off by this, however, since it is a very simple process taking only a few moments. You will see instructions for joining the network on the home page (http://www.medies.net/). Once you login as a member, the Web site has many education publications that can be downloaded. While some of them are very much oriented to the environmental situation in the Mediterranean, many of the tools, education kits and case studies are either more broadly relevant or serve as useful models for other parts of the world. The "Water in the Mediterranean" package mentioned above is available to members on this Web site in Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian, Turkish, and soon in Spanish and Portuguese.

Best weekend wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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