Answer to Question #235136 in English for Rose

Question

Briefly describe the contribution of the international events in environmental education and Education for sustainable development

Answer 1

1In 1946, the Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

This was established as part of the broader United Nations enterprise, Unesco was initially concerned only with education in a developmental context, but gradually through its contact with bodies such as IUCN, it became part of the process of developing environmental education. While these organizations at first employed relatively limiting concepts and terms such as “conservation awareness”, environmental awareness” and “conversation education” to describe what they were doing, the wider concept of environmental education” inexorably emerged to become the almost universally accepted international term.  

 

2. The 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Environment – Stockholm

It led directly to the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which became the first UN agency to have its headquarters located outside of Europe and North America – in Nairobi in Kenya, East Africa. Among the first task given to the UNEP was to establish the term environmental education”. Together with Unesco, UNEP organized the international Workshop on Environment Education in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1975, and following on this, the first Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education was held at Tbilisi in the USSR in 1977.

 

3. The 1977 first Inter-Governmental Conference on Environmental Education- Tbilisi, USSR.

This conference resulted in the declaration of 12 principals – now referred to as the TbilisiPrinciple of Environmental Education which provided the framework and guidelines for the practice of environmental education on a global, regional, and national scale. Furthermore, the document focuses on EE and maintains among others that it should be interdisciplinary, be a lifelong process and develop critical thinking and problem–solving skills. The declaration has had a large effect on curriculums, for example in the Uganda strategy to implementing education for sustainable development.

 

4. The 1987 Bruntland Commissions' final report. 

This is where the term SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT got an international breakthrough. The definition of sustainable development is stated in this report and it is still ubiquitous. “Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable development is about global responsibility and solidarity between generations, between women and men, and between different cultures and countries. It is about safeguarding and efficient use of existing natural resources. Investment in the management of human, social and physiological resources is also a crucial part of sustainable development. Democratic values permeate the society and the citizens feel that they can influence the development and that they have the will of taking that responsibility for doing so.

  

5. The 1992 UN conference, also known as “The Earth Summit”-m Rio de Janeiro.

The most famous agreement from that meeting is Agenda 21, a plan of action for sustainable development. The 1992 Earth Summit focused on the role of environmental education in response to the environmental crisis. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1922), was one of the key documents to emerge from the conference, emphasizes the need for wide-scale environmental educational programs in diverse settings, while the“Biodiversity Convention” includes education and capacity building, as do many of the other international conventions aimed at responding to a wide range of environmental issues agenda 21 describes environmental education processes that involve teachers and learners in “promoting sustainable development.

 

6. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development – Johannesburg, South Africa.

The event was organized jointly by UNESCO and the Government of South Africa’s Ministry of Education, in co-operation with the NGO UNESCO Liaison Committee (which groups over300 international NGOs competent in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication and accredited to UNESCO). The objectives of the parallel event were fourfold: to take up education at all levels and in all its forms as indispensable for achieving sustainable development; to draw political attention at the highest levels to the vital role of education in building a sustainable future; to provide an opportunity for those at the WorldSummit interested in education to come together to pave the way for future action, including the WSSD plan of implementation; to emphasize partnerships and commitments to future action, consistent with the purpose of the summit. 

For UNESCO, one of the most positive outcomes of the Johannesburg summit was a recommendation to the UN General Assembly that “it considers adopting a Decade of education for Sustainable Development starting in 2005’. Subsequently, in December 2002, the General Assembly decided through Resolution A./RES/57/254 to proclaim the ten-year period beginning on 1 January 2005 as the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.