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Promotion of a global partnership for the UN decade of education for sustainable development (2005-2014): the international implementation scheme for the decade in brief Year of publication: 2006 Corporate author: UNESCO Through the International Implementation Scheme governments and other partners, especially potential donors, are urged to assess existing ESD resources and needs in countries, reallocate existing resources and find means of mobilizing new resources to ensure that ESD will not be a mere slogan but actual reality. Education and Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development: Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation; 12 - 13 February, 2015, Vientiane, Lao PDR Year of publication: 2015 Author: Heribert Hinzen | Ounpheng Khammang | Somsy Southivong | Timote Masima Vaioleti The book contains all the texts which were transformed from the presentations during the consultations into written manuscripts. Integrating education for sustainable development & education for international understanding: conceptual issues and pedagogical principles for teacher education to address sustainability Year of publication: 2006 Author: Swee-Hin Toh Corporate author: UNESCO Bangkok It is in this spirit that this essay seeks to “integrate” two active and expanding fields of 2 educational innovation and transformation worldwide, namely ESD (education for sustainable development or sustainability) and EIU (education for international understanding). The key conceptual issues and themes of both of these movements will be clarified and shared values and understandings highlighted. It will also be argued that both ESD and EIU , in order to effectively fulfill their goals of building a peaceful, just and sustainable world order, rests on some key common pedagogical principles and processes. Another introductory caveat is also essential here, namely the question of paradigm. Among policy-makers, theorists and practitioners, there may well be and often are distinct differences in conceptualization according to their paradigmatic interpretations, with consequently alternative implications for policies and practices. Sandwatch: adapting to climate change and educating for sustainable development Year of publication: 2010 Author: Gillian Cambers | Paul Diamond Corporate author: UNESCO Sandwatch provides a framework for children, youth and adults, with the help of teachers and local communities, to work together to critically evaluate the problems and conflicts facing their beach environments, and to develop sustainable approaches to address these issues. It also helps beaches become more resilient to climate change. The preliminary chapters of this publication focus on how to get started with Sandwatch activities and examine ways to address climate change impacts. The principle aim of this publication is to document the Sandwatch methodology: monitoring, analysing, sharing and taking action. An activities-orientated approach is used to provide step-by-step instructions to cover monitoring methods and data analysis, including observation and recording, erosion and accretion, beach composition, human activities, beach debris, water quality, waves, longshore currents, plants and animals. The activities are related to (a) sustainable development issues, including: beach ownership, mining beaches for construction material, conflict resolution between different beach users, pollution, conservation of endangered species, and (b) climate change adaptation issues: sea level rise, rising temperatures, ocean acidification and increased extreme events. Ways to share findings and create a Sandwatch network are detailed including methods such as the use of local media, websites, social networking and video production. Finally, ways are discussed to design, plan and implement a Sandwatch project to fulfill one or all of the following criteria: (a) addressing a particular beach-related issue, (b) enhancing the beach, and (c) promoting climate change adaptation. Sandwatch stands as an example of Education for Sustainable Development in action, and is being targeted as one of several flagship projects for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014). As the world confronts the growing threat of climate change, Sandwatch presents an opportunity to help people and ecosystems respond to present and future changes in a practical manner. Beaches are among the ecosystems most at risk from climate change as they face rising sea levels and increased more intense storms. By contributing to ecosystem health and resilience, Sandwatch can help people from all walks of life learn about climate change and how their actions can contribute to the adaptation process. Climate change starter's guidebook: an issues guide for education planners and practitioners Year of publication: 2011 Author: Alejandro Deeb | Amber French | Julia Heiss | Jason Jabbour | Dominique LaRochelle | Arkadiy Levintanus | Anna Kontorov | Rummukainen Markku | Gerardo Sanchez Martinez | Rosalyn McKeown | Nicolay Paus | Antoine Pecoud | Guillaume Pénisson | Daniel Puig | Vanessa Retana | Serban Scrieciu | Morgan Strecker | Vimonmas Vachatimanont | Benjamin Witte | Noriko Yamada. Corporate author: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) The Climate Change Starter’s Guide provides an introduction and overview for education planners and practitioners on the wide range of issues relating to climate change and climate change education, including causes, impacts, mitigation and adaptation strategies, as well as some broad political and economic principles. The aim of this guide is to serve as a starting point for mainstreaming climate change education into school curricula. It has been created to enable education planners and practitioners to understand the issues at hand, to review and analyse their relevance to particular national and local contexts, and to facilitate the development of education policies, curricula, programmes and lesson plans. The guide covers four major thematic areas: 1. the science of climate change, which explains the causes and observed changes; 2. the social and human aspects of climate change including gender, health, migration, poverty and ethics; 3. policy responses to climate change including measures for mitigation and adaptation; and 4. education approaches including education for sustainable development, disaster reduction and sustainable lifestyles. A selection of key resources in the form of publication titles or websites for further reading is provided after each of the thematic sections. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provides its expertise and know-how in areas such as education, culture, and the social sciences. In particular, UNESCO emphasises the role of education in support of climate change adaptation and mitigation in providing skills and capacities but also through shaping the values, attitudes and behaviours needed to put the world on a more sustainable path. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) works with countries to strengthen their ability to adapt to climate change, move towards low-carbon growth, reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, improve understanding of climate science, and raise public awareness of the changing climate. UNEP is supporting countries to seize the opportunities of moving towards low-carbon growth, while improving human health and well-being, generating green jobs and moving towards a green economy. With this publication, the two organizations have embarked on a collaboration on climate change education that we are committed to building upon and expanding in the period ahead. 
National journeys towards education for sustainable development, 2013: reviewing national ESD experiences from Costa Rica, Morocco, South Africa, Sweden, VietNam Year of publication: 2013 Corporate author: UNESCO This publication has sourced information from a series of national reviews commissioned by UNESCO in 2011/2012 and was written by experts in Costa Rica, Morocco, South Africa, Sweden and Viet Nam. The countries presented in this report are not necessarily the ‘best’ examples of the region, as many other countries are also progressing effectively towards implementing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Rather, the countries selected illustrate the wide diversity of ESD approaches and initiatives taking place in different parts of the world. The national studies were then edited and harmonized before common themes and lessons learnt were identified to support other national efforts in moving towards the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development: a joint initiative by UNESCO and the government of India Year of publication: 2013 Corporate author: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Government of India are embarking on a major new partnership to create the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. Through research and capacity-building, the Institute aims to develop and promote new approaches to education, empowering learners to transform their lives and build a more peaceful and sustainable world. Based in New Delhi, this will be the first UNESCO specialized education Institute in India, and the first in the Asia-Pacific region. It is particularly fitting that the Institute is hosted by India, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and a country that has made a significant commitment to education over the past decades. 
Literacy and education for sustainable development and women's empowerment Year of publication: 2014 Author: Anna Robinson-Pant Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The fact that women constitute two-thirds of the world’s non-literate population has been a cause for concern for several decades now. Despite a number of high-profile literacy interventions specifically targeting women – including UNESCO’s LIFE initiative – the disparity between male and female literacy rates persists in many countries of the world (UIL, 2013). This starting point for thinking about women’s literacy has however often led to a narrow focus on literacy access and outcomes. Whilst educational policy makers and planners have attempted to identify and overcome barriers to women’s participation, researchers have directed their attention to measuring the social and economic benefits of women’s literacy (see Robinson-Pant, 2004). Statistical correlations have been presented as evidence of the impact of women’s literacy: for instance, in Pakistan, women with a high level of literacy earned 95% more than women with no literacy skills yet there was only a 33% differential amongst men (UNESCO 2012: 196).Barriers to participation have been analysed in terms of structural (timing, location, women-only versus mixed gender) and social (marriage, poverty, language hierarchies) factors (see Ballara 1991). Within such analysis however, little attention has been given to the social processes associated with literacy learning and development. By contrast, this paper sets out to take a wider lens on literacy in order to explore not only ‘what works’ in practical terms of encouraging women to participate programmes, but also to look at how and why literacy programmes can contribute to sustainable development and processes of empowerment. Taking this perspective on women’s literacy involves asking alternative questions from the more usual ‘how can we make more women literate?’ Approaching literacy through the lens of sustainable development and women’s empowerment means that we develop a more nuanced understanding of how different kinds of literacy emerge from or support different development approaches and how women engage with such processes of change.How is literacy related to sustainable development programmes? What does empowerment mean to different women in different situations? What kind of research evidence and knowledge are literacy programmes and policy building on? How can adult learning facilitate economic, social and environmental change? These larger questions will guide the conceptual exploration of sustainable development, women’s empowerment and literacy, as well as the review of literacy programmes presented in this paper. The starting assumption is that only by looking in depth at the processes of literacy learning and development practice can we begin to address the challenge of narrowing the gender gap in literacy attainment. Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development: UNESCO's first category 1 Institute in the Asia-Pacific Year of publication: 2014 Corporate author: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s first Category 1 Institute in the Asia-Pacific. The Institute will be a key strategic player in UNESCO’s work towards quality Education for All and the transformative shift envisioned for the Post 2015 agenda. Established in cooperation with the Government of India, MGIEP has been created to play a leading role in research, knowledge sharing, capacity building and policy formulation in the area of peace and sustainability education. The Institute aims to promote, assimilate and generate high quality research to lead the intellectual and policy discourse for education and global citizenship in the region. It was named after Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to his ideas of non-violence and sustainable living. The President of India and the Director-General of UNESCO jointly announced the establishment of the Institute in November, 2012. It is located in New Delhi. Education sector technical notes: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Year of publication: 2013 Corporate author: UNESCO The Education Sector is called to implement a significant and broad mandate, covering many challenging issues in education in a diverse and fast-changing world. More than ever, we need to better focus and ensure greater cohesion in implementing this mandate. This document is part of a series of Technical Notes that have been developed by colleagues in the Education Sector in order to facilitate programme delivery in thematic areas related to the work of the Sector. The Technical Notes are meant to serve as a quick reference tool for UNESCO staff, providing a brief overview including basic knowledge, key priorities for UNESCO and future directions as well as practical information on each topic.