Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
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International implementation scheme for the UN decade of education for sustainable development, 2005-2014 Year of publication: 2005 Corporate author: UNESCO In December 2002, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to put in place a UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, lasting from 2005 to 2014. UNESCO was tasked with leading the Decade and developing an International Implementation Scheme (IIS). 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. Teaching resource kit for dryland countries: a creative approach to environmental education Year of publication: 2007 Author: Thomas Schaaf Corporate author: UNESCO Entitled A Creative Approach to Environmental Education/Teaching Resource Kitfor Dryland Countries, the kit is intended for secondary-school teachers in countries affected by desertification and is based on an innovative approach appealing to the creativity and artistic sensibility of pupils aged 10 to 15 years. This approach favours discovery of the environment through the senses, and emphasizes the visual and exploratory aspects of environmental study. The idea of using creativity and artistic sensibility to promote ecological awareness may in the future become a source of collaboration to be explored in detail by the different sectors of UNESCO. 
YouthXchange guidebook series: climate change and lifestyles Year of publication: 2011 Author: Adam Cade | Rob Bowden Corporate author: UNESCO | United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate Change and Lifestyles is the first in a series of guidebooks supporting the UNESCO/ UNEP YouthXchange (YXC) Initiative, which was created in 2001 to promote sustainable lifestyles among youth (15-24 years) through education, dialogue, awareness raising and capacity building. The series is being produced for young people and people working with youth, such as educators, teachers, trainers and youth leaders in both developed and developing countries. Almost half of the world’s population is under the age of 25, and nearly 90 per cent of them live in developing countries. Youth is a critical stakeholder in the global economy and will be the main actor and motor for change in the near future. Thus, the energy, motivation and creativity of youth are essential assets to stimulating change. Aims of the YXC Guidebook on Climate Change and Lifestyles: • Explore the links between lifestyles and climate change; • Help young people consider the actions they should take towards more sustainable lifestyles; • Support courses and actions that promote greater understanding of climate change and lifestyles among youth. The guidebook: • Considers the causes and effects of climate change and its human impacts and responses, while connecting them to lifestyle choices and the technical and social infrastructures of a society; • Provides scientific, political, economic, social, ethical and cultural perspectives on climate change; • Explains complex issues in accessible language supported by facts, graphics, images, examples and web links; • Develops the critical skills young people need to make personal choices to address the challenges of climate change. A teaching resource kit for mountain countries: a creative approach to environmental education Year of publication: 2010 Author: Thomas Schaaf Corporate author: UNESCO Entitled: A Teaching Resource Kit for Mountain Countries, it is a new environmental education kit similar to the Teaching Resource Kit for Dryland Countries published by UNESCO in 2008. It is based on the same innovative approach appealing to the creativity and artistic sensibility of pupils aged around 10 to 15, and is intended for secondary-school (and late primary-school) teachers and their pupils, this time living in mountain ecosystems, where climate and environmental conditions are harsh, often varying between extremes, and which are subject to the problems of erosion. As an educational tool, the kit offers a practical and attractive way of helping teachers and their pupils towards a better understanding of the environmental problems of their region and to stimulate their quest for possible solutions. In this respect, its content is a further contribution to the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution proclaiming 2002 the International Year of Mountains and is also consistent with the activities developed as part of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), the promotion of which is UNESCO’s responsibility. 
Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development: the UNESCO Climate Change Initiative Year of publication: 2010 Corporate author: UNESCO The UNESCO Climate Change Initiative was launched by Director-General Irina Bokova in Copenhagen during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP15). It seeks to reinforce the scientific, mitigation and adaptation capacities of countries and communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It focuses on a select number of strategic issues in line with The UN System Delivering as One on Climate Change action plan and The UNESCO Strategy for Action on Climate Change. The Initiative is based on four thematic areas: scientific, educational, environmental and ethical. Key objectives will be achieved through intersectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation, coordinated field activities, and networking. Special attention is given to UNESCO’s two global priorities, Africa and gender equality, as well as to the increased vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).The UN System “Delivering as One” on Climate Change During the 13th session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in Bali, Indonesia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon presented an unprecedented coordination effort to bring together all the diverse perspectives, expertise and strengths of the UN system so as to deliver as one in the critical area of climate change. The initiative brings together expertise and ongoing work in diverse areas ranging from science and technology to agriculture, transport, forestry and disaster risk reduction, to address both mitigation and adaptation. It brings together the normative, standard setting and knowledge sharing capacities of the system with its operational reach in order to support the most vulnerable. The overall objective is to maximize existing synergies, eliminate duplication and overlap, and optimize the impact of the collective effort of the UN system.To ensure better coordination, convening responsibilities were assigned to UN system entities with a large volume of activities in the five focus areas and four cross-cutting areas. Focus areas ㆍAdaptation – High-Level Committee on Programmes collectively ㆍ Technology transfer – UNIDO, UN-DESA ㆍReduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) – UNDP, FAO, UNEP ㆍ Financing mitigation and adaptation action – UNDP, World Bank Group ㆍCapacity building – UNDP, UNEP Cross-cutting areas ㆍClimate knowledge: science, assessment, monitoring and early warning – WMO, UNESCO ㆍSupporting global, regional and national action – UN-DESA, UN Regional Commissions, UNDP ㆍClimate-neutral UN – UNEP ㆍPublic awareness – UNCG, UNEP. Aichi-Nagoya Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development Year of publication: 2014 Corporate author: UNESCO We, the participants of the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in AichiNagoya, Japan, from 10 to 12 November 2014, adopt this Declaration and call for urgent action to further strengthen and scale up Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in order to enable current generations to meet their needs while allowing future generations to meet their own, with a balanced and integrated approach regarding the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This Declaration recognises that people are at the centre of sustainable development and builds on the achievements of the United Nations (UN) Decade of ESD (2005-2014); the deliberations of the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Aichi-Nagoya; and the Stakeholder Meetings held in Okayama, Japan, from 4 to 8 November 2014, namely, UNESCO ASPnet International ESD events, the UNESCO ESD Youth Conference, the Global Regional Centres of Expertise Conference, and other relevant events and consultation processes, including regional ministerial meetings. We express our sincere gratitude to the Government of Japan for hosting the UNESCO World Conference on ESD. 
Electronic resources on education for sustainable development Year of publication: 2007 Corporate author: APCEIU | UNESCO Bangkok The Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) of UNESCO Bangkok and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) collaborated to produce this document listing these electronic resources. The value of such resources is not limited to teachers alone; it is also useful to policy and decision makers, teacher educators, researchers and academics as well as students themselves. 
EIU Best Practices Series No. 13: Integrating Organic Waste Management In Fijian Schools Year of publication: 2009 Author: Bulou Daiana Taoba Corporate author: APCEIU This monograph is one of APCEIU's EIU Best Practices Series, which aims to encourage educators, scholars, and activists to implement and share local initiatives on EIU. The Series No.13 introduces a case study of University of the South Pacific PACE’s projects, which showcase students learning about waste management that contribute to environmental protection. As issues of water disposition, rapid urbanization, limited land areas, consumer behavior change, and vulnerable ecosystems are increasingly concerning in the Pacific Island nations, the case highlights the need to educate students on the importance of solid waste management, social responsibility, and global citizenship. 
EIU Best Practices Series No. 16: A Korean Agricultural Village's Communal Movement for Education for Sustainable Development Year of publication: 2009 Author: Seungkwan Jung Corporate author: APCEIU This monograph is one of APCEIU's EIU Best Practices Series, which aims to encourage educators, scholars, and activists to implement and share local initiatives on EIU. The Series No.16 introduces the Poolmoo School, which turns surrounding economy, ecology, culture into educational learning material, and endeavor to create a school culture with emphasis on sustainable development. Students of Poolmoo School learn about organic farming, ecological village, and agricultural sustainability, essentially raising awareness of environmental preservation for the next generation.