Education for Sustainable Development: Learning for Change

The world continues to face a number of critical challenges: human-induced climate change, rapid depletion of natural resources, increasing frequency of natural disasters, spread of infectious diseases, loss of biodiversity, violation of human rights, increased poverty, and the reliance of our economic systems on patterns of mass consumption. These global issues are interdependent and demand a mode of development that balances the needs of environment, society, culture and economy and that shifts individual, group and industry activities towards more sustainable patterns. This move toward sustainability involves changing the fundamental attitudes and beliefs that guide our behaviour, and requires alternative ways of thinking, valuing and acting. Education is a vital for bringing about these changes. Our current knowledge base does not contain the solutions to contemporary problems – the search for sustainability will be a learning process. Only through education and learning will we discover new approaches toward a better future.