Att lära för hållbar utveckling - Regeringen

Summary SOU 2004:104The consultation may be seen as part of a process that usesbroad international dialogue to chisel out the role that learning andeducation can play when societies are being reoriented towardssustainable development. The last ten years have seen theemergence of a global dialogue on education for sustainabledevelopment and there are signs that a common understanding isbeginning to take shape. One important conclusion to be drawn isthat there is great need to continue this dialogue at local, national,regional and global level. Together, stakeholders within as well asoutside the field of education need to seek a commonunderstanding of education’s role in achieving sustainabledevelopment.Characteristics of education for sustainable developmentEducation for sustainable development should aim to empowerstudents with the ability and the desire to work towards achievingsustainable development locally and globally. We note that thisplaces demands on what education covers and how it is designed. Inour view, the content – the “what” – of education for sustainabledevelopment must be based on local as well as global perspectivesand processes and on the connections between them. Internationaldialogue has drawn particular attention to a number of key globalareas that should have a central place in the content of educationfor sustainable development. These areas include, for example,peace and security, human rights, gender equality, cultural diversityand intercultural understanding, health, natural resources (such aswater, energy, agriculture and biological diversity), climate change,and poverty reduction.In Chapter 3, we identify some of the features that shouldcharacterise education for sustainable development.−−−Many multifaceted illustrations of economic, social andenvironmental conditions and processes should be dealt with inan integrated manner by using interdisciplinary workingmethods.Conflicting objectives and synergies between different needsand interests should be clarified.Content should have a long-term perspective extending fromthe past to the future, from the global to the local.22