Education International Research
Box 10: In Germany, Teachers Take the Lead to Develop a Roadmap for Implementing Education for Sustainable Development for All Education for sustainable development and global learning is a key concept in the policy of the German education union, Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW). The union is demanding that the full scope of SDG 4.7 be included in Germany’s action plan for sustainable development, and it has published a budgeted, costed roadmap to fully implement SDG 4.7 nationally.
Educators advocate for the broadness of the German ESD action plan The Global Action Programme145 on Education for Sustainable Development (GAP) is a UNESCO initiative for sharing and learning through international networks. In Germany, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research set up a national platform for the process in 2017. Though trade unions were underrepresented in the platform, GEW joined together with other members of civil society to advocate for the national platform to adopt a broad conception of ESD. Teachers wanted to make sure that the platform’s notion of ESD was not reduced to focus on environmental education alone.146 GEW points out that in order to successfully implement ESD in all German schools, action must be taken to ensure an enabling context. For instance, they note that acceptance of cultural and individual heterogeneity is a prerequisite for the educational approach of ESD, that schools must be managed sustainably to exemplify sustainable practices, that pedagogical approaches that champion democracy and student voices must be used, and that ESD must be comprehensively integrated into teacher training.
Educators come up with a plan The union, as part of a civil society alliance, commissioned a study that presents a roadmap for how education for sustainable development (ESD) can be implemented in all schools at the national level. Eight key steps were identified that included agreeing upon a strategy for implementation; integrating ESD into school laws, curricula, teaching materials and teacher training; and ensuring adequate funding and human resources for ESD, including introducing ESD coordinators into every schools. The report provides a roadmap and cost analysis for the implementation of each step. In total, the projected cost of the plan is €13.7 billion euros. To put this into perspective, this will require a 3.6% increase in education spending. Decisive and urgent action must be taken in order for countries to implement SDG 4.7. Recent student school strikes might play a role in placing ESD high on the political agenda. GEW lent their support to the striking students, saying, “The students, who take to the streets despite threatened sanctions and demand a radical change of course in climate policy, are right. It is now important that the policy implements these demands”.147
GRO.EI-IE
International efforts to realise national commitments to implement ESD are important but fall short The Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD148 seeks to generate and scale up ESD and to accelerate progress toward sustainable development. UNESCO works with governments in countries such as Kenya and Costa Rica to develop ESD policies and action plans, whilst partner networks drive implementation of the GAPs. The programme helps governments to transform teaching and learning environments, build educators’ capacity to teach ESD, empower and mobilise youth, and accelerate sustainable solutions at the local level.
0302 NOITA CUDE
Educators and their unions have been at the forefront of efforts to address the climate crisis. Apart from calling for urgent government action to reduce global warming, educators have taken concrete 145 See: https://en.unesco.org/gap 146 See: https://www.gew.de/schule/oekonomische-bildung/nachhaltigkeit/aktuelles/detailseite/neuigkeiten/bildung-fuer-nachhaltige-entwicklungist-mehr-als-umweltbildung/ 147 See: https://www.gew.de/schule/oekonomische-bildung/nachhaltigkeit/aktuelles/detailseite/neuigkeiten/demonstrieren-fuer-klimaschutz/ 148 For more information about the Global Action Plan on Education for Sustainable Development, see: https://en.unesco.org/gap
60