ESD
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Booklet 1
INTRODUCTION TO
ESD
(FY 2012) Official Development Assistance Grants for UNESCO Activities. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC), Vientiane, and the Graduate School, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo. Copyright Š Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) and the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, 2013 Published in February 2013 Edited by The ESD Team of PADETC, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, and the Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES), Laos. Printed in Lao P.D.R.
Booklet 1
INTRODUCTION TO
ESD
Pre fa c e In order to promote ESD in the Lao PDR, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo has been conducting an ESD project under the title of ‘Creating “ESD Communities” in Rural and Urban Areas’. The project has been implemented in Laos with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES) and the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC). The outcome of this project is a package consisting of a DVD, poster and booklet series which were made to improve the quality of education in Laos targeting teachers, principals and provincial educational office authorities in order to help all partners create an Education for Sustainable 4
Development (ESD) community and promote ESD values in Laos, towards the ultimate goal of sustainable development. However, all the partners of this ESD project are concerned not only with educational problems but also with the general development situation and trends in Laos. We strongly believe that education is a highly significant factor influencing development. Education and development are closely linked with each other and should reflect each other. Therefore all the people who are involved in education must capture and understand societal development and how Laos is changing. In addition, the authors considered the importance of localizing education and linking it
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
to the roots of Lao culture, values and identity in order to successfully promote an ESD model in Laos. In booklet one, the story starts from development issues generally and then moves to education, questioning the current development and education models, and suggesting an alternative model for education – Education for Sustainable Development. In booklet two, you will find more information about how to build an ESD community and weave ESD values and practice into daily teaching and life skills inside and outside the classroom.
two ESD tools – Wisdom Box and Design for Change. We would like to thank all the people involved in all aspects of the producing, shooting, editing, writing, designing and illustrating this package. A special thanks must go to all the teachers, students and community members featured in the booklets and DVD series. Regards, The ESD Team of PADETC, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, and the Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES), Laos.
In booklets three and four, you will find tips for implementing 5
Introduction of Symbols We use these symbols in the following booklets:
[Check]: How teachers can observe and evaluate students
[Stop and think]: Think and reflect by yourself
[Write]: Write your ideas
?
[Handout]: Give out the handout. (If you don’t have a copier, write the instructions on the board or read them out)
[Share]: Share ideas with another person, whole class or presentation
......
[Instructions]: From teachers to students
[Tips]: Ideas to help teachers
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[Question]: Teachers ask a question to students
DVD
[DVD]: Watch the DVD at this time to support your understanding
[Whole person]: Development of holistic children from the inside out
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
[Head]: Nurturing the students’ Head
[Culture]: Knowledge and connection to culture
[Heart]: Nurturing the students’ Heart
[Environment]: Knowledge and connection to the environment
[Hand]: Nurturing Active Youth
[Economy]: Knowledge and connection to the economy
[Home, community and school]: Engaging home, school and community
[Balanced development]: A balance of cultural, environmental and economic content
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Table of Contents 10
A changing world
11
Our lives today‌
12
A happy and sustainable future?
14
Living well and happily!
15
Development and education in developed countries
17
Development and education in Laos
18
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): An alternative educational development model
23
ESD values: Examining the poster
24 ESD values: Education of the whole person: Head, heart and hand 26
ESD values: Balanced education, balanced development
28
ESD values: Engaging school, home and community for ESD
30
Package Instructions: For teachers, principals and provincial/ local educational authorities
32
How to use the Package
34
References and further reading
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A changing world Our lives have changed a lot compared to 20 years ago or even 10 years ago.
What changes do you see? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... How do you feel about them? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
Some examples of changes‌.. - More choices and opportunities? - Life is getting more convenient? - Economic improvements? - Healthcare improvements? - More schools/ Improved education? - Better roads/ Improved transport?
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Our lives today‌.
What problems do you have in your life or community now? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
In some places there are new problems that didn’t exist 10 years ago: - Urbanization - Globalization - Land issues - Deforestation - Water Pollution - Air pollution - Widening gap between rich and poor - Social inequality - Altering/ diminishing of culture - Less time to spend with family
Which of these affect you? How do you feel about these changes? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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A happy and sustainable future? “Do you have any other ideas to add?�
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Can our children or grandchildren live the same way as we live now? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... How will their overall wellbeing and happiness be affected? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Will they be better off, or will sustainability of resources become an overwhelming issue? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Can we continue life as it is? Why / Why not? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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Living well and sustainably! Wellbeing can be defined in a number of ways, but in this booklet, it will be understood as a person’s satisfaction with the physical health, psychological state, personal beliefs, and social relationships and connectedness in their own life. It also takes into account a person’s ability to cope with change and stress. Everyone wants to be happy and well. The question is how can we achieve and measure it?
If we continue to pollute the environment, increase social inequality and lose connectedness with own culture, society and family, will we be happy? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What’s the connection between wellbeing and education? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Does the current education model contribute to make people’s lives happier or not? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What lessons can we teach our children, at school, home or in the community, to make them feel well and happy? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... 14
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Development and education in developed countries Developed countries have reached high stages of economic development, but in some cases they have lost connectedness with each other and a sense of true happiness. People may be wealthier, but if they have high levels of stress from work, or pressure to keep up with others in the material sense, they may feel an emptiness or unhappiness in their life, or not have enough time to enjoy themselves, de-stress and reflect. While money is necessary, it doesn’t always make people happy once they fulfill their basic human needs (Layard, Richard. 2006. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London: Penguin Books).
Why does this happen? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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The current education models have also contributed to this disconnected situation. Education has been understood to mean a way to build human resources, which helps to achieve high economic development, so in a way, education has been functioning primarily as an institute for preparing people to get jobs and earn money. Education has tended to focus on transferring knowledge from teachers to students. Learning has been seen as memorizing, so students haven’t had enough chances to learn how to learn, to think, or to experience real life practice.
Many educators have found that children and society are not happy with this kind of education, so policy makers and educators started to reflect on what has gone wrong. Therefore, there have been a lot of shifts in education from seeing children as human resources for economic development to paying more attention to children’s own potential and nurturing them more holistically. We believe that education in this century needs to reflect the balance and connectedness more honestly and prepare youth not only for the workplace, but how to be active and aware citizens and problem solvers in their communities.
We are living in a world of economic imbalance and financial crisis. Can/ should we still follow the same education model? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Development and Education in Laos DVD
[ 00:00-1:50 ]
Will development in Laos follow the same path that developed countries have? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What do you want to see for Lao society in the future? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What kinds of students do you want to nurture and develop? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What kind of education needs to be delivered in order to accomplish your ideal society? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What are the roles of teachers in education and development? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What elements of Lao culture or indigenous knowledge can you use in your teaching to help accomplish your ideal education? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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ESD: an Alternative Educational Development Model What is ESD?
ESD Values
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a United Nations’ decade initiative. The decade of ESD started in 2005. The decade will finish in 2014 but the principles of ESD and importance of implementation will remain.
The model of ESD that this project is promoting is a combination of the UNESCO International Implementation Scheme ESD values, the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports policy on education and a Buddhistbased philosophical approach to education. We believe this is a locally relevant model for Laos.
The goal of ESD is to make society more sustainable by balancing economic, cultural and environmental factors through education, or ‘learning’, and nurturing young people who know themselves and can act in a responsible way for a sustainable future.
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
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ESD (UNESCO IIS) – International Approach A. Helping individuals to grow and develop intellectually, emotionally, spiritually or practically and thus, at best, to flourish in whatever contexts they find themselves in. B. Society: an understanding of social institutions, their role in change and development, and democratic and participatory systems.
D. Economy: a sensitivity to the limits and potential of economic growth and their impact on society and on the environment. E. C u l t u r e: T he va lues, diversity, knowledge, languages and worldviews associated with culture strongly influence the way issues of education for sustainable development are dealt with in specific national contexts.
C. Environment: an awareness of the resources and fragility of the physical environment and the effects on it of human activity and decisions.
Lao Education Policy An important part of the Lao education policy are the 5 basic criteria to be developed within a child in order to develop the whole child holistically.
1. Ethics (Kounsombath Sueksa) 2. Wisdom (Panya Sueksa) 3. Art (Silpa Sueksa)
Buddhist Philosophy and Education A. Sustainable development will occur when a person is fully developed as a human being.
E. There are 3 life factors that a human beings need bring about a good connection and balance in their living:
B. Education is based on nature, truth of lif and its connection with other life factors.
Society: understand that a society is formed with many elements which all are interconnected. Respect and cooperation is essential.
Nature: understand that humans are one part of nature and need to live harmoniously with nature.
Technology: understand the true value of technology in one’s life, and avoiding over consuming. Use technology to solve problems and preserve nature.
C. Humans are considered as part of nature and every human has ability to learn with no limits. D. Human being has life consisting of three aspects which must be trained by oneself to possess a good life and lead society to righteousness -wisdom, ethics, and mental qualities.
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
F. ESD is for everyone, at whatever stage of life they are. It takes place, therefore, within a perspective of lifelong learning, engaging all possible learning spaces, formal, non- formal and informal, from early childhood to adult life.
4. Physical (Phala Sueksa) 5. Vocational (Hengarn Sueksa)
F. S u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t i s characterized as a balanced and harmonious connection of activity all life factors in a community: home, temple, and schools. All factors in a community need to understand and nurture children in the same direction.
ESD in Lao poster *Refer to page22-23 for more detail
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ESD poster
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
ESD values: Examining the poster
This poster represents the ESD principles and values. See: What do you see in this poster? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Feel: How do you feel when you look at the poster? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Wonder: What questions do you have about the poster? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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ESD Values: Education of the whole person
DVD
[ 1:50 - 4:50 ]
Sustainable development is the balanced development of culture, nature, economics and wellbeing. Youth can contribute to a sustainable future by being developed holistically (head, hands, heart) to their full potential towards right and responsible action in the content areas of life: culture, nature, economics and wellbeing. A fully developed person (head, hands, heart) can take action in a responsible and just way to balance the activities of all areas of development and live harmoniously with others. Education has an important role to play in developing the whole child from the inside out. In this case, education cannot be fragmented, but needs to promote holistic and balanced connection and cooperation between the different layers: within a person, within a classroom, within school, within family, within a community, and within a society.
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Head (wisdom): a wise person will not do things according to their emotions or greed, but their wisdom. Understanding life and the world at its truth, and being able to think critically and reflect will lead to adaptation and solving problems in a just way.
[Head] + [Heart] + [Hand] = wisdom, happiness and holistic youth who can make sustainable decisions and take action for a sustainable future
Hand (actions): a person who has the confidence and ability to take action in a harmonious and responsible way with society and nature. When a person knows how to control one’s actions, behavior and speech, then their heart will be developed as well.
By developing the Head, Hand and Heart, learners will be able to reflect on their own actions and they will also have a sense of caring for themselves, others and things around them.
This is what we call holistic education. The most important element is putting the learners and learning first.
Heart (human spirit, ethics and morals): a good and peaceful heart will bring about wisdom in a person. A person needs to be trained to believe in doing things in a moral and ethical manner and be in touch with their emotions.
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ESD Values: Balanced education, balanced development
Education
Development
DVD
[ 4:50 - 6:25 ]
The important long term goal of ESD is to make societies sustainable, so part of ESD involves educating people about how to foster sustainable development. We don’t want unbalanced development with an overemphasis on economic factors because it affects our happiness. In ESD, it is essential to balance development among the cultural, environmental and economic dimensions. None of these can be left behind. Education needs to reflect the balance and connectedness more honestly and prepare youth not only for the workplace, but how to be active and aware citizens and change makers in their communities. 26
Practically this means that teachers, parents and community members educate youth in these three content areas – culture, environment and economy – equally, and make connections between them both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers need to make connections and balance both academic and life skills, and make an effort to focus on the wellbeing of youth.
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Culture Culture is the root of the sustainable development model, and in this case relates to an individual’s way of thinking, feeling and acting within their society. Education needs to promote and preserve culture and indigenous knowledge for future generations, and teach about identity, morals and values from interactions with other people.
Environment People must be more aware of the resources and environment that they have, and how human activity and decisions affect it. A commitment to factoring environmental concerns into social and economic policy is needed.
Economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – is currently considered the ultimate goal of development. This is often at any cost to our quality of life and the environment. We must be aware of the limits and potential of economic growth and its impact on society and on the environment. Every citizen must assess personal and societal levels of consumption out of concern for the environment. Development issues are not only about future problems because it is really about what we do today, so we need to engage youth and adults in sustainable development challenges.
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ESD Values: Engaging School, Home and Community for ESD
DVD
[ 6:25 - 12:20 ]
Can ESD be achieved only by classroom learning? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Can you cover all of this by yourself in the classroom? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... What kind of resources or people do you have in your school or community that you can use outside the classroom in your daily practice? ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................
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BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
Why does ESD promote the engagement of school, home and community? Learning does not occur only in schools or at school age. People can and should learn in a variety of places from different people – at school, in the home or in the community by teachers, administrators, parents, elders, friends, and monks. Learning is a lifelong process and life skills and experiential learning can happen anywhere, anytime. For this reason, it is time to have closer cooperation and overlap among schools, homes and communities. Schools should encourage their community and home (parents and families) to be involved in teaching kids both inside and outside school. Without the right understanding and cooperation of the home and community, a school cannot accomplish their goal towards holistic development of a child. Schools need to raise an awareness of understanding with home and community of how to nurture a child holistically, at the same time parents and community need to know their roles and responsibility to help the school. Teachers are not the only people who have skills to teach to children. In many cases there are a wide range of parents or community members who have special talents and time to come to the school to share their knowledge and skills
with students. This not only strengthens the ties between school, home and community, and utilizes the strengths of people inside and outside the school, but also provides opportunities for real-life practice. Parents need to provide support to their kids in the same direction as the school is teaching. They should understand that knowledge is anywhere at any time, not only in the classroom or from teachers. They need to show kids that everything and every person in life has value and is interconnected.
This is what we call an ‘ESD Community’. In an ESD community, everyone understands the importance of ESD and sustainable development and they practice it in daily lives so that children will be able to develop holistically. Moreover, adults also need to act responsibly as role models and be engaged in children’s education, which will help ESD develop more widely.
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Instruction of the package
[For Principals] We have provided you with information about why ESD is important in education in Lao and how you can play an important role in creating an ‘ESD Community’ in your school and village / district .
[For Teachers] We have provided you with some teaching tools to make your teaching more linked to the ESD model and values. The tools focus on ‘joyful learning’ (child-centred and holistic education) so students can learn with joy and nurture their potential to be active and useful citizens. When students learn with joy, they learn more. All the tools are based on the ESD concepts we explained on pages 22-29. 30
We would like you to find value in ESD and how this philosophy can contribute to improving the quality of education, but also prevent students’ negative behaviour such as crime or taking drugs. Through our previous ESD project, we found that most students found value in working closely with their communities. ESD learning can be a good chance to let students find value in learning and education. By using this package, we want you to understand not only the principles but also how to implement ESD learning into school education and provide an environment for teachers who can implement ESD effectively. Your role in terms of implementing ESD is to function as a consultant or mentor for teachers, guide them through using the package and
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
implementing in the classroom, engage parents and community members, and follow up with teachers’ activities and reflect together on your progress towards developing holistic youth. In the long term, you may take a role as a facilitator of in-service training, which targets principals and/or teachers using this package. [For Provincial / Local Educational Authorities] The Lao Ministry of Education and Sports has been emphasizing improving the quality of education and teachers for many years. Internationally, these are big challenges and improving quality is not easy, especially in terms of practice because there are not enough practical and effective tools. The idea of ESD and sustainable development are expanding and becoming hot issues in Laos too.
Introduction of other booklets Booklet 2:
ESD Implementation Booklet 3:
Wisdom Box Booklet 4:
Design for Change
In the long term, you may take a role as a facilitator of in-service training, which targets principals and/or teachers using this package. 31
HOW TO USE the package
1 Please read booklet No.1 (this booklet) first. You will be able to understand the values of ESD and what the package aims to achieve.
2 Watch DVD chapter 1 about ESD introduction and please refer the booklet no.1 again after watching the DVD so that you will be able to understand more deeply.
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3 Put the poster on the wall of your teachers’ room or principal’s room or educational office where everyone can see it. It will help remind you of the core concepts of the package.
4 Before implementing, please read booklet No.2 and watch chapter 2 of DVD. Reflect on these life skills mentioned in the booklet and DVD and think about how you can incorporate them into your school.
BOOKLET 1: Introduction to ESD
- If you want to implement ESD through life skills inside or outside the classroom, you can start your ESD practice from the hints in booklet 2. Please watch DVD chapter 2 and read several times to understand the core values of these ideas. You must use the reflection tools for yourself too as you implement in the school. Reflect by yourself or with another teacher or the principal.
5 Please watch chapter 5 and you will hear some impressions of teachers, students and community members who have been implementing ESD in their schools and communities already in Laos. You may learn some new ideas or be inspired to create an ESD community too.
6 Choose booklet No.2 - 4 and DVD chapters 2-4 depending on your needs.
- If you want to implement an ESD project that allows you to cooperate with community, home and school, watch the DVD chapter 3 first and read Booklet No. 3. This tool helps to create ‘an ESD Community’ (Wisdom Box). Please watch DVD and read booklets several times to understand the core values of this activity. - If you want to implement a school based ESD project focusing on group work and problem solving, watch DVD chapter 4 and read Booklet No. 4 (Design for Change). Please watch DVD and read booklets several times to understand the core values of this activity.
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References and further reading
Layard, R 2006, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London, Penguin Books Parker, J & Wade, R 2008, EFA-ESD Dialogue: Educating for a sustainable world, UNESCO, Paris, viewed 12 October 2012, <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0017/001780/178044e.pdf>
----. 2009, Bonn Declaration: UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, 31 March â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2 April 2009, UNESCO, Bonn, viewed October 2012, < http://www.esd-worldconference-2009.org/fileadmin/ d o w n l o a d / E S D 2 0 0 9 _ BonnDeclaration080409.pdf>
PADETC 2009, PADETC: Ten years in balance, PADETC, Vientiane, viewed 28 December 2012, < http://saoban.dreamhosters.com/ wp-content/uploads/padetc_10_years. pdf >
----. 2011, Education for Sustainable Development: An Expert Review on Processes and Learning for ESD, UNESCO, Paris, viewed 12 October 2012, <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0019/001914/191442e.pdf>
UNESCO 1996, Learning: The treasure within, UNESCO, Paris, viewed 12 October 2012, <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0010/001095/109590eo.pdf>
----. 2012, Shaping the Education of Tomorrow: 2012 Full-length report on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, Paris, viewed 12 October 2012, < http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0021/002164/216472e.pdf>
----. 2006, United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014): International Implementation Scheme, UNESCO, Paris, viewed 12 October 2012, <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0014/001486/148654e.pdf>
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