FINAL ACTIVITY 1

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN
EDUCATION
Sustainability development has three components: environment, society, and
economy. If you consider the three to be overlapping circles of the same size, the
area of overlap in the center is human well-being. As the environment, society, and
economy become more aligned, the area of overlap increases, and so does human
well-being. Therefore, education for sustainable development (ESD) is the use of
education as a tool to achieve sustainability. Simply put, ESD is a way to make the
world a safer, healthier, and more livable place for us and future generations.

According to Gayle (2011), there could be no achievement of sustainable

progress without education for sustainable development (ESD). This stresses that
education is critical for achieving sustainable development. ESD emphasizes on
latest forms of learning, competence and skills to create a new kind of citizen and a
new kind of holistic educational. Sustainable development is defined as “economic
and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. These
needs include economic needs (adequate and productive economic activity), social
needs (shelter, food, health, education, and protection), and political needs
(freedom to participate in politics)

ESD allows every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes
and values necessary to shape a sustainable future.  ESD incorporates key
sustainable development issues into teaching and learning, such as climate change,
disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable
consumption. It requires teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower
learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development. This
includes critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a
collaborative way.

Education of Sustainable Development (ESD) has four key thrusts. They are to:
 improve the access and quality for all to basic education.
 reorient present education programs and approaches
 develop greater public awareness and understanding of sustainable
development issues
 provide training in all sectors.
 One of the main goals of education is to provide high quality education. This
should be top priorities, but it is also crucial to include sustainable development in
the context of education. I think education is the most effective means for society
to confront and address the challenges of sustainable development. It is not the
whole answer to every problem but education can be a vital part of all efforts to
teach people to respect for the needs of the environment. People in the world must
be educated about the ways to improve the quality of life without creating
problems for the future, or impacting unfairly on other people's lives.

Schools will be important in preparing and empowering learners to assume

responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future. Such an approach
involves a vision of education and teaching and learning that seeks to help all
learners better understand the world in which they live, to enable them to face the
future with hope and confidence. They need to know that they can play a role in
addressing the problems that threaten our future such as poverty, hunger,
HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, wasteful consumption, environmental
degradation, population growth, gender inequality, health, conflict and the
violation of human rights. They need to learn to create a better space to live, learn
and work for all. They must appreciate and not destroy our most precious resource
- the planet, Earth.

We as individuals living in a world where the population is growing and the

natural resources are limited need to learn to live sustainably. The global issues the
world is facing today related to the environment, poverty, human rights, peace and
development are becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, it is important
because we the young people are the future of our society. We must be equipped
with the skills, knowledge and values needed to create a fairer and more
sustainable world when they enter the society. We must aware of their decisions
and actions in the society, especially on issues that concern climate change,
environmental degradation and sustainable development.  In addition, ESD
involves more than just teaching the scientific and theoretical background behind
the issues. It involves the development of skills, attitudes and behavior for
sustainability. I can foster the skills, such as critical thinking, team work and
problem-solving in my students by creating problem-based learning, cooperative
learning, and group discussion in classroom. In the future, they can transfer these
skills into their future workplaces and community.