What does Education for Sustainability mean?

Education for Sustainability (EfS) is a process for achieving sustainable development that involves encouraging people to explore the complexity and implications of sustainability, and work towards a sustainable future. ¹ It is ‘education that equips and involves individuals and communities in reflecting on how they currently live and work. This assists them in making informed decisions and creating ways to work towards a more sustainable world’. ² EfS aims to tackle the underlying causes of unsustainable lifestyles with a focus on systemic change. ³

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (2005) identifies the fundamental aspects of EfS as:

• focussing on values and ability to co-create a sustainable future
• building capacity for sustained change and improved quality of life
• linking awareness-raising and behaviour changes to broader lifestyle choices
• developing skills and knowledge for socially critical citizens to deal with complex issues
• focusing on sustained social, institutional and organisational change, working to mobilise learning across all levels of society
• focusing on triggering fundamental shifts through creative exploration of values and ideas.⁴

_{1.NSW Council on Environmental Education (2006) Learning for Sustainability: NSW Environmental Education Plan 2006-10, NSW Council on Environmental Education, Sydney.
2.Tilbury & Cooke (2005) A National Review of Environmental Education and Its Contribution to Sustainability – Frameworks for Sustainability, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage and ARIES, Canberra.
3.Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2009) Living Sustainably: the Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
4.IUCN (2005) Commission on Education and Communication website.}

Living Sustainably, The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability (2009) outlines seven key EfS principles:

Transformation and change: EfS is not simply about providing information but involves equipping people with the skills, capacity and motivation to plan and manage change towards sustainability within an organisation, industry or community.

Education for all and lifelong learning: EfS is driven by a broad understanding of education and learning that includes people for all ages and backgrounds and at all stages of life and takes place within all possible learning spaces, formal and informal, in schools, workplaces, homes and communities.

Systems thinking: EfS aims to equip people to understand connections between environmental, economic, social and political systems.

Envisioning a better future: EfS engages people in developing a shared vision for a sustainable future.

Critical thinking and reflection: EfS values the capacity of individuals and groups to reflect on personal experiences and world views to challenge accepted ways of interpreting and engaging the world.

Participation: EfS recognises participation as critical for engaging groups and individuals in sustainability.

Partnerships for change: EfS focuses on the use of genuine partnerships to build networks and relationships, and improve communications between different sectors of society.

Living Sustainably, The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability (2009) outlines seven key EfS principles:

Transformation and change: EfS is not simply about providing information but involves equipping people with the skills, capacity and motivation to plan and manage change towards sustainability within an organisation, industry or community.

Education for all and lifelong learning: EfS is driven by a broad understanding of education and learning that includes people for all ages and backgrounds and at all stages of life and takes place within all possible learning spaces, formal and informal, in schools, workplaces, homes and communities.

Systems thinking: EfS aims to equip people to understand connections between environmental, economic, social and political systems.

Envisioning a better future: EfS engages people in developing a shared vision for a sustainable future.

Critical thinking and reflection: EfS values the capacity of individuals and groups to reflect on personal experiences and world views to challenge accepted ways of interpreting and engaging the world.

Participation: EfS recognises participation as critical for engaging groups and individuals in sustainability.

Partnerships for change: EfS focuses on the use of genuine partnerships to build networks and relationships, and improve communications between different sectors of society.