ESD for 2030: Roadmap and Examples in Asia and the Pacific Dr Faryal Khan, Programme Specialist for Education UNESCO Bangkok 13th Asia-Pacific RCE Regional Meeting 5 October, 2021

1. ESD for 2030: Roadmap and Examples in
Asia and the Pacific
Dr Faryal Khan
Education Programme Specialist
UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
31 August 2021
13th Asia-Pacific RCE Regional Meeting
“SDGs and ESD for 2030 Framework: Local
actions during COVID-19 Pandemic”

2. 1. Introduction to and development of ESD for 2030 Roadmap
2. UNESCO's role and examples from Asia and other regions
3. Challenges and perspectives in Asia and the Pacific
4. Recommendations to implement the Roadmap
Outline

3. ESD on the move
Achievements of the Global Action Programme on ESD (2015-2019)

4. Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.7
“By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire
the knowledge and skills needed to
promote sustainable development,
including, among others, through
education for sustainable development
and sustainable lifestyles, human rights,
gender equality, promotion of a culture of
peace and non‐violence, global citizenship
and appreciation of cultural diversity and
of culture’s contribution to sustainable
development.”

5. An urgent call for
action
What we know, what we believe
in and what we do needs to
change.
What we have learned so far does
not prepare us for the challenge.
This cannot go on.
We must urgently learn to live

6. ESD for 2030 Roadmap: Towards
achieving the SDGs
ESD for 2030 framework : https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000370215.locale=en
Roadmap (EN): https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802

7. By 2030…

8. Five priority action areas
Priority action area 1
Advancing policy
Priority action area 2
Transforming learning
environments
Priority action area 4
Empowering and
mobilizing youth
Priority action area 3
Building capacities of
educators
Priority action area 5
Accelerating local level
actions
 Integrate ESD into
education policies
and all policies on
sustainable
development
 Apply whole
institution
approach to ESD
where learners
learn what they
live and live what
they learn
 Develop ESD
capacity through
pre-service and in-
service training of
educators
 Create
opportunities for
young people and
engage them as
key actors
 Develop community
action plan to
promote individual
and societal
transformation

9.  ESD raises the awareness of the 17 goals in
education settings
 ESD mobilizes action towards the
achievement of the SDGs
 ESD promotes critical and contextualized
understanding of the SDGs
Emphasis on education’s role
for the 17 SDGs
Key feature 1

10.  Transformative action
 Structural changes
 Technological future
Focus on the big transformation
Key feature 2

11.  Address the five priority action areas
 Engage all concerned stakeholders
 Advocate and mobilize resources
Emphasis on Member States’ leadership
Priority
Africa
& ESD
Priority
Gender
Equalit
y &
ESD
Small
Island
Developi
ng States
Key feature 3

12. World Conference on ESD World Conference
on ESD (17 to 19 May 2021) / Berlin
Declaration
 Commitment from over 80 Ministers and 2,000
education and environment stakeholders
 ESD is a foundational element of education systems
at every level, with environmental and climate action
as a core curriculum component.
 The Declaration outlines a range of policies to
transform learning encompassing teaching, learning,
professional training and civic engagement.
 It highlights the need to implement ESD with joint
emphasis on cognitive skills, social and emotional
learning, and action competences.

13. Country initiatives on ESD for 2030
 Countries to implement country initiatives on ESD for 2030
 Build on on-going efforts on ESD and possibly create new efforts
 Engage multi-stakeholders from both education and sustainable development
sectors
 UNESCO to provide technical support to organize preparatory multi-
stakeholder workshops
 Currently UNESCO Bangkok is providing technical support to Lao PDR for the
country workshop

14. UNESCO’s role in
ESD for 2030
 Build inclusive network of
partners called ESD-net
 Provide regular platforms to
meet and collaborate
 Promote research on emerging issues
and trends on ESD
 Support education on the SDGs
 UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD
 Mobilize resources to support ESD
implementation, including by creating
synergies with others
 Support countries to implement
multi-stakeholder country
initiative on ESDfor2030
 Monitor progress on ESD and country
initiative on ESDfor2030

15. • Japan: already submitted the country initiative to UNESCO (first and only in the region).
• Currently, Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
has developed and finalized "The 2nd ESD implementation plan for 2021-2030 in
Japan" based on ESD for 2030 in which the Society was fully involved. It includes five
priority areas:
(1) ESD Policy development/improvement to contribute to the SDGs attainment,
(2) Transformation of education and learning environment (including ICT and AI),
(3) Capacity development of educationists,
(4) Youth empowerment and participation, and
(5) Enhancement of local actions.
Example from Asia: Japan’s
contributions towards promoting ESD

16. Adapted from Mr Ananto Kusuma Seta’s (ESD National Coordinator of Indonesia) presentation at the
Asia-Pacific Regional Technical Meeting on ESD for 2030, 27 May, 2021

17. Example from SIDS-Africa: Comoros leads
a national awareness-raising caravan on
intangible and tangible cultural heritage
An Intangible Cultural Heritage
Awareness-Raising Caravan was
organized in Comoros on the islands of
Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli in
mid-January 2020 in order to share
Comoros first inventory of intangible
cultural heritage with school children and
local communities through photos,
videos and demonstrations, and raise
their awareness of the importance of its
safeguarding.
Adapted from https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/artseducationweek/africa

18. Gaps between governments’ initial policy commitments and implementation
Lack of relevant education and pedagogical initiatives to provide financial, technical,
and human resources to promote ESD principles.
ESD principles are not integrated in pre-service training
Insufficient hours allocated for teaching and a lack of learning materials on principles
and topics related to ESD.
The coverage of ESD principles in curricula is less than in other regions
Limited to formal education give the lack of inclusion in non-formal and adult
education.
Challenges and perspective in
Asia and the Pacific

19. • Ensure that ESD is a foundational element of education systems at all
levels, with environmental and climate action as a core curriculum
component, while maintaining a holistic perspective on ESD that
recognizes the interrelatedness of all dimensions of sustainable
development;
• Integrate ESD into all levels of education and training from early
childhood to tertiary and adult education, including technical and
vocational education and training (TVET), and into non-formal education
and informal learning, so that all individuals are provided with lifelong and
life-wide learning opportunities for sustainable development.
Recommendations to implement the Roadmap
Priority Area 1: ESD Policy
development/improvement to contribute to the SDGs

20. • Implement ESD with joint emphasis on the cognitive skills, social and emotional
learning, and action competences for the individual and societal dimensions of
transformation, promoting individual behavioural change for sustainable development,
equality and respect for human rights as well as fundamental structural and cultural
changes at the systemic level of economies and societies;
• Harness ESD to reimagine the future of our societies, encouraging, inter alia, access to
AI, scientific knowledge and data sharing to facilitate research, evidence-based policies,
and participatory decision-making for the well- being of people as well as for the
planet, and to enhance resilience and preparedness for future global crises;
• Build on the potential of new, digital and ‘green’ technologies to enable access,
development and use of technologies, managing risks and benefits, as well as
promoting open educational resources, open science and affordable eLearning facilities
for ESD.
Priority Area 2: Transformation of
education and learning environment
(including ICT and AI)

21. • Recognize the crucial role of
teachers to promote ESD
and invest in the capacity
development of teachers
and other education
personnel at all levels and to
ensure a sector-wide
approach to transform
education.
Priority Area 3: Capacity development of
educators

22. • Empower young people as change agents for sustainable development, by
creating opportunities for learning and civic participation, and providing
them with the competencies and tools to participate in ESD to enable
societal transformation;
• Prioritize inclusion of marginalized populations, including persons with
disabilities, refugees and persons affected by conflict, crises and natural
disasters, through an inclusive and participatory approach;
• Ensure gender equality and non-discrimination in access to knowledge and
skills, and ensure gender mainstreaming in ESD
Priority Area 4: Youth empowerment
and participation

23. • Enhance multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary collaboration on ESD at all
levels of governance;
• Support alignment at local levels, of the education, environment, climate,
sustainable economy and other relevant development agendas, and
enhance networking between different stakeholder groups;
• Allocate and mobilise sufficient resources at local level.
Priority Area 5: Enhancement of local
actions

24. Thank you for your attention
For more information please contact:
esd@unesco.org
Section of Education for Sustainable Development
Division for Peace and Sustainable Development
Education Sector
UNESCO
esd.bgk@unesco.org
Section for Inclusive Quality Education
UNESCO Bangkok
• UNESCO ESD website: https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development
• ESD for 2030 framework : https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000370215.locale=en
• UN General Assembly Resolution on ESD (2019) : https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/223
• UNESCO World Conference on ESD : https://en.unesco.org/events/ESDfor2030