UN Global Action Programme and Education for Sustainable Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Base

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) proclaimed the years 2005 to 2014 the World Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). As a follow up on the World Decade, the UN launched a Global Action Programme (GAP) that is designed to set the framework for international activities on ESD. The GAP focuses on five priority areas that are of high relevance for further implementation of ESD in educational systems.The research presented in this paper results from a training research course that was conducted with advanced bachelor students in environmental and sustainability science. This project pursued two main objectives on different levels: the aim of the research aspect was to identify well-documented success factors for specific research questions associated with the GAP designated priority action areas by means of conducting systematic literature reviews. The aim of the training was to enable students enrolled in the university course to experience systematic review and critical appraisal of the current state of research in the various fields of ESD. As a result, the paper summarizes and discusses both the findings of the research projects and university course. Inclusive is the potential of the teaching approach and its contribution to advancing higher education for sustainable development.

Sustainable eating: Opportunities for nutrition professionals

“…The UN Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development (Fischer et al . ) has recognised students as important potential change agents within their professions. Fischer et al .…”

“…Fischer et al . () recommend that sustainability practices should be integrated into education through whole institution approaches, with students as active participants in the process. A major challenge is to embed this emerging topic throughout the nutrition profession curricula.…”

“…UK dietetics and nutrition curricula are formed around standards of education and training for professional competency achievement (BDA 2013;AfN 2016AfN , 2017 based largely on the biomedical model of health. The UN Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development (Fischer et al 2015) has recognised students as important potential change agents within their professions. Fischer et al (2015) recommend that sustainability practices should be integrated into education through whole institution approaches, with students as active participants in the process.…”

Using Photovoice to Explore Environmental Sustainability Across Languages and Cultures

“…Grounded in a socio-cultural view of learning and a critical approach to education, the use of participatory methods requires re-conceptualizing science knowledge, science practitioners, and science education, as well as moving from a focus on individual possession of knowledge toward public, distributed knowledge embedded in particular places and in matters of local concern (Fisher, et al, 2015). Thus, learning science becomes an avenue for social action that emerges in terms of a particular issue and represents both personal and collective interests (Brunold, 2015).…”

Student Socioeconomic Status and Teacher Stroke: A Case of Female Students in Iran

“…In fact, several studies have shown that supportive teacher-student relationships make students more satisfied with school experience and create a feeling of security in the classroom environment (Baker, Grant, & Morlock, 2008;Fischer, et al, 2015).…”