Graham Allen- Education for Sustainable Development

Graham Allen-Education for Sustainable Development United Nations (1992) stated: The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be mobilised to forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a better future for all. The aims are to: • Clarify and extend the ability of students to think for themselves. • Encourage students to reflect and debate issues to enable them to form their own thoughts. • Learning that emerges from discovery and is relevant to the learners life experiences. The education sector is very important as it can build up the community, provide jobs and improve children’s lives, teaching them to develop and change the future. Growth within the community would create employment chances, higher incomes that will decrease poverty and improve people’s living standards. In all this will provide economic stability. Without change in future year’s things will not improve and there will be less jobs and poorer living conditions. The National Assembly for Wales has to promote Sustainable Development. In September 2006 ‘Education For Sustainable Development- a strategy for Action’ was published. The principles were: • Long-termism- decisions promote long-term Sustainable well-being of people, now and for the future. • Integration- full account of, and where possible integration, social, economic and environmental outcomes. • Involvement- being involved with the people and communities that will be affected. A policy was produced in May 2009 by the Welsh Assembly Government providing a context for all institutions in Wales called ‘One Wales One Planet, the Sustainable Development Scheme of the Welsh Government’. The Welsh Government suggested development through leadership, learning and teaching, practice within Higher Education, Partnership and community working and through research. Leigh (2005) quoted: Linking Sustainability with teaching about the state of the planet offers a powerful integrating theme throughout education. Local Sustainable Development action by students is transformative for them.