In 2009 the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) established the Expert Group on Competences in Education for Sustainable Development with the mandate to prepare:
(a) General recommendations for policymakers, so as to provide them with a tool to integrate ESD into relevant policy documents with a view to creating an enabling environment for the development of competences across all sectors of education, with particular emphasis on formal education;
(b) A range of core competences in ESD for educators, including defining these, as feasible, to serve as a tool to facilitate the integration of ESD into all educational programmes at all levels, as well as guidelines for the development of these competences among educators.
The Expert Group comprised representatives appointed by member states and partners from across the UNECE region. They included academics, government officials and experts from international and non-governmental organizations. The outcomes of the discussions and negotiations which took place over a period of 18 months are attached. You will find the names of the Expert Group members at the end of the attached document. If you are a member of a UNECE country you may wish to contact your representative to find out how the outcomes are to be progressed in your sector, country or region.
In the UK, we are planning an event this coming autumn where colleagues will have an opportunity to discuss the competences (their value and limitations) and also to consider how they could be adapted within their own contexts to support the mainstreaming of ESD across education in the UK.
Professor Daniella Tilbury, representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 2.6.2011
Download UNECE document: Learning for the future: Competences in Education for Sustainable Development
