ESD Promises and Challenges: Increasing its Relevance

The expression “education for sustainable development” denotes a complex of concepts, theoretical constructs, policy prescripts and practical methods and tools connecting education and learning to the social, economic and ecological dimensions of sustainable development in their dynamic interaction. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is about how – through education and learning – individuals, groups, organizations and communities, locally, nationally, regionally and globally, can move towards a greater sustainability of their social, cultural and economic practices, relations, institutions and arrangements. The purpose of the eleven articles in this special issue of Global Environmental Research is to give a glimpse into where the policy debate about ESD stands and how it might proceed as well as how in a variety of settings ESD is being practiced and thus ESD’s distinctive features are being operationalized and defined. In this Preface we introduce the reader to the world of ESD which, at times, can seem impenetrable because of its complexity, its manifold manifestations and its language. First, we give the context of the various articles. They refer to the conceptualization, the policies and practices of ESD at various levels, whether international, regional, national or local. They deal with education and instruction as well as individual and social learning. They relate to ESD in formal settings (e.g., classrooms and schools), non-formal settings (e.g. nature reserves) or informal settings (e.g., community development). And, they deal more or less explicitly with issues of environment and ecology, economic, social and cultural development, as well as transition and transformation. Subsequently, we briefly introduce each of the eleven articles separately. Close reading of the articles leads us in the last section of this Preface to present a set of observations with relevance to the theory, policy, research and practice of ESD.