INTRODUCTION
"We will put concern for the environment
at the heart of policy-making, so that it is not an add-on extra
but informs the whole of government, from housing and energy policy
through to global warming and international agreements."
Labour Party Manifesto, General Election 1997
1. The House of Commons Environmental Audit
Committee was established to monitor how far the Government was
succeeding in its undertaking to put the environment, and more
broadly sustainable development, at the heart of policy and operations.
Time and again, during previous inquiries, we have demonstrated
that Government policies and initiatives designed to promote sustainable
development will have little lasting impact if the majority of
citizens and organisations remain unengaged and unimpressed by
the sustainable development agenda.[1]
2. Many people regularly express concern
over issues which are closely aligned to sustainable development
such as energy, waste, transport, pollution and poverty. However,
this "latent sympathy"[2]
does not automatically translate into concrete action or support
for the policies aimed to remedy these problems. It is this 'value-action'
gap, well-documented and widely acknowledged,[3]
which needs to be bridged if progress towards sustainable development
is to be made. We set out to examine how far the Government was
addressing this 'gap' through education, both informal and formal.
3. The World Summit on Sustainable Development
highlighted learning as a powerful agent of change, 'critical'
to promoting sustainable development, and advocated that sustainable
development be integrated into education systems at all levels.[4]
4. In 1998 the Government established a
Sustainable Development Education Panel (SDEP) to consider education
for sustainable development (ESD) in England, [5]
The SDEP set out the following vision of ESD:
"Education for sustainable development is
about the learning needed to maintain and improve our quality
of life and the quality of life of generations to come. It is
about equipping individuals, communities, groups, businesses and
government to live and act sustainably; as well as giving them
an understanding of the environmental, social and economic issues
involved. It is about preparing for the world in which we will
live in the next century, and making sure that we are not found
wanting".[6]
5. The SDEP identified seven key concepts
of ESD which need to be learnt, understood and experienced either
through formal or informal education.[7]
- Interdependence - of society,
economy and the natural environment, from local to global (ie
chain reactions, multiple causes and multiple effects, trade-offs)
- Citizenship and stewardship (rights and responsibilities,
participation and co-operation)
- Needs and rights of future generations
- Diversity (cultural, social, economic and biological)
- Quality of life, equity and justice
- Sustainable change (development and carrying
capacity)
- Uncertainty and precaution in action.
6. There is little dissent that these concepts
encompass the range of thinking required to engage with the multi-faceted
issues, such as climate change, which sustainable development
embraces. An understanding of some or all of the concepts is not
uncommon; they provide the basis for many other life skills and
are consistent with what many would consider a good all-round
education, providing the foundation for personal and professional
development. They also fit well with the Government's citizenship
agenda. Thus, no radical overhaul of educational values, learning
mechanisms, or core objectives is required to provide learning
which facilitates sustainable development. In fact, ESD is likely
to reinforce and promote key learning objectives and offers a
new and invigorating way of approaching existing curricula
and thinking about the world around us.[8]
Our inquiry
7. We specifically chose to conduct our
inquiry at this time because ESD is at a crucial juncture. The
UN has agreed that 2005-2015 will be the decade of education for
sustainable development and the DfES is developing an action plan
for sustainable development. The work of the SDEP came to an end
in March 2003 just as a number of key education initiatives and
reforms were coming on stream. These include the Skills Strategy,
further education and training reforms,[9]
and the review of the 14-19 curriculum.[10]
Together with newly established bodies, such as the Learning
and Skills Councils and Sector Skills Councils, and the new Citizenship
agenda, these add-up to a significant opportunity to integrate
education for sustainable development. It is a "tide that
must be caught".[11]
8. To frame our inquiry, we initially asked
how far bridging the 'value-action' gap was merely a case of making
people more aware of the issues. However, we quickly found an
emerging consensus that the current level of public awareness
already provides an adequate foundation from which to attempt
the leap over the value-action gap.[12]
We therefore concentrated our inquiry on the opportunities available
to Government to equip individuals with the skills and
motivation to put sustainability into practice both through formal
education and informal learning channels.
9. All government departments have a role
in promoting sustainable development whilst the Department of
Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has lead responsibility
for promoting awareness for sustainable development. We concentrated
our inquiry on the Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
and its associated bodies because the department has responsibility
for formal education, skills and youth services and thereby has
the core education tools at its disposal. We examined how far
the DfES is promoting and facilitating an educational system which
fosters ESD.
10. We have concentrated on educational
policy and not sought to investigate how far educational institutions
are seeking to 'green' their own operations. However, we fully
acknowledge the importance of exemplar activity—practicing
what you teach—in reinforcing ESD principles and teaching
in the learning environment.
11. We are grateful to our special advisers,
Professor Jacquie Burgess, University College, London[13]
and Libby Grundy MBE, Director of the Council for Environmental
Education (CEE)[14] for
their assistance in this inquiry. We would also like to thank
Penney Poyzer, Global Action Plan's EcoTeams Co-ordinator, and
Nottinghamshire County Council for an enlightening day in Nottingham,
as well as the staff and students at Hampstead Comprehensive,
Cricklewood and the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College
who illustrated how ESD can provide an inspiring context for learning.
1 See for example, Fifth Report from the Environmental
Audit Committee, Session 2001-02, on A sustainable energy strategy?
Renewables and the PIU Review, HC582-I, para 60, and the Second
Report, Session 1997-98, The Greening Government Initiative,
para 63. Back
2
Q153. Back
3
For example, see Blake, J. 1999. Overcoming the 'value-action
gap' in environmental policy: tensions between national policy
and local experience. Local Environment, 4, 257-278. Back
4
The World Summit on Sustainable Development-Plan of Implementation,
5 September 2002, paras 109,114 and p114. Back
5
The term 'education for sustainable development' (ESD) is not
universally popular. Some dislike the implication that there is
a tangible end point, called sustainable development, which educational
efforts can be directed towards or that ESD is a discreet sector.
The latter may mean that those involved in teaching well-established,
traditional subjects such as Chemistry or History, may fail to
see the relevance of ESD to their curriculum. We acknowledge
these concerns. However, the term ESD now has policy currency
and the use of SDEP's definition avoids these pitfalls. It is
for those seeking to promote ESD to address those potential barriers. Back
6
Sustainable Development Education Panel, First Annual Report 1998,
DETR, January 1999, p30. Back
7
Ibid, p.37. Back
8
A briefing paper prepared for the Teacher Training Agency acknowledges
that "ESD has considerable potential to improve the quality
of teaching and learning and can focus on the interests and concerns
of the young.". Ev175-6. Back
9
Success for All - Reforming Further Education and Training,
Discussion document, DfES, June 2002. Back
10
See 14-19:Opportunity and Excellence, DfES, January 2003. Back
11
Sir Geoffrey Holland, former Chairman of the Sustainable Development
Education Panel, speaking at the Council for Environmental Education
conference, Planning for Sustainability Environmental Education
in Action, Bristol, 11 April 2003. Back
12 See:
Harrison, C.M., Burgess, J. and Filius, P. (1996). Rationalising
environmental responsibilities: a comparison of lay publics in
the UK and the Netherlands, Global Environmental Change, 6
(3), 215-234. Burgess, J., Harrison, C.M. and Filius, P. (1998).
Environmental communication and the cultural politics of environmental
citizenship. Environment and Planning, A. 30, 1445-1460. Back
13 Also
Chair or the Board of Trustees for of Global Action Plan. Back
14
Member of the Government's Sustainable Development Education Panel
(1998-2003). Back
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