APPENDIX 50
Memorandum from the Department for Culture
Media and Sport
INTRODUCTION
This Memorandum provides an update on DCMS'
progress against various recommendations made by the Government's
Sustainable Development Education Panel in their fifth and final
report, as set out in the Annex to the Committee Clerk's letter
of 9 June 2003 to the Head of DCMS Parliamentary Unit.
DCMS AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
DCMS was pleased to note paragraph 24 of the
fifth Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Education Panel,
which states that there is "considerable and specific potential
for future ESD work with the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, through its contribution to the Panel's work on lifelong
learning (eg through museums, galleries and the arts). DCMS fully
agrees that its sectors, which also include libraries, the Royal
Parks and the historic environment, have a significant role to
play in education for sustainable development, and several of
these, including the National Museum for Science and Industry,
the Natural History Museum and the Royal Parks Agency, are already
actively promoting sustainable development through their educational
programmes.
DCMS is making good progress in developing its
contribution to the Government's wider sustainable development
agenda. This is being pursued both internally, by promoting the
importance of sustainable development to staff through implementation
of its Environmental Management System, which includes the appointment
of a group of voluntary environmental champions from among its
staff, and externally through the development of its sustainable
development strategy.
This strategy, which DCMS aims to publish later
this year, is intended to establish the main strands of DCMS'
interest in sustainable development and will cover not only its
internal policy responsibilities, but the activities of its NDPBs
and the importance of sustainable development to its wider sectors.
It recognises that sustainable development education is a key
element to this, and takes full account of the outcomes of a major
conference which DCMS hosted in April 2002 to explore this issue.
One outcome of this conference was the invitation
for DCMS to be co-opted onto the Informal Learning Working Group
of the Sustainable Development Education Panel, mentioned in paragraph
61 of the fifth report. DCMS welcomed the opportunity to engage
directly with the Panel and fully endorses the findings of that
group.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND
RESPONSES
Recommendation 55: That the Government ensure
that the requirement of the five terrestrial channels, the BBC's
charter, and the Independent Television Commission require them
to include ESD programming wherever possible, be it in educational
programmes, documentaries or with in news and current affairs;
and that they, and the national and regional newspapers report
annually on their contribution to contributing to sustainable
development learning; and that the five major terrestrial channels
and regional newspapers regularly report indicators for sustainable
development.
DCMS Response
The media are independent of Government. DCMS
sets the framework for public service broadcasting, and is responsible
for ensuring that the regulatory framework for broadcasting fosters
fair and effective competition; promotes high quality broadcasting
from a diverse range of sources; provides a high level of consumer
protection; and safeguards freedom of expression. However, it
plays no role in determining the content or scheduling of broadcasting
output. National and regional newspapers are equally independent.
Nevertheless, DCMS maintains excellent relations
with broadcasting organisations and is pleased to note the increasing
profile of given to sustainable development and environmental
issues in their output. The BBC's coverage of the WSSD was widely
well received, and, of course, its coverage of natural history
is internationally renowned. DCMS has discussed the opportunities
for sustainable development education programming with the BBC's
Education Department, and will be consulting the BBC and Channel
4 on its forthcoming sustainable development strategy, which gives
suitable prominence to the potential for DCMS' sectors to inform
and motivate the public on sustainable development issues. In
this context, DCMS was pleased to be invited to give a presentation
at the BBC to a group of representatives from various media bodies
on its strategy and the links with corporate social responsibility
in the media sector.
DCMS is also pleased to report that one of its
NDPBs, the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts,
has funded FUTERRA, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to
the effective communication of sustainable development, to produce
two short films to be used by business, local government and educators.
Recommendation 56: Ministers from DEFRA and DfES
should explore with Ministers and officials of DCMS how they can
best promote ESD both through their own policies, and through
the many bodies that they sponsor
DCMS Response:
DCMS would draw attention to the recent announcement
by its Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Education
and Skills about the intention of both departments to work more
closely together through Museums, a medium which has great potential
for informing the public about sustainable development. For example,
during the last year, the Science Museum has held an exhibition
about Climate Change, the Natural History Museum has opened the
Darwin Centre, and the National Maritime Museum had "Planet
Ocean", a major promotion to raise public awareness of the
importance of conserving and sustaining the world's oceans.
DCMS works closely with DEFRA on all aspects
of sustainable development, including education and motivation
issues. DCMS has consulted DEFRA on its draft sustainable development
strategy and has shared the education chapter with DfES, which
is currently producing its own sustainable development Action
Plan. DCMS has offered to support DfES in developing the lifelong
and informal dimensions of this Action Plan.
Recommendation 57: The Arts Council, the Sports
Council and Resource should ensure that their policies and action
plans promote fully the potential for education in sustainable
development in their respective areas.
DCMS Response:
DCMS' sustainable development strategy recognises
the need to ensure that its key NDPBs are fully engaged with this
issue. It contains separate sections dealing with the importance
of sustainable development to individual DCMS sectors, and will
be discussed in detail with both policy officials and representatives
of the NDPBs before it is published.
June 2003
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