House of Commons - Environmental Audit

Select Committee on Environmental Audit Fifth Report

3 Education for Sustainable Development

13. When we launched this inquiry we asked whether the term Education for Sustainable Development had lost its currency, whether it had any resonance with the general public and whether the environmental message within it had been lost. In retrospect, and after looking at the evidence we received it is clear that the issue is bigger than that. First, we must try to establish whether, purely as a term, ESD means anything to anyone, outside of those professionals who inhabit the ESD sector; second, and in our view more importantly, we must assess whether, although the term itself might not be known, the underlying concept of sustainable development is actually understood and is helping to change people's behaviour.

14. The memoranda we received largely fell into two groups. The first group argued that ESD was still gaining currency and still had relevance. They conceded that there might be issues around definition and cohesion but still argued that ESD was a relevant and growing phenomenon. The second group argued that the term was losing currency, was largely unrecognised by the general public and that the environmental message had been lost. In fact, in this group, there were also those who felt that ESD had never had any currency to begin with. It was also clear that progress in ESD varied quite significantly and was dependent on a number of factors, such as the strength of the commitment from the relevant government department, the funding available to the ESD NGOs working in a particular area, the accessibility of the many and varied target audiences and the methods used to communicate with them

15. There are very few statistics to rely on which indicate exactly how many people, whether in formal or informal education, in the workplace or at home, have a sense of what sustainable development means. Recent research carried out by Andrew Darnton for Defra, entitled "The Impact of Sustainable Development on Public Behaviour",[6] revealed that only 28% of those questioned had heard of the term "sustainable development". It was no more encouraging when this 28% were asked to explain what they understood the term to mean. Some 16% said sustainable development related to 'development which does not harm the environment'; a further 11% said it related to 'using renewable resources'. Most discouraging of all perhaps was that 20% of those who said that they had heard of the term could not offer any explanation of what it meant.

Education for Sustainable Development—gaining ground

16. Most of those who argued that ESD was a relevant term which was still gaining currency, also conceded that it was, inevitably, a slow process. In its written evidence, PP4SD (Professional Practice for Sustainable Development Project) said that "the term ESD is still increasing its currency and is now recognised beyond the formal education sector in areas such as CPD and lifelong learning. It has yet to gain real resonance with the general public, but that is not surprising. The term is still relatively new."[7] Perhaps more significant is the progress PP4SD says it has seen in the private sector and with professional bodies like the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, the British Institute of Agricultural Engineers , the Royal Institute of British Architects and a number of others. It reports:

"Awareness of sustainable development has grown in both the public and private sector. This awareness has led to a demand from professionals for training on the implementation of sustainable development, across a wide range of sectors. There has been a shift in the approach of the private sector towards sustainable development with the increase in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Similarly in the professional institutions there is a move through the Society for the Environment for a range of professions to come together to adopt an integrated, systems approach to sustainable development."

17. The PP4SD analysis of progress in the private and professional sectors was borne out by the evidence we received from CITB Construction Skills, which also reported "an increase in the awareness of the need for learning around the issues of sustainable development"[8] in the construction industry. Whilst previous inquiries, such as our recent inquiry, Housing: Building a Sustainable Future,[9] might lead us to exercise caution about the exact level of progress in certain parts of the construction industry in particular, we welcome the positive signs of growing awareness of ESD in those areas.

18. In its written evidence, Forum for the Future said that the term had not lost currency but rather was "still lacking in coherent meaning" and it went on to say, "the general public know instinctively that 'something must be done'".[10] When we asked for clarification on this statement during oral evidence session, Dr Andy Johnstone, Head of Education and Learning at Forum for the Future, said that the general public this referred to was actually the staff and pupils it dealt with in the post-16 and Higher Education sector. In support of this, Dr Johnstone said,

19. There is, however, the danger that it may simply be that some NGOs are so used to their subject area, and deal largely with people who already have some level of interest, that their perception is perhaps skewed and they assume a level of understanding on the part of the general public that is simply not there. This would certainly more adequately explain the miserable results identified in the Darnton research results.

Education for Sustainable Development—losing ground

20. The majority of those who believe that ESD as a term is either losing currency or had none to begin with attribute the blame for this to a number of different problems. There are those who believe that the term is confusing, has been used for too many competing things and lacks definition. RSPB's written evidence explains why it believes the gains made at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 have been lost. It states:

"Much of this lack of success can be laid at the door of confusing terminology. There does not appear to be a single cross governmental definition of sustainable development and there remains much ambiguity. For instance, within the Regional Development Agency network, sustainable development appears to principally mean 'economic sustainable development' and it appears that Government has down-played the environmental dimension. Amongst young people, there has been a decline in environmental concern as measured by opinion pollsters, which leads to the inevitable conclusion that, sustainable development and the environmental messages within it are not permeating the public consciousness."[12]

21. Similarly, in its written evidence, ENCAMS also said that the sustainable development message had been lost and it went on to give two reasons for this, "firstly the over-use of the word "sustainable" and secondly the wide scope ascribed to the term "sustainable development" makes it difficult for the general public to relate to."[13] This touches on an issue raised by others in this inquiry, which is that to many people development suggests growth and so they are confused when they see the word development in connection with something which, in fact, might be imposing limits on their behaviour.

22. Probably the most vigorous denouncement of the term ESD and its currency was offered by Mr Trewin Restorick, Director, Global Action Plan (GAP), in his oral evidence to us. He said:

23. The question of whether or not the Government is providing sufficient leadership in promoting Sustainable Development is, we believe, the crux of the matter. Whilst we have reservations about the inappropriate use and, indeed, over-use of the term "sustainability", we have to conclude that what holds back the progress of education in environmental matters is not really a problem with the terminology, whether it be Sustainable Development, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Education or something else, but rather its application, and the fundamental lack of commitment to the basic principle on the part of those with responsibility for promoting it and educating us about it.

Is the Government getting the ESD message across to the public?

24. The consensus amongst those who have contributed to this inquiry, a consensus with which we would agree, is that the Government is failing to get the ESD message across to the general public. We have already highlighted the very complex nature of Sustainable Development. We must also acknowledge the considerable task of getting the sustainable development message out to a majority of the population who are no longer in formal education but who still have to be able to make informed decisions about the way in which they live and the impact that has on the environment. It is the adults among us who have to make the key decisions about what type of housing or car to buy, how many holidays to take and how to get there, what luxuries to buy and how to spend leisure time. However, it is clear from the evidence we have seen, and which has been reinforced by the Darnton research for Defra, that very few people are actually aware of what their own environmental impact is.

25. In its original written evidence DfES acknowledged the difficulty of this task and recognised that there is work still to be done on the part of the Government. Defra, the department with the lead responsibility for promoting sustainable development across Government and the UK, has also conceded that there is more to be done. To this end it sponsored three separate research projects to look at the communication of sustainable development, to which we were originally alerted by written evidence provided by Forum for the Future.[15] As an alternative to a reliance on individual campaigns, this research identified a number of points thought to be key in any attempt to communicate sustainable development. They are:

If you want to change a behaviour, target that behaviour (and persist);
'Linear' communication and information campaigns are least effective;
Government can influence markets, product/service standards and lead by example, for example through procurement strategies;
Government policies send important signals to consumers. Inconsistency between policies undermines value;
Make links across Government goals and policies;
Don't assume that information leads to awareness or awareness to action;
Communicate creatively;
Use networks.

26. We could find little to argue with in this list, although clearly it is an aspiration at the moment and not representative of the way in which Defra currently communicates the message. Defra still has much to do to get the Sustainable Development message across to the public. Having made a positive start by commissioning research in this area it is important that Defra now puts the lessons learned from this research into practice, not only within Defra but across Government.

27. Of course, Defra is not alone in trying to promote ESD. There is a number of NGOs, some of whom are working with Defra, active in this area and have a positive story to tell. Both the Carbon Trust and the Energy Savings Trust have media campaigns currently running which are aimed at highlighting the causes of climate change and pointing to some of the ways in which individuals can make a difference. This is reaching a national audience and these and similarly focused campaigns must surely be the way forward, particularly given the increased media coverage likely to be given to the environment in general, and climate change more specifically this year, as a result of the UK's Presidency of the G8 and the EU and the Prime Minister's focus on those issues.

28. We were also very fortunate to be able to take evidence from representatives from the National Museum of Science and Industry, Mr Ben Gammon and Ms Rebecca Dawson. Ms Dawson, Executive Assistant, NMSI Masterplanning and Sustainable Development, said that the Museum had recognised that ESD was a complex issue, and explained the Museum's approach as follows:

29. The Museum, and those affiliated to it,[17] have established a number of projects and initiatives designed to inform the adult population about sustainable development and related issues, such as The Energy Gallery and the Dana Centre at the Science Museum in London. The National Museum of Science and Industry, whilst relatively new to the ESD scene, has shown commitment and innovation in its approach to ESD and should be congratulated on its progress so far. Defra and DCMS should work with the Museum to see how its experience could be shared with museums across England.

6 www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/taking-it-on/pdf/desk-research1.pdf Back

7 Ev33 Back

8 Ev154 Back

9 Environmental Audit Committee, First Report of Session 2004-05, Housing: Building a Sustainable Future, HC135-1 Back

10 Ev24 Back

11 Q106 Back

12 Ev226 Back

13 Ev172 Back

14 Q178 Back

15 Ev25, Ev26 Back

16 Q55 Back

17 Science Museum in London and Wroughton, the National Railway Museum in York, the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford and Locomotion: The National Railway Museum in Shildon, Co. Durham Back