UN's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development - effectiveness and impact

Will the DESD focus attention on this urgent need - up to, and beyond, 2014?

Learners of all ages all over the world, need to be educated in such a way that they acquire skills that will allow them to appreciate that they can be a "catalyst for change" when looking for solutions to the complex and interdependent challenges that have to be faced.

Education for Sustainable Development needs to respond to an understanding of the concept of "Environment", and the "Development" components it embraces, based on the diagram below.

South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development - 2005 to 2014". The lead agent in South Africa is the National Department of Education, supported by several other Departments.

Within the context of Sustainable Development, one frequently refers to people's ecological impact in the form of a "footprint". An emerging image that is being associated with "The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" is that of one's "handprint". This represents one's positive contribution to sustainable development and a commitment to ACTION.