The group, including UNESCO and the International Association of Universities (IAU), is asking the UN to allow educators to join a “stakeholder process” which would enable them to participate in negotiations on civil society implementation of sustainable development.
At the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, delegates agreed under ‘Agenda 21’ that nine major groups – including women, indigenous peoples, youth, and local authorities, but not educators – should be consulted before governments decide on any action.
“Everyone talks about the importance of education in the documents…and yet it’s not a stakeholder,” said Hans van Ginkel, President of IAU, in a tone of incredulity.
According to Jeanne Damlamian of UNESCO, education plays an “indispensable role” in the process of achieving sustainable development. “Education is not an end in itself. Education for sustainable development needs to be in all levels of education and for all forms.”
The group is urging world leaders to work harder to integrate the issues of sustainability into every educational subject, from the sciences, to the arts and literature. Through the development of sustainability education, the group says, future workers and leaders will be better prepared to face the global challenges of environmental protection, social equity, and economic growth.
UNESCO estimates that there are 55 million educators teaching a combined one billion students worldwide, a figure that is rising as more people in the developed world attend university. This makes the field of education one of the most widely held professions in the world.
But World Summit spokespersons said it would be unlikely for educators to be added to the stakeholder process at this point. “There would be a procedural problem with reopening Agenda 21,” said one spokesman.
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