Teacher Training Curriculum on Environmental Issues | Page 24

SWEDEN Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation Stiftelsen Håll Sverige Rent National Operator: Lisa Adelsköld Mail: lisa.adelskold@hsr.se ENGLAND Keep Britain Tidy National Operator: Morgan Phillips Mail: Morgan.Phillips@keepbritaintidy. org www.eco-schools.org.uk Option B – the Sustainable Schools Framework (developed by English Department for Education 2006). This framework which continues to be supported in the UK by the Sustainable Schools Alliance (http://sustainable-schools-alliance.org.uk/) See link above for more details. In this paper, we, the eight project countries, have made an effort to illustrate how schools can contribute to a sustainable future in the form of formal and non-formal education. Our purpose was also to, through education, increase students' commitment to want to be involved in creating a sustainable future. In the beginning of the paper, we emphasised the importance and the need for a sustainable society and how education is the only solution. We need a society that is ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. How this can be defined is exemplified in this part of the paper. The paper also highlights and discusses the obstacles on the path of education for sustainable development in our schools. One such obstacle is, the educator‟s lack of time as the mandate curriculum and syllabus goals have to be met, and that there isn‟t enough time to work on issues of sustainable development. We therefore, through the guidelines, tried to illustrate that education for sustainable development can be carried out hand in hand to the schools‟ mandate curriculum and the goals of the course syllabus without additional burden on an already stressful school life. As observed, the school curriculum for all the project countries, focus on the need for development in the student´s ability to problem-solve, increasing creative curiosity and developing a willingness to try their own ideas. It is evident, that education for sustainable development provides all this and much more. This is why, in the guideline, we tried to bridge the school curriculum and course syllabus with six thematic areas of the UN's Global Goal for sustainability. This was done by investigating to what extent the mandate subjects we worked with include parts that coincide with the UN's goals. Finally, we tried to provide more concrete examples from each project country on how to work across curriculum to achieve the selected UN goals. To make it easier for the members, we also took up the topic on “whole school approach to ESD” and provided information and contact emails to the local eco-schools authorities. In conclusion, we do hope that we have managed to shed a little light on the path towards education for sustainable development. 24