Teacher Training Curriculum on Environmental Issues | Page 8
While sustainable development is intended to encompass three pillars,
over the past 20 years it has often been compartmentalized as an
environmental issue. Added to this, and potentially more limiting for
the sustainable development agenda, is the reigning orientation of
development as purely economic growth. This has been the framework
used by developed countries in attaining their unprecedented levels of
wealth, and major and rapidly developing countries are following the
same course. The problem with such an approach is that natural
resources are in imminent peril of being exhausted or their quality
being compromised to an extent that threatens current biodiversity
and natural environments.5
A sustainable society is far from being achieved yet. The challenges that we see today are different
from the challenges that our previous generations had and most certainly different from the
challenges our future generations will face. What then can we do to make the Earth, “Enough for
All, Forever”?
How do we contribute towards a sustainable society? Well, there isn't any simple and
straightforward recipe, which we all can follow in order to achieve a
sustainable society. This maybe is good, since all societies are not
homogeneous. However it's important to keep in mind that achieving
a society that will be sustainable in the future, doesn't happen all by
itself. Every member of society has to be ready to put in enough
effort, big or small, towards the one single goal - a sustainable future.
Now the question arises, how do we make every member of the
society understand the value of a sustainable future so that they are
willing to make an effort towards achieving it? According to Sir
Peter Scott, one of the founders of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “...
the most important task, if we are to save the Earth, is to educate.” 6
Yes, education is our only answer. Education provides knowledge
and understanding for the need of a sustainable society thus
encouraging us to take, that one extra step, towards a new line of thinking for the survival of this
earth and the day we manage to achieve this, half the war will be already won. The best way to
accomplish understanding for the need for a sustainable society is to induce the education for
sustainable development at an early age so that living a sustainable life becomes a part of every
individual.
5
Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012, retrieved 20160105 from:
http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/gsp/docs/GSP16Background%20on%20Sustainable%20Devt.pdf
6
http://www.csu.edu.au/go/welcome-2014/quotes/quotes-source
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