Scotland’s 2nd UNESCO DESD Action Plan

Posted: 22 July 2010

Part of Scotland’s UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Action Plan produced in 2006 and entitled ‘Learning for our Future’, was to review the Plan itself in 2009/2010. The time has come. The second Action Plan has provided an opportunity to reflect on progress so far, to assess what has been learned, and start planning ahead in light of this.

The new Plan focuses on learning in a range of settings; for children and young people, for students, for communities and for workplaces. Significantly, a new legislative background is provided by The Climate Change (Scotland) Act (2009), with aims of reductions in carbon emission by 42% by 2025, and by 80% by 2050. The Government and its partners will host a series of seminars over the remainder of the Decade, aiming to bring key people together, to share best practice and look to ways of working together.

The new Curriculum for Excellence is presented as ‘coherent, flexible and enriched curriculum with principles of Education for Sustainable Development and global Citizenship fully embedded’. With the establishment of an Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) office in Scotland, the Plan encourages colleges and schools to work more closely together. It also focuses on Lifelong Learning, on Community Learning Development projects, and Public Awareness and Capacity Building.

For more details, or to read the Action Plan in full, visit scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/05/20152453/0.