EDUCATING FOR TOMORROW’S WORLD Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the world for future generations. But how do we teach this? Focus, a four-page dossier, reports.
	EDITO - I am often asked “What is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)?” The answer at first is quite simple. As educators, we are educating to make the world a better place for us and for future generations.

Brent Sclafani, who teaches at Champlain Elementary School in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont (United States) summarizes this nicely. “All I’m trying to do is teach kids that the fate of the earth is in their hands and they can actually do something about it,” he says. At the same time, the answer is highly complex and needs to be addressed from economic, social, civic and cultural perspectives. This is where the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) launched in 2005 comes in. As a leader of this Decade, UNESCO is assisting countries and regions develop plans and strategies that are relevant to their different realities and concerns. As the dossier of this issue of Education Today explains, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for teaching about sustainability, and we are operating on a “learning-by-doing” basis. The DESD is a chance for all of us to do something together and to learn from one another. I am very optimistic about the Decade and the impact that it will have. During UNESCO’s General Conference last October, I was encouraged to witness the passion and energy with which our Member States discussed the issue of sustainability. That demonstrated to me that Education for Sustainable Development is and will increasingly become much more than just a slogan. It is a movement that is gaining momentum because we all are becoming convinced that it is the only option we have for tomorrow’s world. I leave you with the inspiring words spoken by Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, almost a half-century ago: “Before you eat breakfast this morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured. We aren’t going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.” Peter Smith Assistant Director-General for Education