Way back in 2005 the United Nations mobilized the forces of education with a powerful call to action. The “Decade of ESD” (Education for Sustainable Development) triggered lots of activity on a global scale, to ensure that education could play a more conscious role in developing the mindsets, skills, attitudes, and behaviors of a sustainable society beyond 2030. 

The result, according to a 2017 UNESCO report, was that “Education for sustainable development is no longer an “add-on” in the curriculum alongside environmental, consumer or climate education;... offering an opportunity to fundamentally rethink education…. which assumes that education for sustainable development and the idea of sustainability are not only important for teaching and learning processes but also for the development of educational institutions, whether they are day-care centres, schools, universities or vocational institutions.”

We are now well beyond that decade of ESD, and now find ourselves in the less-inspiringly titled “GAP”. The GAP (Global Action Program) phase of  “generating and scaling up ESD actions in all levels and areas of education, training and learning” means that by 2030 all learners are ready to actively support sustainable development. However, the progress towards this between schools, universities and vocational institutions shows a whole lot of variance. Not for the first time, nor for the last, it is the K12 sector leading the way.  

A holistic approach to sustainable development

Let us take Scotland for an example. At the present moment, vocational colleges are at varying stages of embedding sustainability in learning, but the “leading” institutions (according to the FE Sector Roadmap) are still few enough to really stand out as notable. 

Universities, with their bigger budgets and resources to draw on, are further along, but even many leading institutions have yet to fully integrate sustainability across their curricula. Thus, a real gap between the committed strategy of its leadership teams with the general teaching staff and students, who are not yet sharing a common experience or exposure to sustainability in the learning environment.

In K12, however, Learning for Sustainability (LfS) was enshrined in the K12 education system back in 2012 with the added dimensions of global citizenship and outdoor education (or nature-based learning). 

Since then, the K12 work towards sustainable development objectives has been committed and relentless, with mass training of teachers, resources being shared at a dizzying pace, and more webinars than you could ever watch in a lifetime! 

This is reflected across the global north. Germany has fully embedded sustainability from the moment a learner begins formal schooling. The South Pacific Island of Vanuatu has embedded the teaching of sustainability through theater in their education system, and even created pathways for the young learners, in turn, to then teach their communities. 

India started in 2002 to teach “localized” sustainability issues across their K12 schools, where there was an emphasis on taking action and developing empowerment and agency. Again and again, it is K12 moving forward way before Higher and Further Education began to even really develop any meaningful progress. 

So, great. K12 schools are doing well with this, and HE/FE are starting to catch up, so what is the problem?

Visibility matters

Picture this. You have come up through an English K12 system, where sustainability has been in the fabric of everything you learn. From community action projects to visibility of SDG-connected actions all around campus, and you may have even done the new GCSE course in Climate Change. 

You finish high school with an awareness of the huge challenges the world faces, but also with personal experience of actually exploring these issues, and breaking them down by taking action in your community. 

Arriving in college on day 1 and, beyond the recycling bins, and a mention of new solar panels on the website, there is just no sense of continuity. That feeling of being part of a shared journey towards a better world for you and your children is just…absent. 

Globally, students want to see evidence of their institution really doing something about sustainability. Logically, if we consider that Gen Alpha take climate change and sustainable development very seriously, and have already likely experienced a learning environment where those values are shared by the institution, this must feel like a shocking disconnect. 

Crunch time for colleges and universities

Time has run out. No, not the time we need to secure a liveable future for humans on this planet; there is still a little hope there. Time has run out for institutions who thought they had a little wiggle room. Lots of great progress is happening throughout our colleges and universities, but their commitment to Education for Sustainable Development is not visible enough at ground level, not embedded enough to ensure equal exposure for all students, and generally just not coherent with the high standard set by K12. 

If we really want to attract and retain not just students but younger staff members too, then the time to really join up the dots between strategy and reality is now. Young people need to believe that we are in this with them, doing the work and making a difference. 

To talk with us about how to build visibility around the SDGs and institutional activity, just reach out to connect. The one thing that is just the same about Gen Alpha is that the power of good storytelling and authentic communication doesn’t hit any different, and integrating this into marketing, student recruitment and communications can really help to build momentum for those deeper changes that yet remain to be tackled. For all of this, we are here for you.