Human rights and sustainable development are global priorities endorsed by the UN and its member states (OHCHR, 2022b). These priorities can mobilize society around social, economic, and environmental justice concerns if embedded across education. Education for sustainable development (ESD) provides a human-rights-based framework for the education sector to embrace and enable sustainable development (UNESCO, 2019, 2020). We need collaborative and transformative governance in education at national and institutional levels to bring about this shift (UN Global Compact, n.d.; UNESCO, 2020). UNESCO affirms that a new social contract for education must be grounded in human rights, and human rights likewise lie at the core of Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN General Assembly, 2015; UNESCO, 2021). With growing interest in the SDGs in education at all levels, the SDGs offer the potential to catalyze education to deliver better outcomes for people, prosperity, and planet (McGrath, 2022).

In this article we argue that the education sector should urgently embrace the transformative potential of human rights and Agenda 2030 as mutually reinforcing instruments focused on creating just, inclusive, and resilient societies as the foundation for a new social contract for education. We begin by describing the roots of ESD and human rights education (HRE) through relevant international human rights treaties, conventions, and pedagogical frameworks, which could be foundational to a new social contract for education. Building on this narrative, the paper turns to describing the benefits of harnessing the combined frameworks.

Frameworks and pedagogies

Two complementary frameworks that address concerns for social, economic, and environmental justice have been agreed upon internationally: Agenda 2030 (UN General Assembly, 2015) and the international human rights treaties (United Nations, 1965, 1966a, 1966b, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1990, 2006a, 2006b). With 92% of SDG targets linked to UN Human Rights articles (Danish Institute for Human Rights, 2017), these are mutually reinforcing agendas, with the legal basis of human rights treaties and the political buy-in to Agenda 2030 lending weight to each other.

Nine UN human rights treaties and numerous regional human rights documents (Table 1) outline the freedoms and entitlements of individuals that are necessary for protecting the dignity and equality of all.

Table 1 Summary table of core international and regional human rights instruments
Full size table

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Its 17 goals and underlying principles recognize the urgency to end poverty, improve health and education, reduce inequalities, and spur economic growth while tackling climate change.

The UN pursues human-rights-mainstreaming efforts, whereby human rights articles and principles are considered in the design, application, and monitoring of all agencies, funds, and programs. This seeks to advance the “values of the UN Charter and ensure that human rights are at the heart of implementing the 2030 Agenda through coherence, system-wide policies and coordinated inter-agency action at all levels” (OHCHR, 2022a). This mainstreaming has meant that human rights principles inform the SDGs and UN policies on education in this domain.

The right to quality education is enshrined in several UN human rights treaties (United Nations, 1965, 1966a, 1966b, 1979, 1989, 2006b), while SDG 4 calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning. Both frameworks recognize the importance of holistic education for furthering their transformative agendas. Target 4.7 of Agenda 2030 calls upon states and educators to:

ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development. (UN General Assembly, 2015)

Education for sustainable development (ESD) sets out a pedagogical approach to achieve this, empowering learners with crosscutting knowledge and competencies; e.g., systems thinking, collaboration, and critical thinking. It is a transformational education that addresses learning content and outcomes, pedagogy, and the learning environment (UNESCO, 2020). It can transform society in line with SDG and human rights objectives, contributing to more equitable, greener, safer, and more peaceful societies (UNESCO, 2020). Indicator 4.7 and ESD align with Human Rights Education (HRE), an approach for:

promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus contributing, inter alia, to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviors, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights. (UN General Assembly, 2011)

HRE includes teaching about, through, and for human rights (Flowers, 2004). ESD and HRE pedagogical approaches identify the importance of developing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to contribute towards cultures that promote rights and sustainable development. As Tibbitts (2017) notes, the crosscutting human rights values of nondiscrimination, equality, inclusion, and participation, and the norms associated with the human rights of specific groups, can contribute to social change processes more generally, inspiring behavioral changes. These values underpin Agenda 2030 and ESD. Both agendas and pedagogies have societal change at their center.

Significantly, HRE derives from the right to education enshrined in human rights treaties, which creates a legal imperative for this approach. States that have ratified UN human rights treaties, most notably the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, have legal obligations to provide human rights education and training as part of the right to education (MacNaughton, 2015). While states are the primary duty bearers of human rights implementation, this duty is passed on to service providers, both public and private, where they are providing essential services such as education (Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, 2019). Therefore, the human rights agenda creates a legal obligation on the education sector to provide and embed HRE. Given the significant cohesion and overlap between ESD and HRE, this legal obligation can be leveraged to embed ESD throughout the education sector. In tandem, Agenda 2030 and the SDGs have popular appeal, which can also be leveraged to progress ESD and HRE (UNESCO, 2020).

Agenda 2030 calls for bold, transformative, ambitious steps. The education sector needs to be socialized on the Agenda to understand its scope, human rights linkages, and the responsibility to achieve meaningful change. The complete integration of the combined agendas into education could represent a system change responding to social, economic, and environmental concerns as well as a foundation for a new social contract for education. ​

Aligning human rights and sustainable development for the education sector

The UN describes Agenda 2030 as having five pillars: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships (UN General Assembly, 2015). Various goals respond in particular to social, economic, and environmental challenges. The Goals were designed to be implemented as a whole, working towards all five pillars to allow everyone to thrive while remaining within planetary boundaries. The human rights underpinnings of the Agenda ensure that justice and dignity for all are central to the Goals. As outlined above, ESD and HRE guidance (UN General Assembly, 2004a, 2004b; UNESCO, 2020) contain the skills and competencies that will equip learners to contribute towards these pillars. However, embracing these pedagogies can also benefit the education sector itself. Embracing the SDGs can allow educational institutions to demonstrate their impact, build new partnerships, access new funding streams, and make comparisons with and learn from other institutions (Sáez de Cámara et al., 2021).

ESD and HRE are not new approaches. UNESCO and the International Association of Universities have advocated ESD since the 1980s (International Association of Universities, accessed 2023). The UN held the First Decade for Human Rights Education from 1995 to 2004 (UN General Assembly, 1996). However, Agenda 2030 has provided an opportunity for the education sector to rethink the role of these approaches in their functioning, and the SDGs provide an opportunity to revitalize institutional efforts to embed these approaches (Shiel et al., 2020). The mutually reinforcing frameworks can thus revitalize and reenergize the education sector when integrated into a new social contract for education.

Embracing a comprehensive approach to education that embeds ESD and HRE can assist the education sector in responding to students’ and educators’ best interests. The appeal of the SDGs and human rights are matters of public interest with real-life implications. Aligning personal and professional interests can multiply impact for progress (Groysberg et al., 2018). Staff and students are making choices and changes in their lives to respond to the challenges addressed by the SDGs, increasing demand for ESD (Sáez de Cámara et al., 2021). Within education, HRE and ESD present the opportunity to combine personal interests and professional competencies to empower staff and graduates to synergize values to drive progress. However, we cannot assume that the education sector will embrace the potential contributions of ESD and HRE without a concentrated reprioritization.

ESD and HRE are often acknowledged within the educational sector. Still they are often perceived as specialized, standalone topics of study rather than integrated throughout curricula or used as pedagogical approaches in acknowledgment of their crosscutting relevance (UNESCO, 2020). Few higher education providers fully address these agendas in their curricula (Leal Filho et al., 2019). Therefore, they are not preparing graduates and trainees to apply a human rights or sustainable development lens in their work. Where students are not provided with robust HRE and ESD and graduate without these skills, there is a risk that education providers may perpetuate inequalities by not challenging the status quo. ​

Initiatives to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in education have also gained traction. However, these often focus on human resource concerns or standalone initiatives with a single-issue or single-group focus. While these initiatives can be worthwhile, they may not tackle the underlying causes of exclusion and inequality. Indeed, if their focus is on appearing more diverse without addressing structural barriers, they can create more pressure on minorities (Grewal, 2021). To further these agendas, we need institution-wide shifts that embrace human rights and the SDGs in practice. While there is considerable goodwill and policy intent in the education sector towards Agenda 2030 and human rights, evidence of its transfer to changing practice has not yet emerged. ​

The role of governance

ESD and HRE have been committed to globally through human rights treaties and Agenda 2030. For these frameworks to meet their potential in education, however, they must be embedded at both curricular and institutional levels. System changes and participatory planning are necessary to address the challenges in bringing this about. This will require both national and institutional governance and community partnerships. ​

At the national level, governance should provide stronger resourcing of the education system to ensure that schools and higher education institutions can meet the facilities and staffing standards called for in Agenda 2030 and the human rights treaties. Curricular reviews should be undertaken to ensure that the crosscutting relevance of the agendas is better reflected in all subjects. Guidance should be developed in relation to standards and qualifications to equip teaching staff to provide ESD and HRE. Standards and qualifications in all subjects should also be reviewed to ensure compatibility with these Agendas. Authority for these actions will depend on national educational structures, which may be devolved to more local authorities in some contexts. Where authority does rest with local or regional governance, national guidance may still be useful for coordinating efforts.

At the institutional level, we will need governance to ensure national-level guidance is implemented. Sáez de Cámara et al. (2021) suggest that the primary obstacles to implementing a coherent approach to ESD in universities are a lack of leadership from senior management to promote policies and programs, a lack of ad hoc structures supporting policies, and an absence of specific funding and resources. Institutional governance that establishes the necessary organizational structures and budget is essential. Initial assessments on the current state of play at institutional levels should be seen as input at the start of a transformative process, not as an outcome. Following mapping exercises, gaps should be identified, and actions planned to further agendas. Investment in new participatory approaches and new data is required. Human rights and sustainable development should be mainstreamed throughout educational institutions. This includes curricular and operational aspects of institutions, including consideration of supply chains, infrastructure, etc. Systems change can create tensions and negative institutional cultures if not well managed. Therefore, institutional governance should put in place processes of strategic change with the genuine participation and support of different groups within the institution and the catchment community (Sáez de Cámara et al., 2021).

Institutional governance should lead the way in socializing the content of the Agendas across staff and student bodies. The proliferation of consultancy services in this arena has had positive and negative impacts (Heras-Saizarbitoria et al., 2022). It has stimulated the prioritization of the Agendas at the institutional level but has not always reflected the scope of impact called for or the processes needed to achieve the impact sought. The Agendas can reorient education, and motivate and empower staff, students, and partners to be part of shaping the future, changing behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes. How the Agendas are socialized and how we subsequently respond in accepting or dismissing their role in shaping a new social contract for education is critical. In line with the all-of-society approach called for in Agenda 2030, governance needs clarity and participatory approaches to facilitate the co-creation of implementation plans.

Conclusion

Considering the changing world and humanity’s proven ability to rapidly adjust and transform to existing and emerging needs, it is time to change our approaches and understanding of education and its greater purpose. Education sectors must become disrupters and active players in co-creating solutions to the challenges we face today and will face tomorrow. Agenda 2030: Transforming Our World, Human Rights and their related pedagogical approaches offer foundations for a new social contract for education when fully and effectively understood.