Education for Sustainable Development in Qatar

Abstract

This chapter examines Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Qatar by scrutinizing the actors, initiatives, and policies at global and national scales. The study presents an overview of Qatar’s national policy on integrating sustainable development into the education system and highlights nation-specific characteristics. The chapter further analyzes major formal, informal, and non-formal educational learning spaces in Qatar which have been harnessing national policies, global trends, and local specificities to effectively serve Qatar National Vision 2030 as well as Qatar’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

17.1 Introduction

Sustainable development is a complex term referring to a multitude of dimensions pertaining to sustainability. Environmental, human, social, and economic tenets of sustainability, albeit differential in many ways, pinpoint a convergence around the centrality of education for sustainability. This transformation can be driven by equipping the citizens with knowledge, skills, and competencies. Formal and informal education both have a role in shaping twenty-first-century skills, competencies, and mindsets needed in todays and the future’s global citizens.

In November 2021, the Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee), of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Education for Sustainable Development in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The resolution encouraged governments and other stakeholders to “increase efforts to systematically integrate and institutionalize education for sustainable development in the education sector and other relevant sectors” by increasing the capacities of policymakers, institutional leaders, and educators, strengthening research and innovation, and monitoring Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in order to support the scaling-up of good practices (United Nations, 2021). What was striking about the resolution is the role played by Qatar as the coordinator of negotiations on the resolution, together with Tajikistan.

ESD relates to the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) in many ways. For instance, environmental protection is one of the core values for the future envisioned for Qatar, and QNV 2030 acknowledges that education will also work as a catalyst for social progress. Similarly, 2011–2016, as well as 2017–2022 and 2023–2028 National Development Plans (NDS) exhibit direct and indirect references to the role of education in fostering sustainability (see Chaps. 2 and 3). Qatar embraces the importance of education as a tool for empowerment, civic participation, human development, and sustainable societies laden by ethical and moral frameworks in education.

This chapter examines ESD in Qatar by scrutinizing the actors, initiatives, and policies at global and national scales. The study presents an overview of Qatar’s national policy on integrating sustainable development into the education system and highlights nation-specific characteristics. The chapter further analyzes major formal, informal, and non-formal educational learning spaces in Qatar, which have been harnessing national policies, global trends, and local specificities to effectively serve QNV 2030 as well as Qatar’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

17.2 The Importance of ESD for Qatar

Sustainable development necessitates simultaneous and balanced progress in the spheres of environment, economy, and society. This brings the ESD to the fore, which holds great potential for making a comprehensive transformation in the society and economies. ESD targets to empower learners with knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary for making informed decisions and undertaking responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society. ESD is expected to transform society and thus to enable SDGs, by empowering people of all genders, ages, and present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity. In this regard, ESD is a lifelong learning process and an integral part of quality education (UNESCO, 2022a).

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes the United Nations fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4), dealing with quality education. SDG4 is critical for meeting the SDGs and implementing the 2030 global agenda. Education is a shared responsibility among individuals, education and training institutions, and governments (Boeren, 2019). National education policies and strategies are, in fact, the necessary starting point to achieve the SDG4 and the SDGs more generally. Although, the state regulates education and controls its delivery, in some cases, state-led educational models may coexist (Pak & Lee, 2018) with initiatives from private and civil society actors (Marshall, 2018).

ESD is concerned with global responsibilities to address the century’s challenges for human survival and security at the intersection of ecology/environment, equity/social development, and finance/economy. As the threats are not conventional anymore, it is not possible to expect conventional teaching and training methods to meet the necessities of the century. Accordingly, progress can only be achieved by responsible, problem-solving global citizens who are ready and capable to act at the local, national, and international levels with unconventional and innovative mindsets informed by values, ethical standpoints, and morally informed youth. ESD also includes the component of “global citizenship” in order to attain major analytical, cognitive, and social skills, such as empathy, conflict resolution, communication, critical-creative-innovative thinking, and information literacy, as also highlighted by Education 2030 of UNESCO. This approach recognizes that the answers to non-traditional challenges our world faces today in the environmental, economic, and political spheres, global or national, rest at the dignity, and compassion not only for each other but also for our planet. Therefore, the alignment of global citizenship and ESD with lifelong quality education for all emerges as a key strategy and priority for national and global prosperity.

UNESCO (2016) outlined specific learning objectives for sustainable development based on cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral domains. While the cognitive domain refers to knowledge and thinking skills, the socio-emotional aspect refers to attitudinal and value-driven motivational aspects. Finally, the behavioral dimension is related to practical, actionable forms. While this tripartite framework is useful in principle, it does not recognize the local context, the specific relationship between education and a given society, and the need for policymakers, curriculum developers, and teachers to work with and critically think about ESD at several levels (Welply et al., 2019, 85). While the UNESCO framework is a useful starting point, it does not provide sufficient insights on practical implementations and, consequently on potential trajectories of localization.

Being holistic and transformational, ESD encompasses learning content and outcomes, pedagogy, and the learning environment itself, and therefore, must be integrated to every educational and training level, with specificities applying to different ages, types of training, and localized situations, in order to increase students’ awareness and capacities in relation to the SDGs (Dür & Keller, 2018). Important preconditions of ESD include educated staff, aware and capable to teach what is relevant to learn about sustainability (Pak & Lee, 2018), but also relevant pedagogical resources, adapted to the specific context in which they are used.

Hopkins and Mckeown’s (2005, 13) revealed that there is a need for a more holistic approach combining both curriculum and institutional change to engage in effective education on sustainable development. The curricula should address current and potential environmental and sustainable development issues and equip the students with “lifelong learning skills applicable not only for examination purposes but also for their entire life, especially at home, in their communities and at workplaces” (Mawonde & Togo, 2020, 3). Accordingly, Kurz (2020, 285) highlights that the programs and curricula should be modified so as to depict, first, what kind of new qualifications and attitudes are needed in today’s and future’s global citizens. This requires redesigned teaching methods which blend social responsibility activities and real cases in the curriculum (Elobeid et al., 2016; Gomez et al., 2018, 227) and combine them with experiential learning as well as interdisciplinary projects (Kurz, 2020, 285). In these efforts, principles such as “educating and empowering students to be leaders who impact the world sustainably, translating research and teaching into practice, using the campus as a living lab, institutionalizing best practices in sustainable operations, and amplifying impact by sharing successes with others” are already taking their place in the sustainability plans of leading universities such as Harvard (Harvard University, 2019). This transformation, with no doubt, also requires a strategy for faculty development since new content and methods necessitate retraining of faculty members as well as incentives to support research on sustainable development (Kurz, 2020).

Zooming into the specific case of Qatar reveals that education is key in order to transform the country into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development and the SDGs. Qatar is a small coastal country facing some unique challenges with regard to the impact of climate change. Diminishing water and hydrocarbon resources, pollution, and environmental degradation, increasing salinity in groundwater sources for agriculture, declining air quality, and threats to biodiversity and marine life are only few among many challenges which risk human well-being at the food, water, and environment nexus (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008, 34; 2011, 229). Chapters in this edited volume address some of these key issues, such as sea-level rise (see Chap. 9), water (see Chap. 11), food security (see Chap. 12), and biodiversity (see Chap. 13) in detail. Acknowledging these challenges, the QNV 2030 has the primary goal to attain economic diversification and achieve sustainable development in Qatar. The QNV 2030 aims to transform Qatar “into an advanced country by 2030, capable of sustaining its own development and providing for a high standard of living for all of its people for generations to come” (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008, 2). To this extent, it underlines the crucial roles of education, training, and capacity building. Qatar’s active role in fostering sustainable development implementation is evident: the fact that Her Highness Sheikha Moza is an SDG’s Advocate is a clear evidence of this commitment.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), which is the government entity charged with supporting and regulating education in Qatar (including the full array of K-12 public and private schools and institutions of higher education), sets itself the mission to: “regulate and support high-quality learning opportunities across all educational levels to provide individuals in Qatar’s society with the needed knowledge, skills, and attitudes according to their abilities and in line with the national values needs”. MOEHE’s strong emphasis on “twenty-first-century skills, values, and attitudes” as well as on the need to keep up with world trends in teaching and learning significantly resonates with the global discourse on the necessity and importance of ESD.

17.3 Political Economy Framework for ESD in Qatar

Economic diversification away from hydrocarbons has increasingly become a critical priority for Qatar (D’Alessandro et al., 2019). Enhancing the role of the private sector and creating a knowledge economy based on innovation, entrepreneurship, efficient infrastructure, and good governance is at the heart of diversification efforts. This need for transformation is not only in response to the changing global economic dynamics but also arises due to the challenges Qatar faces at the intersection of environment, development, and society. For a knowledge-based, environmentally sustainable economy, Qatar needs to invest in knowledge products, creativity, and innovation, meaning that the cultivation of skills and know-how among its citizens and the youth is critical (Du & Chaaban, 2020, 2; Weber, 2014).

On the sustainable development front, although Qatar showcases a strong political commitment to global efforts setting ambitious targets for sustainable development, it is facing significant challenges. To illustrate increasing electricity and water consumption, rising dependence on automobiles, household air cooling consumption, industrial and urban activities which result in large-scale waste, air, and water pollution, and causing threat to the marine ecosystems are among some issue areas that Qatar needs to address (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 318).

The progress of Qatar for economic diversification and sustainable development is very much dependent on the political economy context of the country, availability of resources, and citizens’ commitment to such a transformation, replacing unsustainable consumption patterns with responsible solutions. With this background, this section briefly overviews Qatar’s key strategy documents to detect the potential role of the ESD in Qatar’s development path.

17.3.1 Qatar National Vision 2030

QNV 2030, is the fundamental strategy document that lays the ground for Qatar’s target of a diversified and innovation-driven knowledge-based economic development, with four main pillars, namely, human development, social development, economic development, and environmental development (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008; see Chaps. 2 and 3) (Table 17.1).

Table 17.1 Pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030

As part of its national vision, Qatar aims to build a modern world-class educational system which will provide its citizens necessary skills and knowledge for addressing changing complex dynamics of the world, by also encouraging analytical and critical thinking, strong sense of citizenship and belonging, as well as creativity and innovation, and promoting respect for Qatari society’s values and heritage (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008, 17).

For sustainable development, QNV 2030 acknowledges that promoting moral and ethical grounds for preserving and protecting the environment, including air, land, water, and biological diversity, and having an environmentally aware population are pre-requisites. Therefore, educational curricula and training programs responding to current and future needs of Qatar are identified as crucial (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008, 20).

17.3.2 Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016

Building on QNV 2030, the first Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016 (NDS-1) identifies key themes, strategies, and targets for diversifying Qatar’s economy and ensuring the country’s social and economic progress. To this end, reforms, extensive stakeholder consultation, and benchmarking of international best practices are critical (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2011, 139). An important theme that repeats through the strategy document is to prepare the Qatari citizens to become part of the country’s economic progress and to make sure that Qatar has a capable and motivated workforce, equipped with skills and knowledge for managing sustainable development. Therefore, education is identified both as a goal and an enabler to achieve the aspirations of QNV 2030.

Under the theme of education, the main focus of NDS-1 revolves around the need to prepare the Qatari citizens for an economic and social vision beyond the country’s wealth and economic activities based on hydrocarbons, which directly corresponds to the efforts for economic diversification. In this regard, developing and improving quality education is a key element to ensure that the education system in Qatar addresses the needs of current and future labor markets (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2011, 139). Another key element for the theme of education is the emphasis on providing the students a solid ground for Qatari religious, moral, and ethical values, national identity, traditions, and cultural heritage. Designing education programs which will strengthen Qatari national values so as to instill a sense of belonging, responsibility, and citizenship among the students is identified as a priority.

Just like education, environmental sustainability is a repeated key component. When it comes to the theme of environmental sustainability, and how it intersects with education, the main concept that crystallizes in the document is “environmental awareness”. Education is an enabler for environmental sustainability and improved environmental management. In this context, the development strategy involves key policies including: to increase environmental awareness and encourage sustainable production and consumption practices, to improve behavior for environmental sustainability (e.g., use of water and electricity), to support and increase environmental studies programs in schools, to establish school curriculum containing principles of sustainability, and to link local and international education initiatives (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2011, 245–252). Although these targets are not coined around the exact wording of “education for sustainable development”, the strategy corresponds to the essence of ESD.

17.3.3 Qatar National Development Strategy 2018–2022

Qatar’s second National Development Strategy 2018–2022 (NDS-2) follows the path of QNV 2030 and NDS-1, with the targets of:

Sustaining economic prosperity through economic infrastructure development, economic diversification and private sector development, and management of natural resources; promoting human development through a comprehensive and integrated healthcare system, quality education and training, efficient and committed workforce; and a sound social development through social protection, public security and safety, cultural enrichment and sports excellence. It also seeks to achieve a sustainable development that preserves the environment. (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 5)

The political leadership in Qatar showcases a determination to use oil and gas investment revenues to finance the long-term sustainable development vision of the country and to develop institutional, financial, and human capacities to serve this purpose (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 11). Accordingly, while the emphasis on economic diversification and private sector development continues to be integral to Qatar’s development strategy, the necessity to develop and implement sustainable environmental practices in all pillars of QNV 2030 is acknowledged for enabling the country to develop and sustainably prosper (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 302). To this end, environmental sustainability requires active and effective participation by all groups and members of society, and environmental awareness should form the basis and drive of human relation to the environment, as stated by NDS-2.

The theme of education in the document mainly addresses the target of developing tools to increase the youth’s understanding of Qatari values, culture, and heritage as well as global citizenship. On the other hand, strong emphasis on the need to promote environmental awareness and to build an environmentally aware and supportive society for environmental sustainability (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 318) implies an important role for education. Nevertheless, the reference to this dimension in the document does not only target the formal education system per se, but heavily underlines initiatives, efforts, or projects in the informal or non-formal forms of education, outside the school system such as the promotion of community-based environmental conservation initiatives or “environmental awareness campaigns to familiarize individuals with environmental considerations, requirements, sensitivity and conservation methods; change the behaviors and practices harmful to the local environment; and promote proper management, especially for water and electricity resources” (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 318). Kahramaa Awareness Park and the Tarsheed campaign, launched by the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation, are two specific references in the document given as good examples of sustainable awareness efforts which target to promote a culture of responsible consumption (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 305). The strategy document interestingly states that “it is impossible to build such awareness within a few years” (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 305) signaling the need for a long-term and comprehensive “environmental education” supported through “curricula, broadcast and printed media, and modern social media” (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2018, 318).

17.4 Historical Context

Over the last decades, Qatar’s education system has been going through several reforms. Although the initial attempts of reform target broader strategies such as achieving critical thinking, it is possible to detect an increasing reference to sustainable development and ESD in the overall education policy and tools.

Especially between the 1960s and 1980s, significant reforms have been in place for the education system in Qatar.¹ In 1965, the country replaced imported course material from Egypt, Saudi, and other Arab countries with its first national curriculum. Additionally, Qatar has become a member of key education-related regional and international networks including ALECSO (Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization) in 1962 and UNESCO in 1972 (Alkhater, 2016).

The establishment of Qatar Foundation is another important benchmark in the history of the education system in Qatar. Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) was established in 1995 as an initiative for investing in education, research, and capacity development in Qatar (see Chap. 5). The efforts of QF for contributing to a knowledge-based economy for the nation have been further consolidated with the inauguration of the Education City on October 13, 2003. Importing best regional and global practices, accelerating local education reform and policies, internationalization of education and strengthening Qatar’s capacity in innovative education have been among the major motivations of Education City (Khodr, 2011, 1; Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2011).

With regard to the education reforms, in the early 2000s, Education for a New Era (EFNE) has been one of the most significant ones. In 2001, RAND, a renowned American non-profit research organization, was invited by the Qatari government to conduct a comprehensive examination of Qatar’s K-12 education system and to provide recommendations and strategy options for creating “a world-class system that would meet the country’s changing needs” (Alkhater, 2016; Romanowski & Nasser, 2012, 2). EFNE was initiated in 2002 covering educational services, the curriculum, the quality of teachers, and the availability of educational resources (Khodr, 2011, 4). EFNE was highly motivated to make sure that the education system renders the students “active and self-responsible learners and teachers to act as guides and facilitators for knowledge seekers” (Al-Thani et al., 2021; Brewer et al., 2007) as opposed to the legacy of a memorization-based system (Weber, 2014, 3). EFNE targeted to cultivate “questioning and critical thinking skills” among the students, to ensure that “the teachers are promoting critical thinking skills by providing opportunities for students to learn them” (Romanowski & Nasser, 2012, 2) and eventually to provide qualified employees to the Qatari workforce equipped with critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills (Romanowski & Nasser, 2012, 3; Stasz et al., 2007). In the curriculum standards introduced with EFNE, in the K-12 education system, it was detected that only the science curriculum had references to the issue areas concerning environment, climate change, and the importance of practices such as recycling (Zguir et al., 2021). Throughout the years, the reforms of EFNE have been subject to significant changes and its proposed system has been replaced by a more centralized model with the establishment of MOEHE in 2016 (Al-Thani et al., 2021; Zguir et al., 2021).

Currently, the General Framework for National Education of MOEHE (MOEHE, 2022b) sets the curriculum standards in Qatar. Building on the premises of QNV 2030 and subsequent NDS documents, the framework repeats the need to give the students the skills and competencies required for the twenty-first century, in order to prepare them for the changing dynamics of our complex world. In this regard, commitment to sustainable development emerges in the document as one of the key values along with peace, tolerance, mutual respect, and cultural understanding. In the curriculum framework, two major themes, which are also at the core of ESD, stand out: the reference to effective and responsible citizenship and commitment to sustainable development. Being a global citizen in an intertwined world, achieving SDGs, balancing economic growth with responsibilities toward future generations and combining global practices with local cultural values emerge as main premises communicated by MOEHE. Accordingly, with this recent curriculum framework, the historical evolution of ESD in Qatar comes to a point where a significant policy discourse finds its place in a fundamental official document for the education system (MOEHE, 2022b).

17.5 Current Situation of ESD in Qatar

As briefly reviewed in the previous section, Qatar has been undertaking reforms and initiatives to modernize the educational system toward a world-class quality education and has been mobilizing its resources in this effort: in 2020, the government allocated QAR 22.1 billion for the education sector, representing 10.5% of its total budget (Qatar Development Bank, 2021, 5). As part of these efforts, increasing reference to the importance of aligning the curriculum with SDGs, integrating ESD into teaching and learning activities, and designing education programs which can serve to the purpose of raising awareness on sustainability challenges in especially locally critical issues such as water, food, energy, are in place at the discourse level (Al-Kuwari et al., 2021; Zguir et al., 2021). At the practice level, the implementation of ESD emerges as a complex sphere with a combination of official, top-down initiated efforts, diverging global frameworks and extracurricular school activities in the formal and non-formal forms. This section overviews current efforts for ESD in Qatar.

In the context of formal school structure, UNESCO Associated Schools Network is one of the key anchors for ESD in Qatar. The UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) aims to link educational institutions across the world around the ultimate goal of reaching SDG target 4.7 on Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and ESD. The network operates with the principle that ESD is necessary to enable the students to “address present and future global challenges constructively and creatively and to create more sustainable and resilient societies” (UNESCO, 2022b). ASPnet aims to transform learning and training environments in a way to integrate local and global sustainability issues into the curriculum, to reinforce interactive, participatory teaching and learning, to foster critical thinking, and to bring about changes in attitudes. ASPnet provides its associated schools with innovative educational materials, new teaching and learning approaches, capacity building activities as well as opportunities to connect and exchange experiences, knowledge, and good practices with schools, individuals, communities, policymakers, and society as a whole. Furthermore, in this system, the school campus itself is considered as a learning environment: all practices are targeted to be linked with environmentally friendly activities in line with the local community’s needs, values, and sustainability requirements, with the mission to educate responsible agents of change in their schools, communities, and societies, who are capable of taking informed decisions for sustainable development. Over 11,500 ASPnet member schools in 182 countries work in collaboration for international understanding, peace, intercultural dialogue, sustainable development, and quality education in practice (UNESCO, 2022b).

Qatar has been a member of UNESCO since January 27, 1972 and the country joined the UNESCO Associated Schools Network in 1983, with initially one school, which is Doha Secondary School for Boys School (Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, 2022). Currently, according to the official website of UNESCO Associated Schools Network, 82 schools in Qatar are listed as members (UNESCO, 2022b).

The National Commission in Qatar identifies the tasks of UNESCO schools in Qatar as including, but not limited to, the environmental protection and conservation, the promotion and encouragement of mutual learning of cultures, the promotion of the principle of resolving conflicts without resorting to violence, and the promotion of the spirit of solidarity, integration, and helping others. The National Commission’s Plan also includes Green School Program for the students of Primary, Preparatory, and Secondary UNESCO Associated Schools with the following objectives: (1) promoting positive behavior among students about the environment and conservation, (2) transforming the school environment into green oases, (3) strengthening students’ sense of responsibility toward the environment and belonging to society, and (4) activating the role of the school toward sustainable development and environmental awareness (Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, 2022). The schools are provided with material and activities, they can also become part of regional and international projects and competitions.

Another major program contributing to ESD in Qatar is the Eco-Schools Program. Eco-Schools Program is the largest international accreditation and education for sustainable development program in the world. Created in 1994 in Denmark, the program represents the vision of a sustainable world in which ESD creates positive change and empowers people. The program operates in 94 countries with more than 55,000 registered schools, 19.8 million students, and 1.4 million teachers. Eco-Schools align their themes and activities with SDGs and encourage the students to take action for tangible sustainability results.²

The main objectives of Eco-Schools Program include, but not limited to, developing the knowledge, skills, and motivation the students need to tackle contemporary challenges and increasing understanding as well as the commitment to SDGs. This is a student-led program, encouraging the students to address the problems of our world, producing an action plan, and implementing action to drive change toward sustainable development. In this regard, the program offers an innovative format allowing the students to use school campuses as educational laboratories for sustainability practices.

The Eco-Schools Program was launched in Qatar in 2018 by Qatar Green Building Council, as the first comprehensive program in Qatar implementing a structured framework for long-term ESD, as opposed to hosting individual sustainability events or initiatives. Currently, there are 30 registered schools and 7 green flag awarded schools in Qatar, with more than 28,000 students and 4,000 teachers. In addition to its global network, the program is conducted in partnership with some key local stakeholders including Tarsheed-Kahramaa, Quranic Botanic Gardens, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, QF, and The Center for Green Schools-USGBC.

In addition to UNESCO Associated Schools Network and Eco-Schools Program which mainly target the formal education system, there is a variety of local initiatives, organizations, informal or non-institutional actors in Qatar directly and indirectly contributing to the ESD with their initiatives, activities, and partnerships. Arab Climate Youth Movement, Qatar Youth Power, Akhlaqunna, Greener Future, Quranic Botanic Garden, SDGeneration Network, and Qatar National Library are only a few actors within a long list of ESD teaching and learning ecosystem in Qatar.

These stakeholders of ESD, along with the formal education system, play a critical role in sustainability awareness and in promoting a culture of responsible consumption and protection of nature. A significant example of this concerns Kahramaa Awareness Park (KAP), which is also mentioned in Qatar’s Voluntary National Review for Agenda 2030. The park is opened in the context of the National Campaign for Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development Education and includes multiple facilities such as screen documentaries on energy rationalization, awareness-raising processes, and energy conservation simulation processes, as well as specialized tools to raise awareness of energy efficiency and rationalization (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2021, 108).

It is worth underlining that QF operates as a critical entity at the intersection of formal and informal efforts for ESD. QF has been a key actor in launching initiatives that instill the concept of sustainability in the education programs, as well as in community activities through awareness programs, research centers, and educational institutions. Along with influential research centers working on environment and sustainable energy, such as Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), QF has launched and implemented several initiatives, platforms, and institutions, including WISE platform to foster innovation in international education, Silatech initiative contributing to youth empowerment, Education Above All Foundation providing educational opportunities for children living in low-income families or facing humanitarian crises. The recently launched Earthna, a non-profit policy research and advocacy center established under QF to address sustainability policy in the critical areas of arid climates, sustainable cities, and communities, has also an ambitious agenda to inform and influence national and global sustainability policy and to encourage behavioral change in the community. The overall strategy behind QF’s efforts offers a great impetus to ESD in Qatar, combining progressive education, sustainability, and social progress. Creating knowledge in ESD practices, cultivating sustainable thinking and practices based on religion, local traditions, and values, examining global know-how and best practices in sustainable development education, investigating innovative solutions for value-based education targeting the protection of environmental ecosystem, protecting, and restoring the environment while balancing economic development and well-being are among the core action items of these efforts.

17.6 Key Issues for Implementing ESD in Qatar

17.6.1 Policy

Qatar’s national education system has gone through rounds of reform and modifications due to various reasons outlined earlier in the chapter. Education policy has always been at the epicenter of major policy changes leading to structural reforms and reshufflings. The most immediate manifestation today is the lack of alignment between policy and implementation “between the assessment practices, educational goals, and the SDGs” (Al-Kuwari et al., 2021).

Scholars argue that “Qatar has introduced several reforms to its education system in the past two decades, but due to the lack of detailed implementations of these reforms, the whole system has been weakened, resulting in unexpected outcomes” (Al-Thani et al., 2021). On the other hand, it should also be acknowledged that education system in Qatar has been exposed to deeper and urgent challenges especially vis a vis the hyper modernizing, globalizing, and transforming taking place. Education, as well as some other sectors such as health and economy, became the immediate focus of attention in policymaking given that increasing numbers and types of schools necessitated a multifaceted approach.

It is striking to observe that Qatar’s national policymaking in education, with special reference to QNV 2030, became deeply associated with Qatar’s external image and role in promoting sustainable development. Therefore, education policy, reform, and redesign of curriculum had to respond to multiple, and often conflicting objectives. For instance, QNV 2030 and the development planning it brought in train made strong references to identity, Arab/Islamic values, and language. However, increasing number of nationals and school structures made it even more difficult to configure a holistic and strategic approach to integrating ESD and SDGs.

17.6.2 The School System

The school system in Qatar is based on a fragmented structure. Currently, in the education system in Qatar (from pre-primary to secondary schools), there are 318 public schools including more than 126,000 students: and more than 686 private schools serving approximately 200,000 students (MOEHE, 2022a). These schools include a variety of nationalities, and their education is based on differing curricula. Figure 17.1 demonstrates different school types operating in Qatar’s education system.

Fig. 17.1

Schools system in Qatar (Qatar Development Bank, 2021)

Different types of schools lead to a variety of practices and levels of ESD. The commitment, resources, and engagement in ESD changing across different types of schools make the integration of ESD into the official education system challenging. Furthermore, the schools demonstrate a highly multicultural teaching and learning environment, including both Qatari and Non-Qatari students. During the 2019–2020 term, in public schools, 53% of the students were Qatari while in private schools, 81% of the students were Non-Qatari (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2020). While this can be a socially enriching experience for the students, from the perspective of ESD, it brings the necessity of offering a common ground of understanding, values, and ethics for sustainability, as well as a carefully designed curriculum for balancing the students’ national identities and their commitments as global citizens.

Another key issue area in the school system concerns the teachers, who play a crucial role “in the conjunction of ideal, designed, and actual teaching and learning experience delivery” (Al-Thani et al., 2021). Globally, 69 million additional teachers are needed in order to achieve the educational goals of the 2030 Agenda (Bamber, 2020). There is also the need to educate existing teachers to transform their teaching activities from extracurricular series of sustainability events, into ESD effectively integrated within the course curricula. Several studies conducted in Qatar revealed that the teachers need to be better prepared with training and professional development programs for delivering ESD, in order to increase their levels of awareness regarding sustainable development and how it can be connected with education, and in order to equip them with the skills and teaching materials to fulfill an efficient ESD (Al-Thani et al., 2021; Du & Chaaban, 2020, 2; Zguir et al., 2021).

The need for comprehensive assessment tools and data is another key component of the education system to assess ESD strategies, tools, and their effectiveness both for student learning and for the system’s efficiency. Currently, even for ESD related SDGs, namely SDG4 Quality Education Target 4.7 stating, “by 2030, 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” and SDG 13 Climate Action, target 13.3 targeting to “improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning” Qatar has no available data (Qatar Planning and Statistics Authority, 2021). This is an area open for progress in order to detect deficiencies in the system and to trace the improvement.

17.6.3 Localization of ESD

Although ESD targets to create a shared vision for sustainable development and global citizenship, there is no one model of ESD that can fit into all settings (Bui& O’Brien, 2020, 88). Various case studies have already proved that not paying attention to the dynamics of local community, indigenous knowledge, and culture hamper progress in ESD (Atkinson & Wade, 2015, 231). To ensure ownership, involvement of relevant stakeholders, and achievement of sustainable development, ESD must be localized and adapted to local realities, challenges, needs, and capacities of societies. In this regard, understanding and localizing the moral bases of ESD will better help to address the challenges identified in the QNV 2030 and create a generation of informed, morally cognizant, independent, innovative, and creative youth. Romanowski and Nasser (2012, 15) underline that “Qatar has to determine how its traditions, values and beliefs can coexist with the shifting winds of cultural and educational change…Without a sound understanding of how change and culture interact, educational reform might lose direction suffering unwanted economic, educational and cultural consequences”. This means that ESD must be aligned with Qatari traditions and values. Localization of teaching content, creation of materials in the local language, and inclusion of local sustainability issues which can directly relate to students’ environment is crucial.

17.7 Concluding Remarks

The leadership of Qatar acknowledges that the success of the country in its efforts for a sustainable, diversified, knowledge-based economy will be significantly determined by the development of its human capital. A world-class education system providing the citizens with the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to develop their capabilities is a priority for Qatar in order to achieve a sustainable development path. Accordingly, at the policy level, the country is strongly committed to the aim of building an environmentally aware and responsible society, while promoting sustainable environmental practices and environmental awareness. As indicated earlier, this commitment is a result of both domestic policymaking and external anchors such as hyper-globalization, Qatar’s soft power tools which focus extensively on SDGs and various other national branding strategies which position Qatar as an exemplar of a small state with impactful and large-scale ambitions.

The transformation of policy into actual practice is a rather complicated task. For a successful ESD plan, the SDG Accord Annual Report 2019 highlights that the education system needs to have an explicit action plan for the support of sustainable development, by integrating the SDGs into all levels of education, incorporating the SDGs into the whole curriculum by stressing their relevance to every course and their applicability to everyday scenarios (The SDG Accord, 2019). Moreover, there is a need to improve the availability of ESD-specific methods and innovations in teaching and learning available to teachers and students (Preston, 2014, 44). This means that although Qatar has a vibrant ESD ecosystem with political willingness and capacity, the comprehensive integration of ESD into the education system is still an area open for progress. Qatar still needs to design its own version of ESD and balance domestic and global forces that affect the policy world in Qatar.