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Role of Education for Sustainable Development

Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

Definition

UNESCO (2018) defines education for sustainable development as education that 'empowers people to change the way they think and work towards a sustainable future’. The literature provides us with many variants upon the phrase “education for sustainable development,” for instance, “education for sustainability” (EfS) and “sustainability education.” The phrase ESD is, however, most widely used, predominantly in United Nations documents (McKeown 2002). This entry discusses the concept of “education for sustainable development” or “ESD” and its role within the context of higher education. It starts with an explanation and definition of ESD before exploring the political and policy environment in which ESD has spread. The impact of ESD upon the practice of university teachers and upon the outcomes of university students is then considered, drawing particularly upon evidence from the UK and from Malaysia to provide a balance of western and eastern approaches and contexts.

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Correspondence to Subarna Sivapalan .

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Sivapalan, S., Speight, S. (2019). Role of Education for Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_28-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63951-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63951-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Role of Education for Sustainable Development
    Published:
    08 December 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_28-2

  2. Original

    Role of Education for Sustainable Development
    Published:
    20 November 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_28-1