Professional associations have a strong influence on what is covered in the curricula of universities, especially that of professional degrees. They also provide members with professional development throughout their careers. Professional associations have the potential to facilitate development of sustainability competency in the workforce in…

As one of 12 members of the drafting committee of Agenda 21's Chapter 36, "Education, Public Awareness and Training", Charles Hopkins reflects on the process of working on the now-famous document. Although it was noncontroversial at the time, Chapter 36 spawned education for sustainable development when it was given to UNESCO to administer within…

The Swedish International Training Programme in Education for Sustainable Development, which has been run annually for the past 10 years, is a five-phase program that supports participants to develop and implement a change project in their work places. It requires a team of students from an institution and provides extensive follow up. The course…

Over the past 20 years education for sustainable development (ESD) has become part of the discourse in teacher education and the teaching community has a better grasp of ESD's action-oriented and participatory pedagogies. The International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) associated with the UNESCO Chair on Reorienting Teacher…

Assessment tools influence incentives to higher education institutions by encouraging them to move towards sustainability. A review of 16 sustainability assessment tools was conducted to examine the recent trends in the issues and methodologies addressed in assessment tools quantitatively and qualitatively. The characteristics of the current…

William B. Stapp, a major author of the founding documents of environmental education (EE), foreshadowed the triple concerns of education for sustainable development (ESD) with environment, social justice and economic health. Yet EE in the USA tended to follow the advocacy orientation of the environmental movement of the 1970s and later, following…

Modern societies aim to solve the global challenges of the 21st century with sustainable solutions such as resource efficiency, use of renewable energy sources and recycling. Engineers are called upon to create the cutting edge technological solutions that can help to address these challenges. In developed as well as in developing countries,…

This article describes how education for sustainable development (ESD) has been integrated into education in China over the past decade through the efforts of the secretariat of a national steering committee working with UNESCO in conjunction with the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. ESD is now part of a new national education…

This article reports on an international conference "An Ethical Framework for a Sustainable World," that was held in Ahmedabad, India. The conference served as the culmination of events marking the 10-year anniversary of the completion of the Earth Charter document and the launch of a social movement to transition to a more sustainable way of life…

Green chemistry is the design, development and implementation of chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use of sub-stances hazardous to human health and the environment. This article reports on the integration of green chemistry and sustainable development concepts (SDCs) into an existing teaching methods course for chemistry…

This article features the University for Peace (UPEACE), an international academic institution that was created as a Treaty Organization within the framework of the United Nations (Resolution 35/55-1980) to support the central peace and security objectives of the United Nations. UPEACE has carried out postgraduate programs since its inception in…

Should environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) try to change students' behaviours or should it focus on capacity building and critical thinking? The latter is more likely to lead to a citizenry that can examine new challenges and act wisely. New forms of learning are entering the arena of EE and ESD such as…

In this article, the author talks about a student-initiated Initiative for Transformative Sustainability Education (ITSE) at Wageningen University in The Netherlands which has led to the development of an undergraduate minor called Sustainability-in-Action consisting of four interlinked courses. When formally approved, the minor will be offered…

This research looked into the effectiveness of a campaign at the Universiti Sains Malaysia for a compulsory ban on disposable plastics. Although there was high awareness of the "Say No to Plastic Bags" bags campaign, and moderate compliance on campus, we wondered whether a compulsory approach would maintain the desired behaviours off campus and…

This article is an overview of sustainability efforts in US law schools. It describes two sets of drivers for these efforts--inside and outside the legal profession. Drivers from within the legal profession include the American Bar Association as well as several state and local bar associations; law firms and other law organisations; and current…