Sustainability in Education

for Enriching Economy

Dr. Pranjal Kumar Phukan DBA

Climate Change Enthusiast & ESG
Researcher - NETRA FOUNDATION
 Introduction

 Education encompasses teaching and learning specific

skills, imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and
well developed wisdom

 It has one of its fundamental aspects of imparting

culture from generation to generation

 It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical

and applied research related to teaching and learning

 The basic aim of the education system for sustainable

development is „education of a new man', „a man of a
sustainable type of thinking‟

 Education is critical for achieving environmental and

ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and
behavior consistent with sustainable development and
for effective public participation in decision making
Education & Sustainable Economies

How can education and lifelong learning help to

ensure production and consumption patterns
are sustainable, supply skills for the creation of
green industry, orient higher education and
research towards green innovation and can
play a part in transforming key economic
sectors, such as agriculture etc., upon which
both rich and poor countries and households
rely?

Let’s unveil the linkages between SDG4 (Quality

Education) and SDG 7 (Clean Energy), SDG 8
(Decent Jobs), SDG 9 (Industry) and SDG 12
(Consumption)
Education & Sustainable Economies
Elements of Education for
Sustainable Development
Sustainability Awareness in Higher
Education
 Education for Sustainable
Development

According to the UNESCO, it is based on all levels

and types of learning - learning to know, learning to
be, learning to live together, learning to do and
learning to transform oneself and society

ESD is about through education and learning-

engaging people in sustainable development issues,
developing their capacities to give meaning to SD and
to contribute to its development and utilizing the
diversity represented by all people- including those
who have been or feel marginalized- in generating
innovative solutions challenges
How Education Affects Sustainability

Nations with high illiteracy rates and unskilled

workforces have fewer development options. For
the most part, these nations are forced to buy
energy and manufactured goods on the
international market with hard currency

To acquire hard currency, these countries need

international trade; usually this leads to
exploitation of natural resources or conversion
of lands from self-sufficient family-based farming
to cash-crop agriculture

An educated workforce is key to moving beyond

an “Extractive Economy”
How Education Affects Sustainability

Good community-based decisions- which will

affect social, economic, and environmental well-
being- also depend on educated citizens

For example, a community with an abundance of

skilled labor and technically trained people can
persuade a corporation to locate a new
information-technology and software-
development facility nearby

Citizens can also act to protect their

communities by analyzing reports and data
How Education Affects Sustainability

Education raises the economic status of

families; it improves life conditions, lowers infant
mortality, and improves the educational
attainment of the next generation, thereby
raising the next generation's chances for
economic and social well-being. Improved
education holds both individual and national
implication

ESD is future-oriented education that fosters

understanding of the interconnectedness of
ecology, economics and social equity
How Education Affects Sustainability

Major components of ESD:

 Knowledge: People need basic knowledge from

the natural sciences, social sciences, and
humanities to understand the principles of SD
 Values: They are an integral part of ESD, with
respect at the centre: respect for present and
future generations, respect for cultural
difference and diversity, and respect for the
natural environment
 Issues: Teachers should be equipped to help
students identify and think about the
complexities of issues from the perspectives
of many stakeholders
How Education Affects Sustainability

Major components of ESD:

Perspective: The ability to consider an issue

from the view of different stakeholders is
essential to ESD. Every issue has a history and a
future. Looking at the roots of an issue and
forecasting possible futures based on different
scenarios are part of ESD, as is understanding
that many global issues are linked

For example, over-consumption of such

consumer goods as paper leads to deforestation,
which is thought to be related to global climate
change
How Education Affects Sustainability

Major components of ESD:

Skills: ESD must give people practical skills that

will enable them to continue learning after they
leave school, to have a sustainable livelihood,
and to live sustainable lives

Especially students, to think, act and re-act as

responsible citizens and find sustainable
solutions to real life issues, at the local, national
and international level
Competencies in Sustainability
Sustainability Development:
Discourse & Actors
 The Question
 While there is a large body of literature on
citizenship and civic education, there is less clarity
about the meaning of “responsible transformative
engagement” for young learners, notably, the types
of transformative engagement and the meaning of
”responsible”

 Understanding better the connection between

learners‟ engagement and education can clarify the
knowledge, skills and competencies that HEIs may
provide, as well as how the role of education can
vary depending on context

 We will discuss the meaning of „responsible

transformative engagement‟ with a view to clarifying
the role of education in business
 Transformative Engagement

 A better understanding of how transformative

engagement takes place can help to clarify the
knowledge, skills and competencies that education
institutes should promote, as well as effective
pedagogies to deliver

 Internalization is the moments of „awakening‟ are

often accompanied or followed by cognitive
dissonances or emotional disturbances, which lead
a learner into critical thinking or self-dialogue/
reflection

 The internationalization process can be positive in

nature, with a learner feeling a new sense of
purpose and hope that change is needed and
possible
 Factors for Transformative
Engagement

 Empathy, especially, enables a learner to place

himself/herself in the situation of others, to
understand more deeply the realities. Developing
both cognitive and socio-emotional learning can
amplify the emotional connection of a learner to a
new understanding of reality or those concerned
by a situation, and, therefore, provide powerful
triggers to action

 Real change may occur as a result of what might

be called „Issuetisation‟ when an issue is
internalized and understood by a learner as having
manageable and actionable scale at their level
 Factors for Transformative
Engagement

More importantly, there have to be tipping

moments or opportunities for learners when they
can translate all the cognitive, emotional and
societal observations into a prompting action. In
creating such moments, significant figures can
play an influential and significant role such as
peers, family members, or members of the
community
 Factors for Transformative
Engagement

For transformative engagement to take place,

there has to be a moment where the learner
perceives a gap. When such processes combine
with a learner‟s understanding of how the others
are experiencing that gap and there is a
connection made both cognitively and emotionally,
a learner may be brought closer to undertaking
action and/or behavioural change
 Promoting Transformative
Engagement through Education

Media and information literacy (MIL)

MIL is vital in the digital age, including skills to use

the internet as a learning resource to encourage
learners to develop critical perspectives on
information, its creation and distribution, and their
daily lives;

a. to enhance learners‟ awareness about ethical

issues including in relation to privacy and
surveillance;
b. to develop their knowledge of online
communication and computer programming
 Promoting Transformative
Engagement through Education

Project-based learning
 Project-based learning can be helpful in encouraging
learners to identify an issue of interest and relevance to
their lives, condense it to actionable scale and, on this
basis, undertake action and/or behavioural change

 This may also provide a foundation for a learner to

develop sympathetic connection

 Such project-based learning can be facilitated through

work with local communities, families or networks of
the learners themselves, entailing a shift from the
traditional delivery of cognitive knowledge in
classrooms to learning involving real-life issues and
people of direct relevance to learners
Thank You!