EDTM 312 Study Unit 2

EDTM 312
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
FOR SUSTAINABILITY
MS A. Bezuidenhout
alberthabezuidenhout12@gmail.com
Study unit 2
Education for Sustainable Development for the 21st century Learning outcomes
• Explain the concept of sustainable development and Education for Sustainable
Development.
• Synthesise how you plan to reorient education for a sustainable future.
• Develop and justify your own motivation to live more sustainably.
• Explain the importance of Sustainable Development Goals.
• Motivate on which Sustainable Development Goals need to be focussed in education;
and
• Discuss the importance and implementation of an Environmental Management System
for sustainable development in a school.
© North-West University (2012)

Sustainability
Sustainability means to keep on doing something
without compromising future generations to keep
on doing the same thing.
• Read in the study guide about the necessity
of new development paradigms.!!

What is sustainable
development
Ecological
Sustainable
or
development
Biophysical
Social Economic
Political
Billike
Leefbare Lewensvatbaar

Videos
Learning to change the

world! What is Education
for Sustainable
Development?
#EducationCan:
Sustainable development
begins with education

When is development unsustainable?
• When economic performance outweighs other

considerations such as the environment.
• In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and
Development declared that developments is
sustainable if it
• “...meets the needs of the present, without
compromising the ability of future generation to
meet their own needs”.
Dimensions of Sustainable
Development
Economic Dimensions
• Steadily reducing wasteful levels of consumption of
energy and other natural resources through
improvements in efficiency and through changes in
lifestyle.
• Changing consumption patterns
• Reducing import barriers that limit the access that poor
economies have to markets for their products.
• Develop cleaner, less resource-intensive technologies.

Dimensions of Sustainable
Development
• Equal access to resources to all people.
• Reducing growing disparity of incomes and access to
health care.
• Less money for military and state security expenditures and
more for development needs.
• Committing resources toward continued improvement in
living standards.
• Alleviating absolute poverty.
• Improving access to land, education, and social services.
• Developing an efficient manufacturing sector

Human Dimensions (Social)
• Stabilizing population growth.

• Slowing migration to the cities through rural
development.
• Making primary health care more accessible.
• Improving social well-being, protecting cultural
diversity, and investing in human capital.
• Investing in the health and education of women.
• Encouraging participation in decision making
• improving standards for literacy.

Biophysical
• More efficient use of arable lands and water

supplies.
• Improving agricultural practices and technologies to
increase yields.
• Avoiding overuse of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides.
• Conserving water and improve efficiency of water
systems.
• Improving water quality and limiting surface water
withdrawals.

Conserving biodiversity
• Protecting natural resources needed for food

production
• Using irrigation carefully.
• Avoiding expansion of agriculture on marginal
lands.
• Slowing or halting the destruction of tropical
forests, coral reef ecosystems, coastal mangrove
forests and other wetlands, and other unique
habitats to conserve biological diversity

Technological dimension
• Shifting to technologies that are cleaner and
more efficient, minimize consumption of energy,
and do not pollute air, water, and land.
• Reducing carbon emissions
• Curtail the use of fossil fuels, and finding other
sources of energy.
• Phasing out the use of CFCs to prevent
degradation of the Earth's protective ozone layer.

Integrated Sustainable development
If further economic development is to be sustainable,
it cannot neglect biophysical constraints or be based
on the destruction of natural resources; it cannot
succeed without the parallel development of human
resources ( social component); it will require
transformation of the existing industrial base and the
development and diffusion of more Earth-friendly
technologies (economic component).

ESD
Two different definitions were identified:
(1) ESD as a threefold approach to education based on

questions concerning education about, in and for the
environment.
(2) ESD as an approach to education that includes three
interrelated dimensions
(economic, social and biophysical) (Hedefalk et al, 2015).

Educating children to act for change
• Analyse social issues in a critical way in order to

understand environmental problems.
• Teaching for change involves children identifying
a problem, learning more about it and, finally,
acting to solve it.
• ESD links facts about how the environment
works, learn to view it in a critical way and,
finally, learn to act for change in the society
where they live.

Development and technology
Development is the change in the direction of growth
The negative aspect of development is that it can

damage the environment as well as people and that
not everybody benefits from it.
Explain in which circumstances this can happen

Development
• Almost all countries in the world also want economic

growth that is the result of development.
• Economic growth usually means increasing the capacity
of a country to provide goods and services for
people’s final use.

Sustaining growth
• To sustain growth countries needs to manage the natural
life-supporting basis very carefully so that it can still
replenish itself and provide the life-sustaining goods that
are needed.

Sustainability
• Sustainability is a difficult concept because it is
difficult to predict when a resource is depleted.
• Sustainability means to keep on doing

something without compromising future
generations to keep on doing the same thing.

When is development unsustainable?
When economic performance outweighs other

considerations such as the environment.
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment
and Development declared that developments is
sustainable if it
“...meets the needs of the present, without
compromising the ability of future generation
to meet their own needs”.

Development
Development is earmarked
by many as the answer to
improve quality of life

Benefits of development
• It can improve personal income and reduce the need for
big families
• Can create a balance between food production and
available resources

Lack of development
• Lack of development can be harmful to the

environment.
• Poor people, many times do not have a choice when

it comes to survival to engage in activities that harm
the environment.

2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development
The 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development in
2015 and its 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
called for a broader holistic
understanding of prosperity
in its social and ecological
dimensions.

Videos
UN Sustainable
Development Goals -
Overview
17 Sustainable
Development Goals

A holistic approach to sustainability
• A contemporary, and tragic example of the necessity

of a holistic approach to sustainability, is that of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
• Covid is not only a world wide medical condition but
also resulted in conditions of poverty, food security,
nutrition, employment, as well as gender and racial
equality (SDGs1, 2, 5, 8, 10). The risks of the
spreading of viruses are exemplified by habitats
change and climate
• change (SDGs 13 and 15).
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals have been

adopted by all UN Member States. That’s great, but
now what?
Governments will be busy for the next 15 years working

to achieve the goals, but that doesn’t mean all the work
falls on them. The private sector, civil society
organizations, and regular people can all help accelerate
the achievement of the SDGs. But sometimes it’s not
that easy to know where to start. There are 17 goals
after all, each one with different targets and indicators.

The 17 Sustainable Development
Goals
How can You help?
You don’t have to turn your life upside-down to be

sustainable. You don’t have to do everything at once, but
also know that change starts with you and your
involvement in matters. Your small actions can have a
big impact!

#1: End
poverty in all
its forms
everywhere

#2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition
and promote sustainable agriculture

#2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition
and promote sustainable agriculture
#3: Ensure
healthy lives and
promote well-
being for all at all
ages

#4: Ensure
inclusive and
quality education
for all and
promote lifelong
learning

#5: Achieve
gender equality
and empower
women and
girls

#6: Ensure access to
water and sanitation for
all

#7: Ensure access to
affordable, reliable,
sustainable and
modern energy for
all

#8: Promote inclusive
and sustainable
economic growth,
employment and decent
work for all

#9: Build resilient
infrastructure,
promote sustainable
industrialization
and foster
innovation

#10: Reduce
inequality within and
among countries

#11: Make cities
inclusive, safe,
resilient and
sustainable
#12: Ensure
sustainable
consumption and
production patterns
#13: Take urgent action
to combat climate
change and its impacts*

#14: Conserve
and sustainably
use the oceans,
seas and marine
resources

#15: Sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification, halt and
reverse land degradation,
halt biodiversity loss

#16: Promote just, peaceful
and inclusive
societies

#17: Revitalize the
global partnership
for sustainable
development

Each goal
is
important
in itself …

Each goal And they
is are all
important connected
in itself …

Importance of the Sustainable
Development Goals
They are essential for social mobilization.
The world needs to be oriented in one
direction to fight poverty or to help achieve
sustainable development, but it is very hard
in our noisy, disparate, divided, crowded,
congested, distracted, and often
overwhelmed world to mount a consistent
effort to achieve any of our common
purposes.
To create peer pressure.
With the adoption of the MDGs, political
leaders were publicly and privately
questioned on the steps they were taking to
end extreme poverty.

Important goals for education
Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-
long learning opportunities for all.
"by 2030 ensure all learners acquire 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 non-
violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of
culture’s contribution to sustainable development".
Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

"ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and
awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with
nature" by 2030.
Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
“improve education, awareness raising and human and institutional
capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and
early warning” in order to help combat climate change.
Important goals for education
Doelwit 4 Verseker inklusiewe en billike gehalte onderwys en bevorder
lewenslange leergeleenthede vir almal.
"Teen 2030 verseker dat alle leerders kennis en vaardighede verwerf wat nodig is
om volhoubare ontwikkeling te bevorder, onder meer deur onderwys vir
volhoubare ontwikkeling en volhoubare leefstyle, menseregte, geslagsgelykheid,
die bevordering van 'n kultuur van vrede en nie-geweld, globale burgerskap en
waardering vir kulturele diversiteit en van kultuur se bydrae tot volhoubare
ontwikkeling".
Doelwit 12 Verseker volhoubare verbruik en produksie patrone.

"verseker dat mense oral die relevante inligting en bewustheid vir volhoubare
ontwikkeling en leefstyle in harmonie met die natuur het" teen 2030.
Doelwit 13 Neem dringende stappe om klimaatsverandering en die impak

daarvan te bekamp.
"verbeter onderwys, bewusmaking en menslike en institusionele kapasiteit oor
klimaatsverandering versagting, aanpassing, impak vermindering, en vroeë
waarskuwing" ten einde te help bestry klimaatsverandering.

What can be done in school
regarding the SDGs?
The National Curriculum
Statement state that
learners must be able to
demonstrate an
understanding of the
world as a set of related
systems by recognizing
that problem solving
contexts do not exist in
isolation.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YWzswyXc6ic/WM_xJrK2USI/AAAAAAAAADI/rSNQJNkcB5Qwp6emhn-QTnrqQCmGn5q_QCLcB/s1600/Problem%2BSolving%2BCycle
%2B-%2B4%2BSteps.png
• Om jou leerders te bemagtig om oplossings vir plaaslike
kwessies te bied, vir ‘n meer volhoubare gemeenskap
sal hulle die vertroue gee wat hulle nodig het om die
leer vaardigheid in ander situasies in hul lewens toe te
pas.
• Empowering your learners to offer solutions to local

issues for a more sustainable society will give them the
confidence they need to apply the learnings in other
situations in their lives.
https://agateelie.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/think_global_act_local_sticker-
p217080166632631966envb3_400.jpg

To spur epistemic communities
networks of expertise, knowledge, and

practice – into action around sustainable-
development challenges.

Mobilize stakeholder networks
Community leaders, politicians, government

ministries, the scientific community, leading
nongovernmental organizations, religious
groups, international organizations, donor
organizations, and foundations are all
motivated to come together for a common
purpose.

Sustainable Development Goals need
to be focussed in education
• The new Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) emphasize that global efforts in
education must give central importance to
quality and learning.
• The education targets under SDG 4 refer to
‘quality early childhood development, care, and
pre-primary education’ and ‘quality primary and
secondary education’ that helps students attain
‘relevant and effective learning outcomes’
(UNESCO, 2016a).
• Countries are called upon to demonstrate that
young people are attaining ‘literacy and
numeracy’, ‘relevant skills … for employment,
decent jobs, and entrepreneurship’, as well as
‘the knowledge and skills needed to promote
sustainable development’ (UNESCO, 2016a).
• The means of implementation for SDG 4 also
focus on issues related to learning and quality
education.

• Beyond SDG 4, all of the Sustainable
Development Goals depend on quality
education and learning.

SDG 4 targets and means of implementation
• 4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys

complete free, equitable and quality
primary and secondary education leading
to relevant and effective learning outcomes
• 4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys
have access to quality early childhood
development, care and pre-primary
education so that they are ready for
primary education
• 4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all
women and men to affordable and quality
technical, vocational and tertiary
education, including university
• 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the
number of youth and adults who have
relevant skills, including technical and
vocational skills, for employment, decent
jobs and entrepreneurship
• 4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in
education and ensure equal access to all
levels of education and vocational training
for the vulnerable, including persons with
disabilities, indigenous peoples and
children in vulnerable situations
• 4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a
substantial proportion of adults, both men
and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
• 4.7 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, human
rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture
of peace and non-violence, global citizenship
and appreciation of cultural diversity and of
culture’s contribution to sustainable
development
Environmental Management Systems
(EMS)
The implementation EMS is a privileged
holistic and integrated way to tackle
environmental problems within an
organization that can be a valuable tool to
improve environmental performance and
promote sustainability learning.

(EMS)
Their implementation implications are seldom
taken into consideration conscientiously
when applied to research and teaching
institutions, in terms of
(i) Improving environmental and
sustainability teaching and research,
(ii) student involvement;
(iii) develop environmental and overall
management skills;
(EMS)
(iv) foster environment and sustainability
concerns in all students and not only those
coursing environmental subjects;
(v) promote pilot research/demonstration projects
involving students, to foster the acquisition of
‘hands-on’ skills.
This approach is fundamental since without
practice, environmental education will not do
more than postpone the solution to the
problems
Probleemoplossing vir volhoubaarheid
/ Problem solving for sustainability
As we are rapidly moving into

a more interdependent world,
we as educators should
therefore equip our learners to
understand this growing inter-
connectedness of the world
in order to move towards a
more sustainable future.

https://pardee.du.edu/sites/default/files/BlockDiagram.png
Problem solving for sustainability
To create a more sustainable school environment

we must help our learners to use integrative
approaches that are capable of analysing and
elucidating the dynamic effects of
interdependencies.
We must consider across subject disciplinary lines

how the environment influences human life and
how humans affect the environment.
K Y O U
TH A N

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EDTM 312

• Explain the concept of sustainable development and Education for Sustainable

• Synthesise how you plan to reorient education for a sustainable future.

• Develop and justify your own motivation to live more sustainably.

• Explain the importance of Sustainable Development Goals.

• Motivate on which Sustainable Development Goals need to be focussed in education;

• Discuss the importance and implementation of an Environmental Management System

for sustainable development in a school.

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

Learning to change the

© North-West University (2012)

• When economic performance outweighs other

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

• Stabilizing population growth.

© North-West University (2012)

• More efficient use of arable lands and water

© North-West University (2012)

• Protecting natural resources needed for food

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

(1) ESD as a threefold approach to education based on

© North-West University (2012)

• Analyse social issues in a critical way in order to

© North-West University (2012)

The negative aspect of development is that it can

Explain in which circumstances this can happen

© North-West University (2012)

• Almost all countries in the world also want economic

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

• Sustainability means to keep on doing

© North-West University (2012)

When economic performance outweighs other

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

• Lack of development can be harmful to the

• Poor people, many times do not have a choice when

© North-West University (2012)

The 2030 Agenda for

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

• A contemporary, and tragic example of the necessity

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals have been

Governments will be busy for the next 15 years working

© North-West University (2012)

You don’t have to turn your life upside-down to be

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)

© North-West University (2012)