Education for sustainable development in higher education study programmes

Abstract

According to UNESCO, Education for sustainable development aims (ESD) to support people to develop attitudes, skills, perspectives and knowledge, to make informed decisions, act upon them for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, allows acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, values necessary to shape sustainable future. ESD affects all components of education: legislation, policy, finance, curriculum, learning, assessment, etc. ESD means including sustainable development issues into teaching and learning, requires participatory teaching and learning methods that empower learners to change their behaviour and take actions for sustainable development. OECD report emphasises that role of higher education is essential in developing and implementing ESD philosophy and conception. Various declarations (Graz, 2003; Sapporo, 2008; Torino, 2009) state that higher education institutions should actively participate in promoting and implementing ESD. The goal of the article is to discuss implementation of ESD at university level studies from the students’ point of view and to find out how sustainability issues (dimensions of sustainable development, sustainable development goals, Millennium goals) are incorporated in study programmes.