Education for Sustainable Development

You Tube Video: Children Speak Out for a Sustainable Future

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Taking children seriously
- How the EU can invest in Early Childhood Education for a Sustainable Future

Young children are much more capable in acting, thinking, reasoning and understanding than is commonly recognised. If these capabilities are to emerge there is a need to provide access to quality early childhood education, for all citizens throughout the European Union. Unfortunately, the quality and accessibility of early childhood education currently varies in EU member states. Young children have rights and shared responsibilities in achieving a sustainable future. Investments in high quality early childhood education, combined with education for sustainable development, represent a necessary component in promoting children's rights within the EU.

The report, "Taking Children Seriously", presents the research evidence on children’s interest and ability to understand questions on the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It also maps early childhood education within EU and in the world regarding quantity and quality. A number of clear recommendations for the future development of Early Childhood Education within EU will be presented.

To the report (in English)

New book for practitioners

Education for Sustainable Development in the Early Years, by John Siraj-Blatchford, Kimberly Caroline Smith and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson (55 pages, in English). Read more

ESD World Project

Report to the World Assembly and Congress, July 2010

Children’s Voices about the State of the Earth and Sustainable Development

International Journal of Early Childhood

Special issue - Sustainable Development in Early Childhood,
volume 41, number 2, 2009

Report from the ESD Workshop

OMEP members have participated in the first international workshop on ECE and ESD (Education for Sustainable Development), from which the UNESCO report The Contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society was published. This workshop was one of four, that in the next step lead to:

The Gothenburg Recommendations on Education for Sustainable Development