NATIONAL CAPACITY NEEDS SELF-ASSESSMENT FOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT > RESOLUTION OF ROUND TABLE

 

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Conference Hall of UN
December 22-23, 2003,

We, participants of the workshop, representatives of NGOs and institutions of the educational system of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russian Federation:

Welcome the Resolution of the UN General Assembly made on December 20, 2002 to declare the 2005-2015 years "The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development";

Acknowledge that broad cooperation in the sphere of education for sustainable development (ESD) will promote enhancement of mutual understanding between countries, reinforcement of peace, security, general well-being and sustainable development;

Recognize that ESD is one of the most powerful tools for making the transition to sustainable models of production and consumption, formation of a system of values in people that corresponds to the culture of moderation and SD principles in general;

Comprehend that education targeted at sustainable development is to provide formation of life-long environmentally responsible behavior, development of a holistic, inter-disciplinary approach when teaching and learning, which is necessary for solving the contemporary global issues and advancing towards sustainable future;

Realize that methods and approaches in ESD should base on general principles, but at the same time be adjusted to local environmental, social and economic conditions, as well as peculiarities of local educational systems and cultural traditions;

Declare our readiness to actively participate in the preparation and conducting of the Decade for ESD (DESD) at local, national, regional and international levels;

WE INVITE Governments and Parliaments, civil society institutions of our countries and international organizations to a comprehensive cooperation in this sphere.

WE URGE:

Governments to

  • Actively join in the development and implementation of the UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development;
  • By January 2004 appoint representatives into the Special Working Group on ESD at the UNECE Environmental Policy Committee;
  • By June 2004 create corresponding inter-departmental coordination mechanisms in countries;
  • Attract all interested ministries and departments to this process, reinforce the coordination between them focusing special attention on interaction between Ministries of Education and those of Nature Protection;
  • Develop, broadly discuss and adopt National Action Plans in the framework of ESD, provide the planned events with relevant financial means;
  • Taking into consideration the strategic importance of this process, consistently carry out the undertaken obligations and tasks within the framework of national plans and programs on ESD;
  • Promote the development of social partnership aimed at preparation and conducting of the DESD and maximal involvement of the civil society in this process.

Secretariat of UNESCO to

Stir up:

  • The dialogue with interested countries for finalizing the schedule of conducting the DESD, actively involving civil society institutions, in particular, nongovernmental organizations;

Ensure:

  • The development and dissemination of documents on ESD in Russian;
  • Regular updating of the DESD website and its interactive usage;

Improve:

  • The work with correspondence on and comments to the draft of the International Schedule of conducting DESD; notification of interested organizations on the process of preparation of the Schedule and other DESD-related documents;
  • Interaction with civil society organizations.

Appeal to:

  • International organizations and financial institutions with the urge to support the countries of the region in conducting DESD, promote the development of the national potential and provide the necessary information and financial resources for activities in that sphere.

Education system employees to

  • Play the role of conductors of ESD ideas at the national level and actively participate in the preparation and conducting of the Decade;
  • Realize the necessity in reorientation of the existing discrete approach in education; actively promote the introduction of the integrated and inter-disciplinary approach in the education system.

Mass media to

  • Cover the process of preparation and implementation of the DESD and promote the dissemination of the best experience in this sphere.

Civil society institutions

  • Actively participate in preparation and conducting of DESD at local, national and regional levels in cooperation with all stakeholders.

Nongovernmental organizations to

  • Develop mechanisms of coordination at regional and national levels for active involvement of the civil society in the process of conducting DESD;
  • Raise public awareness regarding to this process.

To accomplish the aforementioned tasks participants of the workshop made the decision to:

Create an open membership working group of South Caucasus NGOs for coordinating activities within the framework of DESD; assign the Association for Sustainable Human Development to coordinate, with future rotation, the initial stage of activities of the working group.

The working group has been assigned to:

  • Discuss and develop concrete recommendations for the region to be included into the DESD plan-schedule by the end of January 2004;
  • Prepare, discuss and adopt the regional action plan on DESD by April 2004,.

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