ESDNET Blog

You are looking for ESD activities in your school? Here’s just one: have you thought of setting up a tree nursery in your institutions? What about a small garden in your school?

You do not know how to maintain a nursery?

Farmers of the Future have just published a book that might interest you. It is written from an African perspective but I am sure even in the Asia-Pacific region it might work too.

You can download ‘Growing Trees and Gardens for Life. Practical tips for healthy tree nurseries and home gardens’ here.

A quick reminder was send by Joel Bacha that before Friday, December 14th, we would like to invite all ESD-net members to share the following with the ESD-net community (list.ap.esdnet@unescobkk.org) for purposes of learning:

1) An updated ESD Action Plan (only 1 page) for your institution that incorporates activities and lessons learned since we met in August 2007.

2) Basic findings toward implementing your action plan by answering the following questions (in a brief email message):

a) Please provide a brief summary on the progress toward implementing ESD at your institution since August (one paragraph).
b) What is the most significant ‘challenge’ you have experienced toward implementing ESD at your institution since August.
c) What is the most significant ‘lesson you have learned’ from implementing ESD at your institution since August.

For those of you who haven’t already done so, please remember to introduce yourself to the Asia-Pacific ESD-net community by sending a brief introduction to the ESD-NET e-list at list.ap.esdnet@unescobkk.org.

As you probably all know Worldaidsday will take place on 1 December 2007. On the official Worldaidsday website you can sign up for a newsletter or read all about the events. You can also find usefull information on the Worldaidscampaign website.

On the UNAIDS website you can download the latest reports on the global impact HIV has.

Rosalyn McKeown is a member of the ESD-NET. She is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. Her specialties are education for sustainable development (ESD) and environmental education.

She has co-authored several resources on ESD, including the Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit available online at http://www.esdtoolkit.org.You can download a printable version of the toolkit there. The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit is an easy-to-use manual for individuals and organizations from both the education and community sectors. This resource addresses the potentially powerful alliance of school systems and communities working together to reach local sustainability goals. Together they can reorient existing curriculums to create locally relevant and culturally appropriate education.

Also check out the ‘Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability’ available online at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001433/143370E.pdf

As I was doing some research on a concept for our ESD-NET website I came across the European ESD-NET website (European Foundation for Education and Sustainable Development). The organisation was created by participants in the Conference on Environmental Education in Europe, from a shared vision of how the synergy from the CEEE could be further developed into an ongoing network of enthusiasts for education and sustainable development. The website clearly is at its very beginning but it still worthwhile visiting.

There is one major event that is announced:
6th to 9th March 2008—Malta. CEEE’s conferences regularly attract experts in the field of Education for Sustainable Development from all over Europe and beyond.

Check it out!
Bart Cornille