EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CURRENT FAD OR RENEWED COMMITMENT TO ACTION?

The paper will comparatively highlight the main characteristics of environmental education and some of its variants. Similarly the paper will critically analyse major international events addressing the need to implement environmental education and their impact on the educational community. These two reviews will act as a backdrop to a critical analysis of why the resources invested in environmental education have not provided the turnout expected. Strategies adopted to get results have further complicated the situation, giving rise to confusion and lack of direction in the field, a schism between theory and practice, and a further fragmentation of resources. The paper concludes by making several reflections and concrete proposals about making the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development a worthwhile experience … particularly at the grassroots level.