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Opening ceremony © UNESCO
Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can advance sustainable development. In the past decade of promoting sustainability in TVET, the shift towards a greener economy has led to a better alignment of sustainable development and TVET policy and planning.
This is one of the ten key findings of the review of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) that ends this year. The final report of the decade, Shaping the Future We Want, assesses the impact of the decade on all levels of education and draws out the basis of the future work on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It was launched at the World Conference on ESD formally opened by the Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova and His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince of Japan, Naruhito in Nagoya, Japan on 10 November 2014.
The World Conference on ESD, held in Nagoya, Japan from 10-12 November 2014, celebrated the achievements of the decade and chalked out the next steps for scaling up efforts on ESD at all levels of education through the launching of the Global Action Programme (GAP). The GAP identifies five priority actions to pursue the aims of ESD:
This session elaborated on the skills requirements for supporting economies’, communities’ and societies’ green transitions. Presentations from the Energy Charter Secretariat, the Studio for Habitat Futures India and the Mauritius Sustainable Island project highlighted the differences in the nature of green skills and its demands: There is a need for low-, medium- and high-level skills in emerging industries that make the transition to high technologies, for example in the renewable energy sector, and especially in OECD countries. Low to medium skills are needed for greening the service-oriented traditional industries in informal economies, using local technologies, for example in small islands developing states (SIDS).
The discussions echoed messages of how TVET could serve as a conduit for implementing the Global Action Programme particularly through mainstreaming ESD into policies, championing teacher training and local community actions, analysing the value chain that links skills training with industry needs and developing ‘live curricula’ that illustrate the classroom- and work-based applications of green TVET and skills.
These reflections strengthened the call for action on the challenges TVET faces at the end of the ESD Decade:
The conference closed with the adoption of the Nagoya Declaration by the 1000+ delegates from 140 countries. The declaration calls upon stakeholders to launch their GAP commitments, and implement and monitor actions within the framework of the five key action areas.
See also:
Ten key findings from the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
Children from around the world share their message on sustainability