TVET and ESD: Engaging the Private Sector

How can education and training for sustainable development be integrated into corporate sector training and capacity building programmes? This was the main question addressed at a consultative meeting with corporate sector firms and organizations on 23-25 May 2007 in Bonn. The meeting was hosted by the UNESCO DESD Secretariat (Paris) and the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre (Bonn). It was organised in collaboration with several partners, including, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) (Bangkok), the United Nations Environment Programme (Nairobi), InWEnt (Bonn) and BIBB (Bonn).

Companies with a strong record of engagement in education and training for sustainable development attended this meeting and presented case studies of their activities in these areas. This included providing corporate training programmes for employees, establishing training programmes for clients and employees of firms along their supply chains, partnering local organisations to provide community information and education programmes, and/or assisting schools, TVET and universities with sustainability related teaching.

The case studies presented at the meeting were discussed in order to identify lessons for other firms, e.g. related to:

the range of modalities utilized in the corporate sector involvement in ESD,
the motivations, opportunities and drivers underlying corporate sector involvement in ESD
the learning outcomes identified in any evaluations of the programmes
the corporate and broader sustainability benefits of corporate sector involvement in ESD
the barriers faced and ways in which they are addressed
lessons for other firms to guide their future involvement in ESD.

UNESCO and its partners will now use this information to help develop (as part of the next stage of this project) guidelines, briefing materials and prototype capacity building programmes that can be used to broaden the involvement of the corporate sector in ESD, with particular reference to skills development for employability and citizenship.

UNESCO and its partners plan to use this information to help develop (as part of the next stage of this project) guidelines, briefing materials and prototype capacity building programmes that can be used to broaden the involvement of the corporate sector in ESD, with particular reference to skills development for employability and citizenship.

Background

A key outcome of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development was the establishment of a special United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) from 2005 to 2014. The primary goal of the DESD is making sustainable development central to all education and training in all sectors by refining and promoting the transition to a sustainable future through all forms of education, public awareness and training. UNESCO was designated the lead UN agency for the Decade and has catalysed key initiatives in all parts of the world.

In October 2004, UNESCO hosted an International Experts’ Meeting on “Learning for Work, Citizenship and Sustainability” in Bonn, Germany. Recognizing the need for a new paradigm of both development and learning for the world of work, this meeting declared education and training for and through the workplace to be the “master key that can alleviate poverty, promote peace, conserve the environment, improve the quality of life for all and help achieve sustainable development”.

The responsibilities of national systems for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in advancing sustainable development through workforce development were discussed at follow-up meetings in Thailand (2005) Bahrain (2005) and Vietnam (2006).

Documents

Final Report (PDF, 521 KB)

Programme (PDF, 466 KB)