(preparation
to the UN Decade “Education for Sustainable Development”)
December 22-23, 2003, Yerevan, conference hall of UN/Armenia
(organized by OSCE, UNDP and Association «For Sustainable
Human Development»/UNEP Nat.com.)
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 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 UN EEC Strategy on Education for Sustainable
Development;
- By January 2004 appoint representatives into the
Special Working Group on ESD at the UN EEC Environmental Policy Committee;
- By June 2004 create in countries corresponding
inter-departmental coordination mechanisms;
- 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;
provide:
- 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 conducting 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 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:
- by the end of January 2004 broadly discuss and
develop concrete recommendations for the region to be included into the DESD
plan-schedule;
- by April 2004, prepare, discuss and adopt the
regional action plan on DESD.
Contact:
Association for Sustainable Human Development ashd@freenet.am
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