ESD in Core Areas

The idea of sustainable development has been at the forefront of policy formation in India since, WSSD - 2002 (World Summit on Sustainable Development). Earlier the effectiveness of policy directives and actions of various sectors was weighed against its environmental friendly outcomes as the only indicator of Sustainable Development. However, lately outcomes of policy reforms started being viewed /reviewed from its socio-economic outcomes towards sustainability. For instance, reviewing the feasibility of employment generation programmes for the BPL in relation to socio-economic and environmental considerations for livelihood. Hence, sustainable development as development/policy practice has acquired different hues of connotations – right from environment sustainability to parity of socio-economic development of society in the sector specific policy formation/action. Such a development perspective has been adopted in various sector specific policies. However, there are still some gray areas or lacuna of intervention that exists between introducing idea of sustainable development and its implementation. This area represents a thin line of gap between the two. It acts as a bridge/instrument in translating the already existing idea of SD and its practice, i.e. education for sustainable development.

This idea was proposed at the UN summit on SD in the form of UN DESD (2002), to initiate an education led decade for realising the potential of SD across the world. Education acts here as a catalyst in the S.D process, in various forms and at all levels of policy formation and implementation to achieve Fiver Year Plan and MDG's. This can be in the form of outreach, capacity building, formal education, training, informal education, non formal experiential learning etc for the policy makers and community /society as a whole. Hence, it is the process of education that brings out realisation of the already existing SD practices and perspectives carried out by community as well as educating them towards newer and more enhanced understanding of SD practices. It helps in bridging the gap of realisation of translating ideals of SD into practice and brings it to a common understanding of the masses on ‘How' to make life sustainable (in terms of environment, socio-economic development) such that a conscious effort for development can be envisaged through mindset and behavioral change.

However, this process and distinctions are not new and clearly visible. These SD based principals are covertly intertwined in the framework of development policy and framework. For instance, any national programme or policy on Health which is deemed as a part of social sector also involves a component of rate of economic investments in health, medicine, education for family planning and environment. Hence, none of the national development programmes are actually sector specific in its pure practice. Rather, it encompasses components from every sector in its programmatic framework for sustainable development outcomes of achieving MDG's for the country. This includes emphasis on aspects like – social upliftment (Marginalised communities), economic prosperity, education, environment protection, gender concern, health, peace etc. Consequently, the component of ESD in sectors can be conceptualized in terms of orienting various national programmes towards sustainable development principles of compromise and optimization; and to achieve stated MDG goals within sectors through various forms of educative practices and processes that ensue development (technical and non technical) through changing mindsets of people for a more sustainable living. This can be depicted in the following form: