101

Are We Learning to Change?
Mapping Global Progress in Education for Sustainable Developmentin the Lead Up to ‘Rio Plus 20’
Daniella TILBURY
International Research Institute in Sustainability (IRIS)
University of Gloucestershire
The Park Campus, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 3UU, United Kingdom
e-mail: dtilbury@glos.ac.uk

Abstract
As the world prepares for ‘Rio plus 20,’ questions are being asked regarding the role and impact ofeducation in the attainment of a more sustainable future. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21, a key contribution of the
1992 Rio Earth Summit, consolidated arguments that education is critical to the achievement of sustainable
development. It called for action to improve learning opportunities across the globe which challengeunsustainable practices and promote a better quality of life for all.
Since then, efforts have gathered pace internationally and have culminated in a United Nations Decadeof Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014). National strategies, multi-stakeholder
partnerships, international collaboration and local to regional initiatives have provided exemplars of howlearning and education can contribute to a more positive future. Questions are now been asked about theextent to which these practices have been mainstreamed across education systems and opportunities; and,
about how we know that these education efforts are making a difference. UNESCO, in particular, is seeking tomonitor strategies, processes of learning and outcomes of education for sustainable development. This article
reviews international efforts undertaken as part of the UN DESD to map global progress in education forsustainable development and asks the question, “are we learning to change our education systems andpractices?”
Key words: Education for Sustainable Development, monitoring and evaluation, progress, Rio Plus 10,
UN DESD, UNESCO

1. Introduction
The year 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the UN
Rio Conference on Environment and Development often
referred to as the ‘Earth Summit.’ The 1992 Summit
resulted in a number of critical international agreements
on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, as
well as an overarching roadmap – ‘Agenda 21.’ Collectively, these landmark documents set the stage for global
action towards sustainable development.
Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 consolidated arguments that
education is critical to the achievement of sustainable
development and identified core strategies to improvelearning opportunities in this area. These strategies which
are to be implemented by governments, international
agencies, businesses and civil society groups sought toimprove access and quality of learning for sustainability
and reorient education systems to support more sustainable futures. Agenda 21 was seminal in that it provided a
Global Environmental Research
14/2010: 101-107
printed in Japanbasis for international collaboration as well as a case forinvestment in learning for change. At the time, many ingovernment and NGO bodies, as Smyth (1999) recalls,
were committed to the call for education for sustainable
development but misunderstood the role and process ofeducation expecting it to produce rapid changes in public
behaviour as a result of rising awareness.
Following the Earth Summit, the Commission on
Sustainable Development appointed UNESCO to be its
Task Manager for Chapter 36. UNESCO’s roles were toaccelerate reforms of education and coordinate theactivities of all stakeholders in education through awide-ranging work programme whose objectives included: clarifying the concept and key messages of
education for sustainable development; incorporating
education into national strategic and action plans forsustainable development; educating to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns; and: identifying and sharing innovative practices. These objectives©2010 AIRIES

102

D. TILBURY

still underpin UNESCO programmes and have been reflected in the more recent strategies underpinning the UN
Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
Ten years after Rio, a gathering of international leaders and stakeholders took place in Johannesburg toreview progress. This World Summit on Sustainable
Development generated a Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and reminded the world of the role of education and learning in the attainment of sustainable
development. It re-energised efforts to reorient education
systems towards sustainable development and consolidated arguments that learning for sustainable development needed to be more a holistic, futures-oriented andsystemic process. The concepts and terminology associated with education had shifted: dialogues associatedwith behaviour change and issue-based learning were
overtaken by discourses seeking to transform mindsets
and lifestyles for better long-term prospects (Birney,
2002; Paden, 2002; Tilbury and Wortman, 2004). Envisioning, scenario planning or what is often referred to as‘futures thinking’ had emerged as a core principle ofeducation for sustainability and continues to be a cornerstone of this area of learning as confirmed by the recent
UNECE competences framework for educators (2010).
Another key legacy of the Johannesburg Summit wasa recommendation to the the United Nations General
Assembly (GA) which led to the adoption of resolution
UN GA 57/254 and thus the establishment of a United
Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014). The DESD was to support,
what the New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for
the Environment (2004) termed as a ‘See Change’ – aprocess which helped learners and educators to envisionand enact a more sustainable future.

2. A UN Decade in Education for Sustainable
Development
Spanning 2005 to 2014, the DESD is a global platform which seeks to embed sustainable development into
all learning spheres; reorient education and develop
initiatives that can showcase the special role of education
for sustainable development (Elias, 2006). In 2005,
UNESCO up-scaled its responsibility and efforts in theseareas when it became the official international leadagency for the DESD and set in place a series of mechanisms to guide the Decade.
Early on, UNESCO released an International Implementation Scheme for the DESD (UNESCO, 2004;
2005a) as well as an Action Plan for its own contribution
to the Decade (UNESCO, 2005b). This was accompaniedby the establishment of a UN DESD Secretariat with a
global coordination role, a High-Level Panel to provide
guidance and advice to UNESCO on the DESD, a
UNESCO Reference Group on the DESD to assist on
implementing the DESD strategies, a Monitoring and
Evaluation Expert Group (MEEG) to advise on DESD
reporting progress and an Inter-Agency Committee toensure harmonious international coordination (UNESCO,

2007). The DESD advisory panels have an important roleto play in providing clarity and direction on DESD
strategies and advice on how best to engage communities
of practice which have yet to engage with this agenda(Mula & Tilbury, 2009).
The arrival of the DESD in 2005 was marked by aseries of high-profile launches which served to raiseawareness about the Decade’s objectives. Despite notable
critiques (González-Gaudiano, 2005; Gutiérrez & Pozo,
2005; Sauvé & Berryman, 2005; Jickling, 2006), many
stakeholders from across the globe joined the celebrations expressing their support for the DESD andacknowledging the opportunities the DESD presents to
influence government decisions and moves towards more
systemic change (Paden, 2007; Tilbury, 2007). The reality, however, is one where the UN resolution encourages
all governments to implement the DESD in their countries (UN, 2005) and relies on voluntary responses
resulting in varying levels of commitment. At the
Decade’s mid-point it became clear that its international
profile and activity owes much to the governments ofCanada, the Netherlands and Germany but especially
Sweden and Japan, which have supported the DESD in
principle as well as financially. Indeed, the status andcontribution of the DESD in the coming years could besignificantly undermined if this government support
were to be influenced negatively by the recent economiccrisis and public sector cuts dominating headlines inthese donor countries.

3. Mapping Global Progress
The International Implementation Scheme paved theway for the DESD by setting the major thrusts of education for sustainable development as well as global milestones for the ten year period. The Scheme identifies
monitoring and evaluation as part of the implementation
strategy and recommends the development of indicators
at all levels. UNESCO, as the lead agency, has the
responsibility of establishing mechanisms for monitoringand evaluation as well as for reporting on progress to the
UN General Assembly in 2010 and 2015 and the
UNESCO Executive Board at the end of each biennium.
This commitment led UNESCO to establish theMonitoring and Evaluation Expert Group (MEEG) in2007 to advise on appropriate monitoring mechanisms
for assessing (i) global progress in the implementation of
the DESD and (ii) to assess UNESCO’s own contribution
to the implementation of the DESD. The MEEG built
upon the experiences of developing monitoring systems
and indicators for education for sustainable development
at the regional level (UNECE, 2005; Tilbury et al., 2007).
It recommended that UNESCO publish three global
implementation reports during the course of the Decade:- in 2009 focusing on the context and structures ofwork on ESD in member states (Phase I),- in 2011 focusing on processes and learning initiatives
related to ESD (Phase II), and- in 2015 focusing on impacts and outcomes of theAre We Learning to Change?

DESD (Phase III).
Phase IIn 2007, a Global Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (GMEF) was developed for Phase I which brought
together a number of data collection and triangulation
processes to assist with the validation of findings. It outlined a complex and ambitious endeavor which had neverbeen undertaken previously at a global level. The GMEF
created opportunities for mapping national as well as
regional developments in contexts and structures foreducation for sustainable development. Due to the lack ofresources and tight timelines, it relied heavily on voluntary contributions and meta-analysis provided by key
regional and national groups and on expert opinion rather
than empirical analysis. Much of this input was collectedfrom survey responses and regional reports. It acknowledged the important contributions of stakeholder groups
such as IUCN, WBCSD, Earth Charter and the UN
Education Caucus and provided them with an opportunity to contribute directly to the data collection andcomment on the preliminary analysis of the data.
A draft of the first global monitoring and evaluation
report was presented to stakeholders at the UN Conference on Education for Sustainable Development which
took place in Bonn at the end of April 2009. The conference dialogues and participant feedback also contributed
to the validation process. At Bonn, the weaknesses of thereport (resulting from the lack of depth and length of themonitoring process) were acknowledged but also theoverwhelming support from stakeholders for a global
report despite its limitations. The report gave an indication of where progress was being made and where greater
investment of time and resources was required.
The final report was published in October 2009. The
report’s findings highlighted:i) the numerous opportunities which exist for regional,
national and local communities to generate anunderstanding of ESD within their own context. Thisdialogue is seen as crucial to arrive at a consensus
over the meaning of education for sustainable
development (Bory-Adams, 2010) especially incountries where environmental education is deeply
rooted.
ii) that UN agencies should strive for a ‘one concerted
UN response’ to ESD. The report noted that there arelimited interagency initiatives or alignment of learning experiences with core DESD goals.
iii) the rise of national coordinating bodies. Of the 97
countries that responded to the Phase I survey, 79 report that a national ESD coordinating body has beencreated. The author of the global report, recognises
the rapid rise of the coordinating bodies but warns
more insight is needed into the processes leading up
to their creation and the roles they play in practice(UNESCO, 2009a).
iv) a notable presence of education for sustainable
development in national policy documents. However,it appears that most countries do not yet have a spe-

103

cific national policy or strategy in education forsustainable development. UNESCO (2009a) also
noted that in most parts of the world, a structure forinterdepartmental governmental cooperation for thisarea of learning is still lacking as there is little
experience in cross-boundary thinking among policy-makers and governmental departmental structures.
Various issues plagued the process of preparing thefirst global report. Delays in donor funding led to delaysin the commencement of the process; lack of capacity at
UNESCO regional and cluster offices to fully participate
or engage stakeholders in the process resulted in restricted access to important data; the non-alignment of
the UN DESD monitoring and evaluation process with
the UNECE ESD reporting process led to a lack ofsubmissions from the UNECE region. In addition, thelimitation on resources did not permit longitudinal studies, planned to commence in Phase I, to form part of themonitoring and evaluation process. The MEEG recognised that these challenges would persist in the next
phase and advised that the design of the GMEF for Phase
II should seek ways of overcoming these barriers.
Phase IITo prepare the 2011 report, and in keeping withprevious experience of Phase I, UNESCO commissioneda Phase II framework. The GMEF for Phase II builds
upon the data as well as lessons learnt from Phase I. It
shares common goals with the Phase I global monitoringand evaluation process. These include raising awarenessamongst stakeholders about the DESD; providing
opportunities for reflection and learning; monitoring
progress across a range of sectors (e.g., formal education,community, government, business); assessing changes(in processes and learning at Phase II); providing a regional as well as a global map of progress; and assessing
the contribution of UNESCO to the DESD and the lessons learnt in the process of implementation.
The 2011 report is to focus on processes and learning
in ESD. Often learning is interpreted as the gaining of
knowledge, values and theories related to sustainable
development but in ESD it also refers to learning to thinkin different ways; learning to ask critical questions; learning to clarify ones own values; learning to thinksystemically; learning to work with others to solve problems and address issues. The term ‘processes’ in thiscontext, refers to engagement opportunities, pedagogicalapproaches or teaching and learning styles adopted to
implement ESD in different levels and settings of education. ‘Learning’ for ESD refers to what has been learnt
and is learned by those engaged in ESD, including
learners, facilitators, coordinators as well as funders.
The MEEG, at its November 2009 meeting defined
the objectives of Phase II of the DESD M&E process as:“1. Clarification: To clarify which learning processes
should be promoted to facilitate learning in ESD andto identify learning opportunities (projects, pro-

104

D. TILBURY

grammes or activities) in ESD that in turn promoteand facilitate sustainable development;
2. Range and Diversity: To capture the range of levels
and settings of education (formal, non-formal and informal), where the processes and learning for ESD aretaking place;
3. Engagement: To identify who is involved in theprocesses and learning for ESD (as providers, funders,
recipients and beneficiaries) and to identify how the
stakeholders mentioned are involved in the processes
and learning in ESD);
4. Intentions: To determine what existing processes for
ESD aim to achieve – whether the processes have normative aims (for example, including ESD curricula)and/or learning aims (for example, increase and enhance the awareness of ESD and capacity-building ofstakeholders);
5. Change: To examine (i) what has started to change;(ii) what has been learnt in the process of reorienting
education systems towards ESD; (iii) whether
opportunities for ESD outside of education systems
have increased; and, (iv) to what extent it iscontributing to advancing sustainable development
specifically in the context of processes and learning.”(20 November 2009, UNESCO MEEG)
These objectives underpin the proposed framework.
Other critical inputs are the recommendations enshrinedin the Bonn Declaration (UNESCO 2009b) whichhave also been considered as guiding principles inthe development of the Phase II framework; and,
‘UNESCO’s (2010) Strategy for the Second Half of the‘DESD,’ which acknowledges the role of monitoring andevaluation. The latter also emphasises the importance ofcelebrating good practice as well as the need for regional
capacity building in monitoring and evaluation of
education for sustainable development.
The framework for Phase II thus combines participatory monitoring, documentary analysis, self-reporting,expert evaluation, key informant analysis and stakeholder validation processes to increase opportunities forengagement as well as assure representation and validityof the data. It has the following six components:• An Expert Review: The purpose of this review is toaddress the first objective of the Phase II which seeksclarification on: i) what are commonly accepted
learning processes which are aligned to education forsustainable development and should be promoted;
and, ii) which learning opportunities (projects, programmes or activities) promote and facilitate sustainable development. This review was to draw from avariety of authoritative sources of literature fromacross the globe and would be validated by stakeholders through an on-line process. It is to inform datacollection as well as evaluation assessments undertaken as part of the case study analysis.
• ESD Portal of Experiences: In order to capture thediversity of types, levels and settings of learning
activities in education for sustainable development inboth policy and practice, an inventory or collection ofexperiences is to be established. Stakeholders will be
invited to submit information about their programmes
and activities. These data will be used to address
objectives 2, 3 and 4 of Phase II outlined above.
• Case Studies: Case studies will be written from aseries of interviews as well as documentary analysis.
These case studies are to capture rich qualitative dataand interrogate experiences in a way which assist thePhase II process to address deeper questions regarding processes and learning experiences (objectives 3
and 4) as well as what has started to change (required
to fulfill objective 5). The experiences, captured
through the ESD Portal, are to inform the selection ofcase studies. The case studies are to reflect the rangeof local, national, regional, international initiatives aswell as variety of ‘content’ or themes associated withsustainable development.
• Brief Questionnaire for Member States: Brief questionnaires are to be devised and administered at thecountry level to increase awareness of the DESD andprovide opportunities for self-reporting as well as reflection on national progress. Questionnaire respondents will be asked to engage a range of national
stakeholders actively in collecting data and responses.
The focus of this data capture method is on documenting what has changed (specifically in structures andcontexts) since the last reporting period and to begin
to assess what influence or impact these structuresand contexts are having on processes and learning.
National Commissions and agencies will be asked toreflect on what has been learnt in the process of
implementing ESD since the start of the DESD. These
data will contribute to objective 5 of Phase II.
• Key Informant Analysis: This will have two strands:i) The first strand involves key regional stakeholders
convened by the UNESCO Regional or Cluster
Offices to reflect on regional trends and experiences as well as identifying what has started tochange and how this has contributed to advancing
sustainable development.
ii) The second strand engages key international
stakeholders groups in reflecting upon global
trends and experiences in relation to processes andlearning across a variety of sectors. The international group will be convened by the DESD
Secretariat. These key informant groups will also
provide an important contribution to identifying‘what has begun to change over the last 5 years,’‘what has been learnt in the process of implementing ESD,’ and ‘to what extent this has
assisted in advancing sustainable development.’
These strands are to provide important data for
addressing objective 5 of Phase II.
Internal Assessment of UN Agencies’ Contribution to
DESD: The DESD is a UN initiative and thus it isimportant to capture and reflect upon how UN agencies are contributing to the goals of the DESD. This
component also has two strands:

Are We Learning to Change?

i) Strand 1 would engage with the UN Inter-Agency
Committee for DESD in a critical self-assessment
against defined criteria.
ii) Strand 2 is more UNESCO-focused and engages
with (i) the leaders of the UNESCO Intersectoral
Platform based in Paris and (ii) the UNESCO
Regional Offices and selected Cluster Offices in amore in-depth reflection of the contribution of
UNESCO to the DESD.
A portfolio of evidence is to be established throughthis process which will be independently validated. A
forum for sharing results of self-assessment, experiences
and lessons learnt also forms part of this component.
To ensure the robustness of the GMEF it is vital thatlinkages be established between the components identified above in practice. The operational plan whichaccompanies the GMEF is designed to enable these linkages.
There will be, however, many factors which will
determine whether this framework is used in a coherent
way to frame the second global report. A restructuring
process currently taking place at UNESCO HQ will
influence the capacity available to coordinate this global
and ambitious monitoring and evaluation effort. Another
determinant is the willingness of member states to continue to support the global process; the recent economic
downturn has resulted in new funding priorities which
threaten the process of mapping progress in education forsustainable development during the DESD.
Phase I also alerted UNESCO to the lack of capacity
at the regional level to undertake data collection andanalysis of key trends in relation to ESD and the DESD.
UNESCO HQ has invested in a regional capacity building process to accompany Phase II so that opportunities
for regional stakeholder engagement are enhanced.
However, early indications suggest that the capacity
building workshops are having a limited impact on theability of regions to prepare effectively for Phase II.
Various reasons can be cited for this, including regional
competing priorities; timing of workshops in relation to
the Phase II timelines and lack of resources to support
stakeholders through a lengthier process of engagement.

4. Are We Learning to Change?
Phase I of the global monitoring and evaluation process identified the structures, contexts and opportunities
which exist for improving quality and access to education
for sustainable development. Phase II will clarify what
constitutes good practice and will map the changes thatare beginning to emerge as a result of education efforts insustainable development. We await the findings of Phase
III before the impact of the DESD can be genuinely assessed and can collate enough evidence to address thequestion ‘are we learning to change our education systems and practices?’
In the meantime, it is important to recognise that theprocess of data collection serves as a means of raisingawareness about education for sustainable development

105and building capacity of policy-makers, funders,
practitioners and other stakeholders to reflect on thequality and effects of these learning processes. In otherwords, the monitoring process serves as a mechanism for
implementing the DESD goals and engages people in aprocess of learning to change. It is equipping stakeholders with the opportunities and tools to reflect on what
type of changes are required and how these may comeabout; a vital next step in the process of improving
learning experiences in this area. The monitoring andevaluation effort itself, is building the capacity of educators to reorient education systems as well as their own
practices so that these can make a contribution tosustainability.
Several examples can be cited to illustrate how the
global mapping process is not only collecting data toaddress the question ‘are we learning to change?’ but
also encouraging learning for change itself. Recently,
UNESCO released a literature review of education forsustainable development learning processes (Tilbury,
2010a) which documents the processes by which national
strategies in education for sustainable development,
multi-stakeholder partnerships, international collaboration and local to regional initiatives are being developed
across various sectors. The review which is to inform
Phase II of the global monitoring and evaluation process
asked a selection of stakeholders from around the globe
to reflect on what is changing and what has been learnt. It
compiles a range of outputs, outcomes and impacts byeducation and on education for a sustainable future(Tilbury, 2010b). The next step will be to ask whether
these practices have been mainstreamed across education
systems and opportunities and whether these education
efforts are making a difference to our quality of life andlong term prospects – a key task of the national survey
which is to follow as part of Phase II. Feedback for the
stakeholders participating in the evaluation process suggests that the inquiry process is encouraging reflection
and learning.

5. The Road to ‘Rio Plus 20’
The foundations for ‘Rio Plus 20’ are currently being
negotiated. The Brazilian government’s statement at the
UN General Assembly in September 2007 reminded usthat ‘Rio plus 20’ will need to address the critical issues
which face our globe today as well as establish what
progress has been made since 1992. Although the global
issues of poverty, environmental degradation andinequality are familiar, the reality which currently faces
us differs significantly from that which informed the1992 Summit. The Group of 77 and China which tabled
the resolution calling for ‘Rio plus 20’ endorsed this callto review progress but also the need to develop alternative strategies which have greater currency. As plans for‘Rio Plus 20’ take shape, new discourses begin to emerge.
The conference themes which are to be refined via the
PrepCom process are likely to revolve around issues of agreen economy in the context of sustainable development

106

D. TILBURY

and improved global security (Dodd & Strandenaes,
2010). An overall appraisal of the implementation ofAgenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementationis also expected. Seeking a review of the implementationof the Rio commitments in domestic law and a better
understanding of why the previous agreements are yet tobe implemented is critical.
The first preparatory meeting for ‘Rio plus 20’ preceded the 18th Commission on Sustainable Development(CSD18) in New York on 18-19 May 2010. PrepCom II
is scheduled to take place in March 2011 and the final
preparatory meeting is to occur immediately prior to theSummit in Rio. Many NGO groups as well as the UN
Education Caucus are already asking questions about the‘forgotten priority’ as the road to Rio unfolds.
The recent Copenhagen Summit (UNFCCC, 2009)
reminded the global community that pathways towards
sustainability have yet to be negotiated and agreed. This
experience calls to question whether ‘Rio Plus 20’ willsecure renewed political commitment and financial
resources needed for implementation and effective
monitoring of strategies for sustainable development.
Strengthening global governance arrangements will need
to be a key legacy of the forthcoming summit.
Educators are engaging with the process as it unfolds,
and some acknowledge that the journey to Rio provides aprocess, as well as platform, for reorienting education
towards sustainable development. Creating opportunities
for policy-makers and decision-makers to reflect andlearn from twenty years experience of efforts to progresscommitments in this area is an important part of theprocess. This is where illustrations of monitoring andevaluation experiences in ESD can serve to inform
agendas, sharpen strategies and help stakeholders learn tochange for sustainability.
References
Birney, A. (2002) Sustain[ed]: Education for Our Common Future,
4, Stakeholder Forum, London.
Bory-Adams, A. (2010) The DESD Monitoring and Evaluation
Process.
http://www.ias.unu.edu/resource_centre/8.50%20WALS%20Pr
esentation.ppt (downloaded 10.10.10.)
Dodd, F. and J.G. Strandenaes (2010) Rio Plus 20: The Foundation
for a Better Century.
http://www.unep.org/civil-society/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket(downloaded 10.10.10.)
Elias, D. (2006) UNESCO’s approach to implementing the Decadeof Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in Asia andthe Pacific. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 22:273-275.
González-Gaudiano, E. (2005). The Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development: challenges and opportunities in
México. Applied Environmental Education and Communication,
4 (3): 273-275.
Gutiérrez, J. and M.A. Pozo (2005) Stultifera Navis: institutional
tensions, conceptual chaos, and professional uncertainty at the
beginning of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Policy Futures in Education, 3 (3): 296-308.
Jickling, B. (2006) The Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development: a useful platform? or an annoying distraction? A

Canadian perspective. Australian Journal of Environmental
Education, 22 (1): 99-104.
Mulà, I. and D. Tilbury (2009) A United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014): what difference
will it make? Journal of Education for Sustainable, 3(1): 87-97.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) (2004)
See Change: Learning and Education for Sustainable Development, PCE , Wellington.
Paden, M. (2002) Engaging people in sustainability draws a crowd.
Human Nature, 7(2): 2.
Paden, M. (2007). Tracking progress in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Education for
Sustainable Development, 1 (1): 115-116.
Sauvé, L. and T. Berryman (2005) Challenging a “closing circle”:
alternative research agendas for the ESD Decade. Applied
Environmental Education and Communication, 4: 229-232.
Smyth, J. (1999) Is there a future for education consistent with
Agenda 21? Canadian Journal of Environmental Education(CJEE), 4(1): 170-182.
Tilbury, D. (2007) Monitoring and evaluation during the UN
Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of
Education for Sustainable Development, 1 (2): 239-54.
Tilbury, D. and D. Wortman (2004) Engaging People in
Sustainability, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, Gland.
Tilbury, D., S. Janousek, D. Elias and J. Bacha (2007) Asia Pacific
Guidelines for the Development of Sustainable Development
Indicators, UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for
Education, Bangkok.
Tilbury, D. (2010a) Assessing ESD Experiences during the DESD:
An Expert Review on Processes and Learning for ESD,UNESCO, Paris.
Tilbury, D. (2010b) Tomorrow Today : Change for a Better World:
Assessing the Contribution of the DESD, Tudor Rose/UNESCO,
Leicester.
United Nations (UN) (2005) United Nations General Assembly
Resolutions, 59/237.
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/490/48/PDF/
N0449048.pdf?OpenElement (downloaded 09.10.10.)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)(2005) Background Paper on Development of Indicators to
Measure Implementation of the UNECE Strategy for ESD.
UNECE Expert Group on Indicators for Education for Sustainable Development, First Meeting, 30 August 2005. Netherlands
UNECE.
http://www.unece.org/env/esd (downloaded 10.10.10.)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)(2010) Competencies in Education for Sustainable Development: A UNECE Framework for Educators, UNECE Expert
Group on Competences for Education for Sustainable Development, UNECE, version 4, 28.09.10.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) (2004) United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014): International Implementation Scheme, UNESCO, Paris.
UNESCO (2005a) United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014): International Implementation Scheme, UNESCO, Paris.
UNESCO (2005b) Report by The Director-General on the United
Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development:International Implementation Scheme and UNESCO’s Contribution to the Implementation of The Decade, UNESCO, Paris.
UNESCO (2007) The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD 2005-2014). The First Two Years,
UNESCO, Paris.
UNESCO (2009a) Review of Contexts and Structures for
Education for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, Paris.
http://www. unesco.org/education/justpublished_desd2009.pdf
UNESCO (2009b) Bonn Declaration, UNESCO, Paris.

Are We Learning to Change?
UNESCO (2010) Strategy for the Second Half of the United
Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development:
Supporting Member States and other Stakeholders in Addressing
Global Sustainable Development Challenges through ESD,UNESCO, Paris.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) (2009) The United Nations Framework for Climate
Change.
http://unfccc.int/2860.php (downloaded 07.10.10.)
WEB References
Literature Review on Processes and Leaning for ESD can beaccessed in three languages at http://www.unesco.org/en/
education-for-sustainable-development/monitoring-evaluationprocess/phase-ii-2010-2011/.
The Johannesburg Plan can be accessed at http://www.un.org/esa/
sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm
The UNECE Competences Framework in Education for Sustainable Development can be accessed at http://www.unece.
org/env/esd/SC.EGC.htm
The International Implementation Scheme can be accessed at
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/ 0014/001486/148650e.pdf
The Phase 1 GMEF can be accessed at http://www.unesco.
org/en/esd/monitoring-evaluation-process/phase-i-2007-2009/
The First Global Report was released in Oct 2009. It can beaccessed at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001849/
184944e.pdf

107
Daniella TILBURY

Daniella Tilbury is Chair of Sustainability and a
Director of the University of Gloucestershire. She
is responsible for leadership and learning forsustainability across the institution. Daniellaoversees the University’s International ResearchInstitute in Sustainability (IRIS) and its Regional
Centre of Expertise (RCE) in Education for Sustainability.
Daniella has had a lengthy research career in the area of sustainability. She
completed her doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in Educationfor Sustainability in 1993 and has since been the recipient of several awards
including the Macquarie Innovation Award for Research (Australia, 2007)
and a Marie Curie Research Fellowship (European Commission, 2009).
She was the winner of a 2010 Green Gown Award (UK).
She serves as the Chair of the UN's Global Monitoring and Evaluation
Expert's Group which advises on the assessment of global progress during
the UN Decade in ESD. In this capacity she has informed the UNESCO’s
First Global Report in ESD. She led the UNESCO-IUCN Asia Pacific ESD
Indicators Project and is a member of the UNECE Expert Group on ESD
Competences. She led the IUCN CEC ESD Group from 2001-2005 and was
the Founding Director (2003-2007) of the Australian Research Institute in
Education for Sustainability (ARIES).
Daniella has over 100 books and refereed articles and has given keynote
addresses across the globe. Most significantly, she was a keynote speaker at
the UN World Conference in ESD (Bonn, 2009) as well as UNESCO’s side
event at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg,
2002). Her early work focused on the evaluation of field projects in
Tanzania, Madagascar, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, China,
Hungary, Vietnam, Australia, Spain, Tunisia, and Italy.

(Received 20 October 2010, Accepted 6 December 2010)