Bonn Declaration
We, the participants gathered at the UNESCO World Conference on Education for
Sustainable Development held in Bonn, Germany on 31 March to 2 April 2009 issue thefollowing statement and call for action:
1.

Despite unprecedented economic growth in the 20th century, persistent poverty andinequality still affect too many people, especially those who are most vulnerable. Conflicts
continue to draw attention to the need for building a culture of peace. The global financial
and economic crises highlights the risks of unsustainable economic development models
and practices based on short-term gains. The food crisis and world hunger are an
increasingly serious issue. Unsustainable production and consumption patterns are creating
ecological impacts that compromise the options of current and future generations and thesustainability of life on Earth, as climate change is showing.

2.

A decade into the 21st century, the world faces substantial, complex and interlinked
development and lifestyle challenges and problems. The challenges arise from values thathave created unsustainable societies. The challenges are interlinked, and their resolution
requires stronger political commitment and decisive action. We have the knowledge,
technology and skills available to turn the situation around. We now need to mobilise ourpotential to make use of all opportunities for improving action and change.

3.

The impacts of unsustainable development, priorities, responsibilities and capacity differ
between regions and between developing and developed countries. All countries will need
to work collaboratively to ensure sustainable development now and in the future. Investment
in education for sustainable development (ESD) is an investment in the future, and can be alife-saving measure, especially in post-conflict and least developed countries.

4.

Building on the Jomtien, Dakar and Johannesburg promises, we need a shared commitment
to education that empowers people for change. Such education should be of a quality thatprovides the values, knowledge, skills and competencies for sustainable living andparticipation in society and decent work. The Education for All agenda underlines that theavailability of basic education is critical for sustainable development. It similarly emphasises
pre-school learning, education for rural people and adult literacy. Achievements in literacy
and numeracy contribute to educational quality, and will also be critical to the success ofESD.

5.

Through education and lifelong learning we can achieve lifestyles based on economic andsocial justice, food security, ecological integrity, sustainable livelihoods, respect for all life
forms and strong values that foster social cohesion, democracy and collective action.
Gender equality, with special reference to the participation of women and girl children ineducation, is critical for enabling development and sustainability. Education for sustainable
development is immediately necessary for securing sustainable life chances, aspirations
and futures for young people.

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Education for sustainable development in the 21st century
6.

Education for sustainable development is setting a new direction for education and learning
for all. It promotes quality education, and is inclusive of all people. It is based on values,
principles and practices necessary to respond effectively to current and future challenges.

7.

ESD helps societies to address different priorities and issues inter alia water, energy,
climate change, disaster and risk reduction, loss of biodiversity, food crises, health risks,social vulnerability and insecurity. It is critical for the development of new economic thinking.
ESD contributes to creating resilient, healthy and sustainable societies through a systemic
and integrated approach. It brings new relevance, quality, meaning and purpose toeducation and training systems. It involves formal, non-formal and informal education
contexts, and all sectors of society in a lifelong learning process.

8.

ESD is based on values of justice, equity, tolerance, sufficiency and responsibility. It
promotes gender equality, social cohesion and poverty reduction and emphasises care,integrity and honesty, as articulated in the Earth Charter. ESD is underpinned by principles
that support sustainable living, democracy and human well-being. Environmental protection
and restoration, natural resource conservation and sustainable use, addressing
unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and the creation of just and peacefulsocieties are also important principles underpinning ESD.

9.

ESD emphasises creative and critical approaches, long-term thinking, innovation andempowerment for dealing with uncertainty, and for solving complex problems. ESD
highlights the interdependence of environment, economy, society, and cultural diversity fromlocal to global levels, and takes account of past, present and future.

10.

Linked to different needs and the concrete living conditions of people, ESD provides theskills to find solutions and draws on practices and knowledge embedded in local cultures aswell as in new ideas and technologies.

Progress in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
11.

During the first five years of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, ledand co-ordinated by UNESCO, many countries have made progress in implementing ESD
and have designed innovative policy frameworks. A number of UN agencies, NGOs,regional bodies, and partner networks are engaged in concrete activities that support
specific areas of ESD. Many people and organisations are committed and engaged inaction. Efforts towards better understanding, promotion, implementation and assessment of
the quality of ESD are underway. A global monitoring and evaluation framework has beendesigned. Efforts at the global level have been complemented by regional strategies andinitiatives.

12.

We recognise that education is a significant factor in improving human well-being. We now
have the knowledge and experience available to significantly improve the contents, methods
and purposes of education. We know how to begin re-orienting education systems toemphasise lifelong learning. Through ESD we are learning how to improve links between
formal, non-formal and informal education. We know the importance of strengthening andsharing knowledge of educational change processes.

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13.

Science has provided us with a better knowledge of climate change and of the Earth’s lifesupport systems; it has gathered significant knowledge about HIV and AIDS, malaria,tuberculosis, heart diseases, and other serious health challenges. We know more about
natural systems, and human impacts on them, and the ways that biodiversity supports ourwell-being. We know that current economic thinking has to change, and that there is a needto avoid unsustainable production and consumption and promote and support theemergence of ‘sustainably developed’ countries. Social science has provided insight into
ethical, cultural, cognitive and affective aspects of human development, as well associologies of change.

14.

We now need to put this knowledge into action. This is especially important to strengthen
and extend the outcomes of the UN DESD in the next five years, but also to ensure longer
term implementation of ESD.

A call for action
15.

The progress of ESD remains unevenly distributed and requires different approaches indifferent contexts. In the coming years, there is a clear need for both developed anddeveloping countries, civil society and international organisations to make significant efforts
to:At policy level in member statesa) Promote ESD’s contribution to all of education and to achieving quality
education, with particular regard to fostering the linkages between ESD and EFA
within a coherent and systemic approach. Foster the goals of the ESD agenda ininternational fora and at the national level.
b) Increase public awareness and understanding about sustainable development
and ESD, by mainstreaming and expanding the learning and insights gained in the first
five years of the UN DESD into public awareness policies and programmes andvarious forms of informal learning. This should include promoting the role andcontribution of the media for fostering public awareness and understanding ofsustainability issues. It should also include capacity-building of media professionals.
c) Mobilize adequate resources and funding in favour of ESD, in particular throughintegrating ESD into national development policy and budgetary frameworks, into UN
common country programming processes and other country-level policy frameworks(such as sector-wide approaches), as well as into EFA and MDG initiatives. Promoteand include ESD in the priorities of foundations and donors.
d) Re-orient education and training systems to address sustainability concerns
through coherent policies at national and local levels. Develop and implement
ESD policies through co-ordinated inter-sectoral/inter-ministerial approaches that also
involve business and the corporate sector, civil society, local communities and thescientific community.

ED/DESD/2009/1e) Develop and strengthen existing international, regional and national enablingmechanisms and cooperation for ESD that respect cultural diversity. Establish
regional and country-level committees, networks and communities of practice for ESD
that strengthen local-national, and national-global links, and that enhance NorthSouth-South and South-South co-operation.
At practice levelf)Support the incorporation of sustainable development issues using an
integrated and systemic approach in formal education as well as in non-formal
and informal education at all levels, in particular through the development ofeffective pedagogical approaches, teacher education, teaching practice, curricula,learning materials, and education leadership development, and also by recognizing thesignificant contribution of non-formal education and informal learning as well as
vocational and work-place learning. Sustainable development is a cross-cutting themewith relevance to all disciplines and sectors.

g) Reorient curriculum and teacher education programmes to integrate ESD into
both pre-service and in-service programmes. Support teacher education
institutions, teachers and professors to network, develop, and research soundpedagogical practice. Specifically support teachers to develop ESD strategies thatcan work with large class sizes, and to evaluate ESD learning processes.
h) Promote evidence-informed policy dialogue on ESD, drawing upon relevant research,monitoring and evaluation strategies, and the sharing and recognition of goodpractices. Develop national ESD indicators that inform the effective implementation
and review of ESD outcomes and processes.
i)Develop and extend ESD partnerships to integrate ESD into training, vocational
education and workplace learning by involving civil society, public and private
sectors, NGOs, and development partners. ESD should become an integral part of thetraining of leaders in business, industry, trade union, non-profit and voluntaryorganizations, and the public services. Re-orient TVET programmes to include ESD.

j)

Involve youth in the design and implementation of ESD. Engage the commitment,
solidarity and potential of youth and their organisations and networks in enhancing
ESD. Foster young people’s ownership of ESD questions and issues.

k) Enhance the major contribution and key role of civil society in stimulating debate
and public participation, and initiating ESD actions. Explore ways to further thisinvolvement and commitment.
l)Value and give due recognition to the important contribution of traditional,
indigenous and local knowledge systems for ESD and value different culturalcontributions in promoting ESD.

m) ESD should actively promote gender equality, as well as create conditions andstrategies that enable women to share knowledge and experience of bringing aboutsocial change and human well-being.

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n) Develop knowledge through ESD networking. Identify and support schools,
universities and other higher education and research institutions, education centres
and education networks that could serve as centres of expertise and innovation thatdevelop and share knowledge, and create resources for ESD. Explore the potential of
specific geographical and bioregional sites which can serve as spatially defined‘laboratories’ for ESD.
o) Encourage and enhance scientific excellence, research and new knowledge
development for ESD through the involvement of higher education institutionsand research networks in ESD. Mobilise the core functions of universities: teaching,research and community engagement to strengthen global and local knowledge ofESD, and utilise the UNESCO ESD Chairs and UNESCO programme networks in thisprocess. Establish institutional and organisational structures that facilitate flexibility,student participation, and multi-disciplinary programmes and develop model projects
that can respond to the complexity and urgency of ESD. Reward structures should bedeveloped and implemented to support ESD initiatives and research in highereducation.
p) Develop institutional mechanisms during the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development and other ongoing Decades, such as the UN Decade forAction ‘Water for Life’ that will ensure that ESD continues to be implemented beyond
those Decades.
q) Engage the expertise available within the UN system to strengthen ESD in key
sustainable development conventions; for example, those focusing on biodiversity,
climate change, desertification and intangible cultural heritage.
r) Intensify efforts in education and training systems to address critical and urgent
sustainability challenges such as climate change, water and food security bydeveloping specific action plans and/or programmes within the UN DESD umbrella andpartnership framework.

16.

The participants in the 2009 World ESD Conference request UNESCO, as lead agency
responsible for the UN DESD, to:a) Enhance its leadership and co-ordination role for the UN DESD based on theInternational Implementation Scheme in co-operation with other UN agencies andprogrammes such as UNEP, UNU, the EFA convening agencies (UNICEF, UNDP,UNFPA and the World Bank) - amongst others, and incorporate ESD into ‘one UN’strategies at country level, particularly through UNDAF processes.
b) Support member states and other partners in the implementation of the UN DESD,
particularly through upstream capacity-building and policy advice on the developmentof coherent national strategies, monitoring and evaluation, recognising and sharing
good practices on ESD, advocacy and global partnership development, with due
consideration to post-conflict and least developed countries.
c) Represent and/or promote the ESD agenda in other major education and development
forums such as international conferences and negotiations such as the G8, G20,

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Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, EFA High-Level Group, UN ChiefExecutives Board, and UNESCO world conferences (amongst other ongoing eventsand activities).
d) Utilize the expertise that exists within UNESCO biosphere reserves, world heritage
sites and other science, culture and education programmes, such as TTISSA (Teacher
Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa), ASPnet schools and LIFE (Literacy Initiativefor Empowerment) to further ESD objectives and ensure that key priorities for ESD are
integrated into longer term programmes and strategies within UNESCO.
e) Promote ESD-related research through UNESCO’s programmes in order to enhance
the quality and evidence-base of ESD. Further develop the global monitoring andevaluation system to evaluate ESD and take initiatives to develop international
strategies and practices that can lead to a successful conclusion of the UN DESD withvisible and concrete outcomes.
f)Highlight the relevance and importance of education and training in the UN Summit on
Climate Change (COP 15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009 inconsultation and co-operation with other partners.

g) Intensify efforts and initiatives to put climate change education higher on theinternational agenda, in the framework of the DESD, in the context of UNESCO’sstrategy for action on climate change, and as a component of UN-wide action.
17.

Furthermore, the participants in this conference undertake to work towards implementationof this Declaration.

18.

The participants encourage the mobilization of adequate funding in support of therecommendations contained in this Declaration.

19.

The participants in the World ESD Conference express their gratitude to the German
government for hosting this conference, and welcome the intention announced by theGovernment of Japan to host jointly with UNESCO the end-of-decade world conference on
ESD.

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