The Sustainability Education Center of The American Forum for Global Education was created in 1995 in response to the growing need for educational materials, professional development and community education focused on sustainability. The Center builds on the American Forum's twenty-eight years of program expertise in global and environmental education, technical assistance, curriculum and professional development. The Center explores the relationships between economic systems, ecological systems, and justice in contexts ranging from local communities to global institutions. The goal of these explorations, and sustainability education in general, is to prepare young people and citizens with the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will enable them to meet their own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
Sustainability is an evolving paradigm for planning and decision-making.
Sustainability is a promise. It is a dynamic condition which requires a basic understanding of the interconnections and interdependency among ecological, economic and social systems. The professional development programs and educational materials developed by the Center help community groups, educators and young people understand these connections, and provide them with the skills to find integrated solutions to the challenges of the 21st Century. To conduct a Research and Development agenda, grounded in affiliated teams of expert consultants, that continually provides the Center with an intellectual and practical basis for our work. To improve and facilitate school and community relationships and collaborations using sustainability as the integrating force, while encouraging the schools themselves to become communities of learners.