Education on Sustainable Development (Essay Sample)

The Literature Context and Theoretical Context for "Education on Sustainable Development" At Level of Higher Education
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The Literature Context and Theoretical Context for "Education on Sustainable Development" At Level of Higher Education
Introduction
Education on Sustainable Development has been rapidly increasing in popularity. Its importance was realized when the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) was established. Moreover, education is seen as the root of the durable development. Despite the fact that education gives knowledge as well as awareness initiatives, it contributes to the shaping of the reality that is seen as material hence it also has the power to alter it accordingly. Education on Sustainable Development is seen as an element that should equip and motivate individuals so that they can be able to make conclusive decisions when it comes to creating a world that is more sustainable.
However, challenges have been seen when it comes to embedding Education on Sustainable Development courses in school curriculum especially for the higher education. The task has proven to be rigorous specifically when it comes to approaches that are conventional in relation to accounting because it has been perpetuated in the unsustainable practice. Therefore, the education systems that currently exist have shown that it will be challenging for durability. This is because they support social ideologies and practices that are already in existence and dominate the society. Therefore, if the society behaves in ways dimmed as unsustainable then systems will remain unsustainable and this will go on to the generations that will follow.
The role that accounting plays is very important especially when it is put in the social management context and a lot of literature is in existence that details content students have to learn in relation to durable development. Despite this limited publications are in existence that touches on durable development. Various researches on Education on Sustainable Development have shown that no research has been done in relation to the manner in which higher education learners perceive durable development. Therefore, research should be done so that the perception of higher education learners can be determined when it comes to durable development in accounting and business curriculum. Education through durable development improves the graduates development such that they become thinkers who are broad minded such that they are able to become critical and independent in thought (Adomssent et al., 2007). This makes the students develop skills that will help then to improve their leadership roles in future.
Education for Sustainable Development can be termed as altering ways of thinking. This is where the resources used for education are utilized such that the generations to come can access them. It is a process that is educational that is categorized by methods and approaches focused on establishing awareness on issues related to durable development. This is different from the approaches that have been there in the past where importance was placed on issues that were environmental. The scope of education on durable development is wide whereby it has placed focus on processes, means and tools that give people the opportunity to form knowledge, skills, competencies and values that are required when it comes to contributing towards society that is more sustainable.
Educators worldwide have been influenced to change their contents of teaching so that the education systems can be able to respond better to challenges that are socio-economic globally, regionally and locally. Moreover, new emphasis have been seen when it comes to innovative teaching development methods in relation to durable development. This was according to the report that was done by UNESCO that placed emphasis on learning and education in durable development context; it also included the stakeholders involved in all levels as well as all the regions included in the UN.
In recent years, institutions of education worldwide have been advised to encourage the students by mobilizing them and also participate more actively in global, national and local processes when it comes to durable development (Barth, 2015). In the past, durability was not well understood, but recently this has changed. A lot of opportunities exist when it comes to learning about durability and at the same time a lot can be gained from it. Some of the education sectors that have been affected strongly by Education on Sustainable Development especially the higher education which is seen to have an important role when it comes to the debate on Education on Sustainable Development. Because of the strategic and positioned nature of institutions of higher education, credible evidence shows that they should and can make contributions that are strong when it comes to durable development in general. In addition, institutions for higher learning have to implement the durable development education specifically.
It should be noted that institutions of higher learning have expertise and knowledge hence they serve the purpose of assisting the society to implement and identify technical and social solutions when it comes to the challenges faced in the environment which have been identified by the institutions (Barlett & Chase, 2013). Therefore, if the durable development is placed in an approach that is interconnected then it will become a useful tool. The figure below shows that the approaches that are used are majorly three and they have been implemented by the institutions of higher education when it comes to implementing durability. The approaches are characterized and interrelated by overlapping that is limited.
Fig 1: Durability Major Approaches


Individual is the first approach which means it refers to the issues related to the Sustainable Development when they are solved by members of the staff individually. Sectorial is the second one and it refers to the faculty when they participate in durability. Institutional is the third one whereby the entire university shows commitment in relation to durable development. However, it has been revealed that a small portion of universities implement institutional approach and this shows that there is still a lot that has to be undertaken. Therefore, this concludes that Education on Sustainable Development has to be well embedded and integrated when it comes to institutions of higher education hence perception change has to be done.
Purpose of Education on Sustainable Development in the Higher Education
The effect of durable development in the systems in universities has constantly changed over time. Durability has changed over time and this has been categorized into three major phases:
Phase 1 Here durable development was seen as something nations had to be concerned about and all the global heads of state agreed to this. This took place between 1987 and 1997
Phase 2 Here the perception of durable development changed generally in that institutions and individuals were involved hence little progress was made hence the pledges and commitments made by various governments and institutions did not come to pass.
Phase 3 In this phase new dynamics have been introduced so that it can characterize the common perception with regards to the definition of durable development hence it stressed that individuals and institutions had to show commitment to the durable development.
World Conference on Sustainable Development that was hosted in Rio, Brazil took place in 2012 and due to this it influenced current affairs in terms of its momentum. It specifically focused on the preferable future that the UN foresaw and as a result the new phase may be initialized and it was expected to focus on the definition of sustainability, its purpose and its expected achievements. Furthermore, the system of the United Nations was aimed at engaging appropriate international organizations that would support the developing countries especially countries that were developed the least so that they could be able to achieve sustainable development particularly in terms of developing capacity building and making resources efficient.
The Education for Sustainable Development was focused on by United Nations between 2005 to 2014 with an aim of establishing sustainable development that is ideal in every education area and this focused on giving everyone education opportunities, giving then a chance to attain values and knowledge and know more on lifestyles and behavior because these aspects are important when it comes to ensuring a future that is livable. The sector for higher education acknowledged the various international developments related to areas of the sustainable development for over 20 years. Hence, the sector has engaged in these efforts considerably. A lot of colleges and universities worldwide have substantially reduced and critically analyzed the impact of the environment on their operations. Therefore, many have participated in modern learning paradigms through the use of systems thinking.
For instance in United Kingdom, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) produced a document named “Strategic statement and action plan on sustainable development” which touched on the fact that independent institutions for higher learning have to take the major role when it comes to using their importance in the research and teaching centers in their institutions as well as in local communities that surround them. The document highlights particular elements that have to be taken into consideration by the universities when it comes to involving sustainable development in the plans of the institutions.
HEFCE is among the limited agencies worldwide that particularly target the funding of activities such as these an...