The Earth Charter (EC) is "a document crafted by visionaries over twenty years ago with sixteen principles powering a global movement. The EC enunciates the values and principles by which sustainable development can be achieved. When you apply it to your business, school, or community, you begin turning conscience into action to make all life on Earth thrive.'
The purpose of the Earth Charter is "to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a vision of hope and a call to action."
Earth Charter International now has info on speakers and abstracts for their 2024 Earth Charter Conference to take place on April, 12-14, 2024 at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. Among the Conference speakers will be Mary Evelyn Tucker who will "shed light on the imperative of ‘ecological civilization’ as a transformative educational approach for addressing our current challenges." Stay informed by regularly checking EC's continuously updated Speakers and Abstracts Brochure here. Register for the Conference here.
"The activities of the Earth Charter International Education Center highlight the importance of incorporating sustainability values and principles into the processes of learning and decision-making. The Center forges new paths in education for sustainable development, global citizenship education, and makes efforts to connect these with concepts such as planetary well-being and ecological literacy."
"The Center’s work is implemented under the framework of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter, which works to generate educational programs and research activities specifically at the intersection of sustainability, ethics, and education."
In September 2022 the UN organized a “Transforming Education Summit,” convened “in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance”. It emphasized that “many education systems are not providing students with the skills, knowledge, and values needed to face the current challenges."
"The world needs to reimagine the education system.” ~ United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4.7) aims for learners to acquire by 2030, the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including education for sustainable lifestyles, global citizenship, climate justice, gender equality, and so on.
UNESCO’s Futures of Education Initiative produced a report titled Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education. It highlights the importance of considering education as a holistic process, involving the “heart, hands, and mind.” It promotes efforts to rethink content and pedagogy and to support teachers as agents of change.
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