15 October 2014: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced it will launch the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the World Conference on ESD, in November 2014. The GAP aims to generate and scale up ESD action at all education levels to accelerate progress towards sustainable development and contribute to the post-2015 development agenda.

At a UNESCO briefing on the Conference in Paris, France, Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education, described the GAP as a concrete step to implement a key outcome of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, and said it will “integrate sustainable development more actively into education beyond the UN Decade of ESD,” which ends in 2014.

UNESCO and the Government of Japan are organizing the conference, which will take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 10-12 November 2014, on the theme, ‘Learning Today for a Sustainable Future.’ The Conference will discuss priority action areas and strategies for the GAP, with the aim of agreeing on a Roadmap through the GAP. Over 1,000 participants, including 68 Ministers, are expected to attend.

More than 300 organizations and individuals from over 70 countries have already made a commitment to support the GAP on ESD, according to UNESCO. The GAP’s objectives are to: reorient education and learning so everyone has the opportunity to acquire the attitudes, knowledge, skills and values to empower them to contribute to sustainable development; and strengthen education and learning in all activities, agendas and programmes that promote sustainable development. The GAP will focus on five areas: advancing policy; integrating sustainability practices into education and training; increasing educators’ and trainers’ capacity; empowering and mobilizing youth; and encouraging municipal authorities and local communities to develop community-based ESD programmes. [UNESCO Press Release] [ESD Website] [UNESCO Webpage on GAP]