Lecture : 56

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Prof. Atasi Mohanty
IIT Kharagpur
Learning about Sustainability

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• Environmental Sustainability:
• Environmental sustainability creates and sustains the conditions
with which both human and nature can co-exist in a productive
harmony with one another while still being able to maintain social
and economic requirements.
• ➢ Impacts of processes, products, and services on

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• ✓ air,
• ✓ water,

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• ✓ land,
• ✓ biodiversity,
• ✓ human health,
• ✓ Ocean environment,
• ✓ Plantations , etc.
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 Lecture : 57

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Prof. Atasi Mohanty
IIT Kharagpur
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• United Nations alert that education should be a clear priority

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 HESI highlights the role of higher education in building a
better world for current and future generations

On 20 October 2020, the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) raises the
flag of higher education as a driver for sustainable development and inclusive
societies on the first day of the Global Education Meeting 2020.

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https://en.unesco.org/vef/load/35048342f3deb9bd63a05fdcd1bde118?width=696px&height=357

• Sustainable Development Goal 4 is the education-related goal of

the United National 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
adopted in September 2015. Its overall aim is: to: “ensure
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all”.

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• Education 2030 Framework for Action-
• Seven Outcome Targets-
• 4.1 Universal primary and secondary education- By 2030, ensure

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that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary
and secondary education leading to relevant and effective
learning outcomes;
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• 4.2 Early childhood development and universal pre-primary
education- By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to
quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary
education so that they are ready for primary education
• 4.3 Equal success to technical/vocational and higher education- By
2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and
quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
• 4.4 Relevant skills for decent work- By 2030, substantially increase the
number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical
and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
• 4.5 Gender equality and inclusion- By 2030, eliminate gender disparities

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in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and
vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities,
indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations;
• 4.6 Universal youth literacy- By 2030, ensure that all youth and a

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substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy
and numeracy
• 4.7 Citizenship education for sustainable development -By 2030, ensure
that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote
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sustainable development, including, among others, through education
for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights,
gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence,
global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s
contribution to sustainable development.
• Three means of implementation
• 4.a Effective learning environments- Build and upgrade
education facilities that are child, disability and gender
sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and
effective learning environments for all
• 4.b Scholarships -By 2030, substantially expand globally

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the number of scholarships available to developing
countries, in particular least developed countries, small
island developing States and African countries, for

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enrolment in higher education, including vocational
training and information and communications technology,
technical, engineering and scientific programs, in
developed countries and other developing countries
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• 4.c Teachers and educators- By 2030, substantially
increase the supply of qualified teachers, including
through international cooperation for teacher training in
developing countries, especially least developed countries
and small island developing States
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Community-based ESD practices and policy

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Okayama Commitment 2014:Japan Case Study

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• https://www.thinkingsustainably.com/teaching-sustainability/
• Japan , Okayama Commitments :
• Environmental conservation
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR)
• Income generation, entrepreneurship, community development

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• Cultural diversity and dialogue, intergenerational exchange
• Literacy

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• Empowerment

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The Six action principles are:
• Responding to emergent local community issues that
impact on achieving sustainable development
• Engaging with different key players to respond effectively
to the issues identified
• Enabling all those who seek solutions to sustainability
issues to contribute actively to finding them

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• Embedding the principles and practices of ESD in daily life
• Sustaining changes and achievements beyond short-term

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project timelines
• Transforming ourselves, our practices and policies towards
a more sustainable future

• Providing resources
• Networking/partnership
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The four policy support mechanisms, :

• Capacity-building
• Content development
How Education is related to other SDG targets(UNESCO, 2016a)

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 Lecture : 58

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Prof. Atasi Mohanty
IIT Kharagpur
• Holistic, multidisciplinary education that integrates the social,
environmental and economic pillars of sustainability and enables
learners to contribute to more sustainable societies are widely
expected to play a crucial role in addressing these challenges.
• Embarking on the path of sustainable development will require a
profound transformation of how we think and act;
• This kind of transformation can only be accomplished through learning
that fosters critical reflection on the prevailing worldviews and systems

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;
• Education has long played a role in the global development agenda
and has been said to lie at the heart of the Sustainable Development

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Goals (SDGs);
• Addressing complex and multifaceted challenges to sustainability
demands innovative thinking regarding the nature and purpose of
education and learning.
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• Teachers are called upon to translate international policies for
sustainability education into classroom practice, but research shows
that many practicing educators feel unprepared to help learners
develop the competencies needed to forge more sustainable paths
forward.
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is “holistic and
transformational and encompasses learning content and
outcomes, pedagogy, and the learning environment itself”;
• Successful implementation of ESD requires a shift in focus from
teaching to learning and a multidisciplinary approach that
addresses the environmental, economic and social pillars of
sustainability.

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• ESD calls both for integration of key topics, such as climate
change, disaster risk reduction, health and well-being, equity and

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sustainable consumption into the curriculum, and for a shift in
the teacher’s role, from purveyor of knowledge to facilitator of
learning that helps students develop key sustainability
competencies.
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• These competencies represent “the attributes individuals need for
action and self-organization in various complex contexts and
situations”, and they develop from an “interplay of knowledge,
capacities and skills, motives and affective dispositions” as the result of
experience, action, and reflection.
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• Key competencies for sustainability , Source : Rieckmann M. Education for Sustainable Development
Goals: Learning Objectives. Paris: UNESCO; 2017.
• Teachers have been “singled out as the decisive factor when it
comes to success in student learning” and, as translators of ESD
into classroom practice, serve as crucial change agents who
support learners in developing sustainability competencies;
• Fostering these competencies requires integration of three
interrelated dimensions of learning as described by UNESCO.
• Cognitive learning (builds knowledge, understanding, and critical

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thinking)
• Social and emotional learning (develops the awareness and social
skills needed to positively and respectfully relate to others)

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• Behavioral learning (fosters the ability to act effectively and
responsibly from local to international levels to contribute to a
more sustainable world).
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• Recent global survey conducted by UNESCO shows that teachers
feel more comfortable with teaching cognitive skills than with
facilitating the crucially-important social emotional and behavioral
learning needed for collaborative problem solving and taking
action.
• Sustainable development means meeting the needs of all people
now – including protecting the natural habitats that are essential to
our survival – without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
• Teachers help drive and embed behavior change through
integrating learning about this area into teaching, both at a
theoretical and practical level.

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• They can also be role models in changing behavior, for example, by
cycling or walking to school.
• Transformative learning has become one of the most prominent

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learning theory in regard to sustainable development.
• It holds enormous potential for explaining and accompanying
learning processes related to processes of transformation for
sustainability;
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• Transformative learning can be described as a process of changing
deeply held assumptions (i.e., frames of reference or meaning
perspectives) about the world and oneself, thereby strengthening
one’s capacity to contribute to social change processes.
• The Three Pillars of Sustainability
• A core belief of sustainability is that we need to consider ‘three
pillars’ together: society, the economy, and the environment.
• No matter the context, the basic idea remains the same – people,
habitats and economic systems are inter-related.
• If we want to have a go at achieving sustainability, we need to

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think about how the economic, social, and environmental aspects
of any action or decision intersect.
• Focusing on only one of these issues ( profit margins), can lead to

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environmental damages that cost society in the long run.
• But we also need a robust and healthy economy to provide the

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money and resources needed to take care of the environment.
• For this an educated and engaged community to help solve some
of the challenges we are facing because of historical decisions.
• Access to an excellent primary education is vital for giving
people the knowledge, skills, understanding, and values;
they need to make decisions and take actions – all of
which can shape the world.
• People who understand that our environment, economy,
and society are interconnected are much more likely to
make decisions and take actions that improve our quality

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of life without compromising the planet.
• Education for sustainability is a process that engages
people and social groups in learning to live in sustainable

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ways.
• It encompasses a new vision of education that seeks to
empower people of all ages to take responsibility for
creating a sustainable future.
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• Sustainability education teaches how different parts of our
environment are essential for sustaining life, healthy
economies, and thriving communities.
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 Lecture : 59

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Prof. Atasi Mohanty
IIT Kharagpur
• The Frame-Model for Sustainability Competencies
• Regarding the goals or objectives recommended for ESD, two
major sources were identified.
• 1. There is a need to change attitudes among people so that
they are able to assess and address their concerns about

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sustainable development.
• 2. There are goal recommendations which were mostly
developed by researchers from the educational field, and

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which often achieve a higher degree of differentiation; analysis
of existing ESD (learning) goals has revealed a significant deficit
in terms of the operationalization of the ESD output.
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• 3.Without operationalization, and the resulting non-existent
measuring instruments, the needs for ESD and effects of ESD-
related interventions (for example lessons, seminars, projects)
cannot be determined empirically.
• Learning Objectives of Sustainability
• Natural resources help drive economic growth and job creation (including as a
source of food, as materials for use in manufacturing, as a place for tourism, or as
an input to our medicines).
• Our environment provides other essential services that we need to survive – like
clean air, clean water, soil for growing crops, climate regulation and pollination of
plants.
• Time spent in nature leads to improved physical and mental health.

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• We receive other intangible benefits from being in nature, such as stress-relief
through meditation, the inspiration for artworks and a sense of cultural identity.

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• At the same time, sustainability education teaches about the unprecedented
challenges the world is facing today.
• Challenges like climate change, the alarming loss of species and habitats,

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increases in the number and impact of pest species, the growing risk of eco-
refugees and other threats to our health, security, and future survival.
• It helps students understand that how many of the challenges we are facing are
the result of individual and cumulative decisions that failed to consider
sustainability effectively.
• And it helps individuals and communities develop skills to make intelligent,
informed decisions about how they can help take care of the environment.
How can this shortcoming be addressed?

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• Frame-model for the structuring of relevant sustainability
competencies with cognitive, affective-motivational, and
behavioral goal dimensions (GD), and sub competencies on
each level . On the left, the interacting nonspecific
competencies (with regard to sustainability);
• In the sense of hot cognitions ,the affective-motivational
facets of sustainability competencies (Figure 1, field 1b, 2b,
3b) include all affect-, need-, and motivation-related
competency features.

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• These include, among other things, values (such as personal
acceptance of the intergenerational idea of justice or the
personally favored lifestyle), attributions of responsibility or

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attitudes (for example in questions of consumption or
mobility (on Level 1 and 2) and mature epistemological
beliefs about the relativity and situational character of
empirical knowledge in important areas of sustainability on
Level 3).
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• The underlying affective-motivational traits become
progressively more conscious on the way from Level 1 to
Level 3. An affective goal commitment or a positively
assessed sequence of actions is the core of any motivation,
without which an action will not be performed.
• German Research Study:
• Research Question 1: What is the present state of (lower
secondary) student sustainability competencies in Germany
(Baden-Wuerttemberg) after the implementation of ESD as a
new guiding principle?
• Research Question 2: What kinds of subscales can be
developed and used to capture sustainability competencies?
• The measurement instrument presented here provides a

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valuable starting point for further test extension, e.g., for
assessing learning progression, to assess the development of
competencies in multilevel analysis or longitudinal studies.

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• Results revealed some first insights into the interactions of
different socio-demographical aspects with the different
sustainability competency dimensions.
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• In future studies it will be interesting to explore the role of
the interactions of the different facets of sustainability
competencies in more depth and compare them to other
findings of relevant research in the field of for example
psychology for sustainability to further explore the
interconnections.
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 An ESD Indicator for Teacher Training & the National Monitoring for ESD:
Implementation in Germany

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Categories of the coding procedure for analyzing the TT course descriptions with nine
categories validated and tested by external ESD experts.( Source: Sustainability 2018, 10, 2508 7 of 17)
Thematic indicator framework : Education 2030 Framework for Action
Source: UNESCO

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• Teacher Education for Sustainable Development in
Germany :
• Learning objectives for teachers to promote ESD
• 1. Know about sustainable development, the different SDGs
and the related topics and challenges
• 2. Understand the discourse on and the practice of ESD in its

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local, national and global context
• 3. Develop their own integrative view of the issues and

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challenges of sustainable development by taking into account
the social, ecological, economic and cultural dimensions from
the perspective of the principles and values of sustainable

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development including that of intergenerational and global

• 4. Take disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary

perspectives on issues of global change and their local
manifestations
• Reflect on the concept of sustainable development, the
challenges in achieving the SGDs, the importance of their own
field of expertise for achieving the SDGs and their own role in
this process
• Reflect on the relationship of formal, non-formal and informal
learning for sustainable development, and apply this knowledge
in their own professional work

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• Understand how cultural diversity, gender equality, social
justice, environmental protection and personal development are

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integral elements of ESD and how to make them a part of
educational processes
• Practice an action-oriented transformative pedagogy that

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engages learners in participative, systemic, creative and
innovative thinking and acting processes in the context of local
communities and learners’ daily lives
• Act as a change agent in a process of organizational learning
that advances their school towards sustainable development
• Identify local learning opportunities related to sustainable development
and build cooperative relationships
• Evaluate and assess the learners’ development of cross-cutting
sustainability competencies and specific sustainability-related learning
outcomes
• Possible modules of a teacher education curriculum with ESD as a key
element.

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• Basic concepts of sustainable development from a local, national and
international perspective
• ESD concepts from a local, national and international perspective

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• Disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary views of key examples
of sustainability challenges

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• Project-oriented work on specific problems of local, national and global
importance in cooperation with educational institutions and other (local)
partners
• Research-based analysis of ESD processes in different learning settings
(such as schools, colleges or non-formal educational institutions)
• Practical experiences with ESD approaches and their critical reflection
 UNESCO ESD Sourcebook (UNESCO 2012), whole-school approaches

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• The formal curriculum contains knowledge, skills,
perspectives and values related to sustainability.
• Learning includes real-life issues to enhance pupils’
motivation and learning.
• The school has a sustainability ethos, which can be seen in
the treatment of others, school property, and the

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environment.
• School management practices reflect sustainability.
• School policies reflect environmental, social, and economic

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sustainability.
• Interactions between the school and community are
fostered.
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• Special events and extra-curricular activities apply and
enhance classroom learning about sustainability.
• Pupils engage in decision-making affecting school life.
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https://en.unesco.org/news/united-nations-alert-education-should-be-clear-

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priority
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8aXSTN71MY

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https://en.unesco.org/news/sdg4youth-network-positioning-
students-and-youth-front-and-centre-sdg4
https://en.unesco.org/news/global-media-and-information-
literacy-week-media-and-information-literacy-public-good

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• Perspectives of Sustainable Development
• 1. To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality
of life for all people, countries should reduce and eliminate
unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and
promote appropriate demographic policies.
• 2. Women play a vital role in environmental management
and development. Their full participation is therefore

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essential to achieving sustainable development.
• 3. Warfare is inherently destructive to sustainable
development. Peace, development and environmental

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protection are interdependent and indivisible.
• 4.A systems thinking approach , rather than an approach
that looks at problems in isolation should be used.
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Sustainability issues are linked and part of a “whole.”
• 5.Understanding local issues in a global context and
recognizing that solutions to local problems can have global
consequences.
• 6.Realizing that individual consumer decisions affect and give
rise to resource extraction and manufacturing in distant places.
• 7.Considering differing views before reaching a decision or
judgement.
• 8.Recognizing that economic values, religious values, and
societal values compete for importance as people with different

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interests and backgrounds interact.
• 9.Seeing all humans as having universal attributes.

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• 10. Knowing that technology and science alone cannot solve all
of our problems.
• 11.Emphasizing the role of public participation in community
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and governmental decision-making. People whose lives will be
affected by decisions must be involved in the process leading to
the decisions.
• 12.Calling for greater transparency and accountability in
governmental decision-making.
• 12.Employing the precautionary principle – taking action to avoid the
possibility of serious or irreversible environmental or social harm even
when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.
• Therefore, educators, leaders, and citizens recognize that sustainable
development is an evolving concept and that the list of sustainability
perspectives can therefore grow and change.
• Governments and civil society as well as individuals must hold the

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responsibility for a more sustainable future. All must contribute in
their own way.
• Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD states that:

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• ESD allows every human being to acquire the knowledge , skills,
values and attitudes that empower them to contribute to sustainable

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development and take informed decisions and responsible actions for
environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for
present and future generations. ESD promotes skills like critical
thinking, understanding complex systems, imagining future scenarios,
and making decisions in a participatory and collaborative way
(UNESCO, 2014b: 33).
Development of sustainability competencies:
The GAP highlights learning outcomes that stimulate learning and
promote core competencies, such as ‘critical and systemic
thinking, collaborative decision-making, and taking responsibility
for present and future generations’ (UNESCO, 2014b: 12).
Key competencies for sustainable development
(Wiek et al., 2016):

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• Anticipatory competency: the ability to understand and
evaluate
multiple futures – possible, probable and desirable – and to

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create
one’s own visions for the future, to apply the precautionary
principle, to assess the consequences of actions, and to deal with
risks and changes;
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• Normative competency: the ability to understand and reflect on
the norms and values that underlie one’s actions and to negotiate
sustainability values, principles, goals and targets, in a context
of conflicts of interests and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and
contradictions;
• Strategic competency: the ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions
that further sustainability at the local level and further a field;
• Collaboration competency: the ability to learn from others; understand and respect the
needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy);understand, relate to and be
sensitive to others (empathic leadership),deal with conflicts in a group; and facilitate
collaborative and participatory problem-solving;

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• Critical thinking competency: the ability to question norms, practices and opinions; reflect
on own one’s values, perceptions and actions; and take a position in the sustainability
discourse;

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• Self-awareness competency: the ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local
community and (global) society, continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions,

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and deal with one’s feelings and desires;
• Integrated problem-solving competency: the overarching ability to apply different
problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable,
inclusive and equitable solution that promote sustainable development – integrating the
above-mentioned competencies.
Key competencies and performance of sustainability citizens
Source: (A. Leicht, J. Heiss and W. J. Byun (eds) © UNESCO 2018)

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Implications of ESD for the practice of education and pedagogy
Whole-institution approach

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Education for Sustainable Development
aims to raise knowledge, awareness and action
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 Lecture : 60

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Prof. Atasi Mohanty
IIT Kharagpur
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• According to (Mohanty,2019) ‘Sustainable Education’ model
the vital components are, i.e., the three drivers – Driver1-
Profit, Driver 2 – people, Driver 3 – the planet would be like-
the 1st component Driver – 1 is the ‘Ministry of Human
Resource Development’ (MHRD) of Govt. of India as the major
policymaker, decision-taking body and economic resource

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provider for running a centralized board of education in the
country; hence called the ‘Profit’/Prosperity.
• The 2nd Driver is ‘people’ engaged in the education sector,

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the human resources (all direct and indirect stakeholders) of
our school education system (primary or secondary level of
school education);
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• the 3rd Driver is ‘planet’ the education set up, school
environment or can be called the “educational ecosystem” to
carry on all the teaching – memorizing activities and
educational administrations / transactions.
• All these three drivers (profit, people and planet) are expected to work together
harmoniously to make the education system a sustainable one.
• Thus, the objective of Driver 1 (profit) would be – “Ensuring learning outcomes
through effective curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and technology”.
• The objective/ focus of Driver 2 – (people) would be – “Enhancing educational human
resource competencies through training and practices”.
• The objective/ focus of Driver 3 – (planet) would be – “Strengthening the educational

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eco-system through good infrastructure and technology access.
• New challenges to learning are emerging and 21st century education must address to
these and contribute to greater humanity in a rapidly changing world (UNESCO, 2015).

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• Education has been called upon to support this transformation (WBGU 2011).
• The 2005 to 2014 ‘U.N. Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ (DESD)
confirmed that ESD would enable us “to constructively and creatively address present
and future global challenges and create more sustainable and resilient societies ”(
UNESCO 2017).
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• ESD needs to be built on transformative learning and explicitly inculcate critical
reflection on values.
• At the same time, transformative learning should not be used to regulate learners but
to empower them for autonomous critical action.
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• Conclusion
• In the recent years, sustainability has become a slogan for
raising social, economic and environmental awareness.
• Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play an important role in
promoting development principles and practices.

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• In addition to educating students on sustainability topics, these
institutions should take on a leadership role in incorporating
sustainable practices into their services and operations and in

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transforming their local and regional communities into more
sustainable communities.

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• Acknowledging the urgent need for Sustainable development
and the importance of research in this process, universities and
their researchers bear the fundamental and moral responsibility
to contribute with their research to Sustainable development.
• The Role of Institutions
• The presence of a new international agreement or a new
legislation alone is not enough to guarantee action.
• The SDGs’ ambitious vision must be converted into specific
action plans and must find a foothold in existing

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institutions of governance to have impact.
• It takes time for global and regional institutions to
change;

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• it takes longer for all national policy priorities, legislations,
planning cycle institutional arrangements, programs , and

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modes of working to be dovetailed with the new
paradigm, and for human, financial, and technical
capacities to be put in place.
• For implementation to happen in an effective manner ,
governments must invest resources and time for:
• Awareness raising, both among citizens at large, but also more
critically among those tasked with the Agenda’s implementation.
• The need for strengthening awareness of the specifics of the
Agenda among policy makers, senior officials, and front-line
workers responsible for policy implementation.
• Developing the ability to exercise the right to education through
modifying existing national policies, legislations , and plans in line

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with new SDG commitments, allotting funds necessary for their
implementation, strengthening implementation mechanisms, and
strengthening monitoring systems.

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• Strengthening their ability to enforce the right to education
through strengthening existing redress and state accountability

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mechanisms.
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Building a wider community of SDG supporters that can push for
the Agenda’s implementation by creating enabling environments
for civil society and citizen participation in the governance
processes.
• Developing Discourse: A Way Forward
• In a challenging environment marked by, among other issues, climate
change and environmental degradation, the Global economy is
undergoing significant transformations.
• The green transition and the move towards sustainability, including
the objective of achieving climate neutrality, are affecting how people
live and work and changing skills requirements.

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• Against this background, action is needed in the education and
training sector to support the green transition and develop the
sustainability competences of learners.

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• Although there is increasing activity in education and training on the
environment and sustainability, learning for sustainability is not yet a
systematic feature of education policy and practice across the
countries.
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• The UNESCO is seeking to support Member countries in their efforts
to integrate sustainability into curricula, educational practice and
professional development of educators and to ensure that learners of
all ages are equipped with the knowledge to live more sustainably,
develop a sense of agency and acquire the skills increasingly needed in
the labour market.
• Emphasis is also placed on greening the activities and operations
of the education and training systems.
• The UNESCO has highlighted the key role of education and training
in delivering a more sustainable economy and society and
providing people with the skills they need to participate in the
green transition.
• Learning for environmental sustainability should be mainstreamed

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across educational curricula with a lifelong learning perspective.
• Active support should be given to teachers and trainers to ensure

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they are prepared and upskilled for the digital and green
transformation of schools and education institutions.
• In 2021, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational
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Training published a skills forecast scenario on the likely
employment and skills implications of the European Green
Deal/EGD.
• EGD also advocates for Green Competences.
• Green-Comp is 'A sustainability competence that empowers learners to
embody sustainability values, and embrace complex systems, in order to take
or request action that restores and maintains eco-system health and enhances
justice, generating visions for sustainable futures.‘
• Green-Comp identifies four competence areas; sustainability as a competence
encompasses all four areas together.
• Each area covers three competences that are sub-elements of the
sustainability competence.

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• For instance, the 'embracing complexity in sustainability' competence area,
which includes the 'systems thinking', 'critical thinking' and 'problem framing'
competences, is about empowering learners to better see the connections

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between specific issues and environmental changes.
• This in turn can help to correctly map challenges as a sustainability problem
and take action.

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• As another competence area, 'acting for sustainability', which includes the
'policy agency', 'collective action' and 'individual initiative' competences,
encourages learners to act individually and collectively to shape sustainable
futures, and to demand action from those responsible to tackle sustainability
problems.
• Taxonomy of skills for the green transition
• In 2022, the European Commission published a
taxonomy(classification system) of skills for the green
transition in the multilingual classification of Skills,
Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO).
• The classification, including 381 skills, 185 knowledge
concepts, and five transversal skills, contributes to a

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common understanding of what skills are needed to
meet the labour market requirements in the context of a
successful and fair green transition.

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• ESCO also specifies what skills and knowledge concepts
are essential or optional for specific occupations.
• Examples of skills labelled as 'green' include how to

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conduct energy audits and measure the sustainability of
tourism activities, while 'green knowledge' concepts
include, for instance, emission standards and ecological
principles. 'Green transversal skills' cover, among other
things, the evaluation of how personal behavior affects
the environment.
• References
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8aXSTN71MY
• https://en.unesco.org/news/global-media-and-information-literacy-week-media-and-
information-literacy-public-good
• file:///C:/Users/Prof.%20Atasi%20Mohanty/Desktop/ESD%20&%20SDG%204-

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2022/SDG4%E2%80%99s%2010%20targets%20_%20Global%20Campaign%20For%20Educa
tion.html

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• https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/post-covid-19-and-sdg4-window-of-opportunity-or-of-
opportunism/
• https://en.unesco.org/news/united-nations-alert-education-should-be-clear-priority
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