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Education for Sustainable Development

April 29, 2021

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Winnipeg School Division Education for Sustainable Development Plan 2019-2021

Roots & shoots

Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is the youth-led community action and learning program of the Jane Goodall Institute. The program builds on the legacy and vision of Dr. Jane Goodall to place the power and responsibility for creating community-based solutions to big challenges in the hands of the young people. Through the program, young people map their community to identify specific challenges their neighborhoods face. From there, they prioritize the problems, develop a plan for a solution, and take action all while developing the skills and attitudes to become part of the next generation of Dr. Jane Goodalls.

WSD schools currently enrolled in the Roots and Shoots program include Lord Selkirk, Robert H. Smith, Meadows West, Greenway and King Edward.

Roots & Shoots

UNESCO Schools

What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable Development involves looking at the equitable distribution of resources, wealth, and power for the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generations. This forward thinking is congruent with the Seventh Generation Philosophy of First Nations in Generation.

What is Education for Sustainable Development?

247fe0a2-b47f-49ad-b9d1-d6e2c50fb637_WSDLordNelsonGardens.jpgEducation for Sustainable Development (ESD) is part of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development declared by the United Nations in 2005. ESD involves reorienting education systems to focus on sustainability through the inter-relationship of the following themes: economy, environment, human health and well-being.

Education for Sustainable Development involves incorporating key themes of sustainability, like poverty alleviation; human rights; health and environmental protection; and climate change, into the education system. ESD is an evolving concept that requires students to learn about these key themes from a social, cultural, environmental, and economic perspective. ESD explores how these factors are inter-related and inter-dependent to achieve human development.

The goal of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is to support the implementation of sustainable development worldwide by incorporating key themes of sustainable development, like economic justice; social justice; and understanding climate change and ecosystem services into the education system.

ESD in the Winnipeg School Division

The Winnipeg School Division believes in developing responsible decision-makers and global citizens, who contribute to the social, cultural, environmental, and economic well-being to ensure a sustainable future for all. "Enough for All Forever" is the Winnipeg School Division’s Education for Sustainable Development definition.

WSD follows these eight guiding principles for practicing sustainability in our schools:

  1. Winnipeg School Division schools and departments strive to follow sustainable practices in the social, environmental, and economic realms.
  2. Winnipeg School Division teaches, encourages, and demonstrates critical thinking about global and environmental issues including inequalities of the sharing distribution of global resources and political power (Manitoba Education).
  3. Students develop the knowledge, the skills, and the values necessary for meaningful participation in global and pluralistic society.
  4. Education for Sustainable Development educates students, staff, and the broader community, of all importance of sustainable living for human survival and the survival of all living things.
  5. Traditional Aboriginal perspectives regarding our relationship with Mother Earth, such as our responsibility to ensure the survival of the Seventh Generation and collective responsibility, are incorporated in the Winnipeg School Division Sustainable Development Plan.
  6. Winnipeg School Division models the principles of sustainability taught in the classroom.
  7. The Winnipeg School Division recognizes the importance of families and values cultural diversity and community partnerships while working toward a sustainable future for all.
  8. Winnipeg School Division practices recognize and support the connection between healthy lifestyles and sustainable living.

Sustainability in action

* LINKS TO SUCCESS STORIES:

ESD story Archive

ESD and Manitoba Education

Manitoba Education encourages a whole school system approach to ESD. A whole school approach, for example, encourages sustainability into all aspects of the school: the curriculum, the school building, and the community surrounding the school. In particular, a whole school approach covers the following: 

Five Domains of Education for Sustainable Development

  • Governance;
  • Curriculum;
  • Capacity Building;
  • Facilities and Operations; and
  • Partnerships

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