Surfers Without Borders

The book "Good Practices Using the Earth Charter", co- published by UNESCO and Earth Charter International, was launched during the 4th Conference on Environmental Education – Tbilisi plus 30- celebrated in Ahmedabad India, in November 2007.

This book is a compilation of twenty seven educational experiences from non-formal, primary and secondary education and higher education. These experiences, from seventeen countries, show how it is possible to put Education for Sustainable Development into practice, using the Earth Charter as a tool.

We are currently seeking partnerships to translate this publication in other languages. Any comments or questions, or, if you want to share your educational experiences with the Earth Charter with us, please contact info@earthcharter.org.

Click here to download the book

Introduction of the book

The overall goal of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) is “to integrate the values inherent
in sustainable development into all aspects of learning to encourage changes in behavior that allow for a more sustainable and just society for all”. A key question that often emerges is: what are the values inherent in  sustainable development that could help us, as human beings, to realize the vision of sustainability?

Increasingly, more groups and individuals around the world are recognizing the Earth Charter as an empowering and practical source of these values. The Earth Charter resulted from a decade-long, worldwide, cross-cultural civil society dialogue to identify the widely shared values and principles of sustainability,  and is being used as a values-based educational tool to guide humanity towards a sustainable future.

As a matter of fact, UNESCO, during its 32nd General Conference in October 2003, adopted a resolution recognizing
the Earth Charter “as an important ethical framework for sustainable development”. The resolution affirms member
states' intentions to “utilize the Earth Charter as an educational instrument, particularly in the framework of the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development”. So, how is this being accomplished?
This publication has been envisioned to offer stories – case studies from around the world – that highlight how
groups and individuals are using the Earth Charter as a tool for education for sustainable development. These stories come  from  non-formal  and  formal  educational  settings  and  describe  a  variety  of  experiences,  including  the development  of  guidebooks  for  primary  school  teachers,  the  inclusion  of  sustainability  values  in  universities’ departments  of  education,  law,  engineering  and  general  studies;  the  reshaping  of  local,  regional  and  national curricula; and, the creation of vital and engaging programs and workshops for children and youth.

The richness and diversity of these stories demonstrate that the Earth Charter’s integrated approach can help to
clarify the vision of a more just, sustainable and peaceful world at the same time as it broadens this vision. These
stories also show that there is no single ‘right way’ of approaching this task – the methods used for bringing the
values of sustainability into educational practices depend on the context, creativity and the level of engagement of
those involved.

In  the  process  of  preparing  this  publication,  a  set  of  criteria  were  developed  to  select  these  stories  which  best responded to the purpose of the ‘good practices’ series, of which this publication is now a part. The following criteria were used for selecting the stories:

• Are values-driven experiences that use the Earth Charter as a framework or tool
• Promote transformative learning – characterized mainly by:

• Promoting ‘learning’ more than ‘teaching’
• Concentrating more on the construction of meaning than on communicating the message
• Promoting the mutual transformation of teachers and learners
• Focusing on local knowledge and community-based decisions and actions
• Orienting learning more towards process than product/result
• Use constructive and participatory methodologies
• Use multiple methods and integrative approaches
Experiences that use interdisciplinary approaches to assess and address issues, drawing upon a variety of
methods: writing, art, drama, debate, scientific analysis, etc.
• Are context specific and action oriented
Experiences  where  teachers  and  students  (and/or  community  members)  are  learning  about  regional,
national  and  global  issues  while  carrying  out  actions  through  field  trips,  projects,  and  community  service
opportunities.
• Are on-going experiences that can also offer ‘lessons learned’

This publication includes twenty-seven illustrative stories from countries around the world. Each one is written by a
different author – a schoolteacher, community activist, youth worker, university member, minister of education, law
professor, teacher trainer, art instructor – and each brings a different experience to light. To build some continuity in
sharing these experiences an effort was made to organize the content of each story around three main sections: (1)
A general description of the experience, including its objectives, duration, target group(s), and information about the
leading  organization(s)  involved;  (2)  A  detailed  explanation  of  the  methodological  aspects  and  activities  of  the experience; and (3) A final section on the conclusions and lessons learned from the experience.

The stories in this collection share a common objective – to contribute to building sustainable societies. We hope
that  you  will  enjoy  the  wide  variety  of  contexts,  objectives  and  methodologies  presented  in  this  publication.
Furthermore, it is our hope that these experiences will stimulate and inspire new efforts to integrate the values of
sustainability into education and into all educational settings across the globe.

UNESCO          
Earth Charter International