Experiential Learning and Education for Sustainable Development: Primary Schools in Hong Kong

By Melisa C Baldwick

‘We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.’

– Terry Swearingen, Nurse & Winner of Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997

Table of Contents

1.     Introduction: The Importance of ESD

2.     Definitions

3.     Historical Snapshot

4.     Examples of ESD Programmes in Hong Kong

4.1. Energy Monitoring and Management

4.2. Experiential Learning and Environmental Education

4.3. ESD Project Schools

5.     Implementation

6.     Conclusion

7.     References

8. About the Author

1. Introduction: The Importance of ESD

7 billion and growing. The number of people living on Earth. But, unfortunately, not a growing number of resources. According to the United Nations (UN) (2017), by 2030 there will be another 1 billion people living on our planet. If humans want to be able to live with the necessities that are desired and leave enough for future generations, then there needs to be a shift in education so that it becomes more focused on sustainability. This view is supported by the research done by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (2004) that ranked priorities to support Hong Kong in moving closer to sustainable development. The findings revealed that the educational system is the most important factor. In particular, ‘innovative teaching methods and comprehensive personal development are the important issues within education that should be improved’ (Luo et al., n/d, p. 58). In this regard, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) becomes critical at all levels of education as it aims ‘to empower learners to transform themselves and the society they live in by developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, competencies and values’ (UNESCO, 2014). 

The focus of this entry is on how ESD is being taught in primary schools in Hong Kong, both in international and local schools, using experiential learning as a lens. Recent literature is limited on research into primary schools and ESD in Hong Kong. Noting this, the encyclopedia entry attempts to examine how experiential education has been combined with the in-school primary curriculum to effectively teach ESD. Presented first are the definitions of the terms ESD and experiential learning. Following that is a snapshot of the history of ESD in Hong Kong. Next, the entry provides examples of experiential learning being used to teach ESD. Lastly, the entry examines how ESD can be better implemented into primary schools.

 2. Definitions

ESD can be defined in a number of ways, making it no exception of terms used in the social sciences. Arguments circulate that when ESD is broken down by context it becomes an ‘empty signifier’ eventually lessening any chance of it being defined and understood because in some sense the term relies on openness to be understood by the masses (Bengtsson and Ostman, 2013). A challenge faced by educators and researchers in the field of ESD is the array of definitions, some of which are complementary, some of which are contradictory, and some that have evolved over time (Jackson, 2018). This entry relies on the definition developed by UNESCO (2014) that sees ESD as lifelong learning that allows learners to make informed decisions and responsible actions for the environment, the economy, and society. ESD is transformative and holistic, and involves changes in content knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours (UNESCO, 2014). This broad definition allows ESD to be defined within different contexts in order for it to make the most difference locally.

Similarly, experiential education has been very broadly defined: from John Dewey in the early 20th century (Colucci-Gray, 2011) promoting the importance of experiences in the classroom to defining experiential education as service learning, community service, volunteerism, field education, and internships (Sigmon, 1997). For example, the Education Bureau curriculum documents encourage that assignments should have a ‘relevance to daily life’ (2017, p. 150) and offers example of experiential learning involving taking students on field trips, service learning, and cross-border exchange programmes. This entry adopts the definition that experiential learning is learning through an experience.

A number of studies highlight and maintain the importance of real-world experiences in ESD (Wiek et al., 2009). Kaye (2012) identified a number of benefits from participating in experiential learning and service learning. They include a growth of application skills; development of research skills and higher order thinking in students; increased student voice (agency);  an awareness of the purposeful process seen by students; and increased reflection on and value of the intrinsic successes over extrinsic rewards in students. A plethora of studies have found that students gain more understanding of concepts connected to sustainability when participating in real world learning experiences (Brundiers et al., 2010; Kaye 2009; Molderez and Elsa Fonseca 2018). 

Linking the concepts of ESD and experiential education together is the renowned definition of ESD by Scott and Vare (2007) which identifies two types of ESD: ESD1 and ESD2. The first category, ESD1 is based on curriculum knowledge. It involves promoting changes in student thinking and behaviour. It is learning for sustainable development. ESD2 encompasses applying skills, thinking critically, especially about contradictions, and taking action. It is learning assustainable development. The standpoint is that ESD1 and ESD2 can be taught simultaneously, as they complement each other. Experiential education can be the perfect ESD2 to complement ESD1, the taught curriculum.

3.   Historical Snapshot

In 1992, the Curriculum Development Council issued Guidelines on Environmental Education in schools. In 1999, these guidelines were revised following the Environmental Campaign Committee’s push to involve young people in green activities. In 2003-2004, 8 projects were funded by the Sustainable Development Fund in Hong Kong. Specifically related to education was the Education for Sustainable Development Project. The project lasted 20 months and included almost 50 primary schools. The project’s goal was to develop teaching and learning resources to support school curriculums in developing a framework for ESD as well as to increase awareness and knowledge for all stakeholders in education, teachers, parents, students, and community helpers. A final goal was to give students more opportunity in community problem solving and environmental improvement. The project involved training for members of the school community (teachers, helpers, parents), workshops, and creating an online resource database (Lee et al., 2009).  Presently, the Education Bureau (EDB) of Hong Kong includes ESD as a concept to be specifically taught as part of the General Studies curriculum (EDB, 2017).

4.   Examples of ESD Programmes in Hong Kong

4.1.  Energy Monitoring and Management

An article by Bray in the South China Morning Post (2018) detailed an international school that uses a stop light system in their classroom. The light would alert the students when their energy usage had switched from being powered by renewable energy to being powered by the fossil-fuel grid. When the light changed from green to yellow, the students rushed around the classroom to turn off lights or air-conditioners to immediately change their environmental impact.

Another school identified by Lee and colleagues (2009) took ESD beyond the classroom. Teachers led their students to implement sustainable development auditing in the school. Students were accountable to report on their findings and bring their concerns to the heads of school. They looked into how money saved from energy could be reinvested into student activities. Students went beyond collecting data and used a variety of skills to draw conclusions from the data and to make recommendations about sustainable development within their school.

4.2.  Experiential Learning and Environmental Education

Lee and colleagues (2000) conducted case studies of primary schools in Hong Kong looking at how Environmental Education (EE) (considered part of ESD) could be incorporated in the current curriculum. Teachers wanted a way to fit EE into the already full curriculum, without compromising other learning areas. The authors looked at three schools that had made themselves reputable for their EE.

One school initiated a four-day programme which involved environmental activities being taught in separate subjects, such as Mathematics, English, and Music. Specifically connected to experiential education, older students went to collect water samples and study the pollution in their area. Another school focused on experiential learning by running a four-month long project encouraging students to get involved in environmental competitions. Some competitions required students to change their behaviour, such as adopting energy saving methods. The school also recognised environmentally friendly homes. In addition to this, the students planted vegetables onsite and collected newspapers to be recycled.

These experiential learning activities resulted in students being more likely to take on environmental responsibility and to adopt pro-environment behaviour. Their creativity was enhanced by being involved in slogan design and green products, and their application skills were enhanced as they used what they learned in the classroom in their environmental projects.

The aforementioned learning experiences did not encompass the other pillars of sustainability. Absent were the social and economic concepts that are the other two pillars of sustainable development. As this article intended to look at ESD in full, the relevant EE curriculum activities can still be considered as useful examples of experiential learning.

4.3.  ESD Project Schools

The case studies mentioned in the book Schooling for Sustainable Development in Chinese Communities (Lee et al., 2009) were of one to three grades in different primary schools in Hong Kong. The schools considered were involved in the ESD Project mentioned in the history section of this entry (see section 3). This project intended to develop web-based resources for teaching and learning, increase awareness of sustainable development, and to empower primary schools in community issues and improving their community. After reviewing the three cases, a general trend was revealed that teachers preferred to integrate ESD into the general studies area of the curriculum. Many of the primary schools had introduced project-based learning with some enquiry as a way to teach ESD, as this was a new curriculum initiative in Hong Kong at the time.

5. Implementation

All of these are examples of differing levels of experiential learning used to teach ESD. Another question remains, how can it be implemented? Looking at Hong Kong with its heavy content-based curriculum, it has been proposed that ESD should be used as a guiding principle to enhance learning and integrate it into different parts of the curriculum (Lee et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2016). This falls in line with ESD2, in that it is not only content based, but also skills based. Evidenced before, project-based learning can help serve that learning with a purpose, similar to experiential learning.

Is this solely the responsibility of teachers? Kaye (2012) recommended that every stakeholder be involved, from the principal to the administration staff to the cleaners. It should be a top down and bottom up implementation, as a whole school approach, involving the ethos and structure of schools (UNESCO, 2014). This is important because a ‘successful transformative ESD implementation strategy should focus on school organisation qualities that integrate internal and external ESD approaches’ (Morgren and Gericke, 2017, p.1010). Additionally, a strong leader to direct the vison of ESD is a necessity (Breiting et al., 2005; Owens and Valesky, 2007; Scott, 2013). The ideal implementation of the aforementioned ideas would mean that policy would be reflected in practice. Ultimately, teachers will do what they see fit in their classroom. Educating teachers about ESD and engaging them in lifelong learning could be a possible solution to this issue (Kwo, 2011). Similar to students, educating teachers using experiential learning and concepts from ESD1 and ESD2 could lead teachers to be more likely to instill these values and practices in the classroom. As Lee and colleagues (2009) rightly point out,

 . . . the professional development of teachers for ESD is of paramount importance. Such professional development activities, however, need to be less theoretical and more practical so that teachers are enabled to understand and apply the concepts of ESD into their teaching and learning practices. (p. 193)

6.   Conclusion

ESD is quickly becoming a necessity in education. Not only for teaching essential knowledge and skills, but also as a way to continue to grow economies and create healthy societies without threatening the planet’s environment. This entry began by looking back at ESD, then defining the key terms of ESD and experiential education. Next it was explained how these concepts can work together to teach ESD by giving examples of experiential learning being used to teach ESD in primary schools. The last section focused on recommendations and obvious challenges faced by schools to implement ESD. To conclude, it is evident that experiential learning lends itself to be a pedagogy utilised when teaching ESD. Not only does it reinforce the values and awareness of ESD1, but it also exercises the skills and action taking learned in ESD2. Experiential learning can thus be an optimal tool when teaching ESD.

7. References

Bengtsson, S.L., & Ostman, L.O. (2013). Globalisation and Education for Sustainable Development: Emancipation from Context and Meaning. Environmental Education Research 19(4), 477 - 498.

Bray, M. (2008, June 4). How Two Green Schools in Hong Kong are Teaching Sustainability to Children and Leading the Way in Local Education Community. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from:https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2148898/how-two-green-schools-hong-kong-are-teaching-sustainability-children-and

Breiting, S, Mayer, M., & Mogensen, F. (2005) Environment and School Initiatives. Quality criteria for ESD-Schools 2005. Retrieved from https://www.ensi.org/global/downloads/Publications/208/QC-GB.pdf

Brundiers, K., Wiek, A., & Redman, C.L. (2010). Real-world Learning Opportunities in Sustainability: From Classroom into the Real World. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(4), 308-324. doi: 10.1108/14676371011077540

Colucci-Gray, L. (2011). Experiential Education. In Newman, J. (Ed.) Green Education: An A-to-Z Guide (The SAGE Reference Series on Green Society Toward a Sustainable Future) (pp. 169-172). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Education Bureau (EDB). (2017). General Studies Curriculum Guide for Primary Schools (Primary 1-Primary 6). Retrieved from https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/cross-kla-studies/gs-primary/GSCG_2017_Eng.pdf

Jackson, L. (2018). Education for Sustainable Development: From Environmental Education to Broader Views. In I. Management Association (Ed.). Sustainable Development: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1-25). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-3817-2.ch001

Kaye, C. (2009). Service-Learning: The Time is Now. Middle Ground, 13(2), 10-12. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.eproxy.lib.hku.hk/docview/216684714?accountid=14548 

Kaye, C. (2012). Greening the Curriculum by Combining Green Learning and Service Learning, Schools can Improve Student Learning and Remake their Communities. The Education Digest, 78(2), 10-15. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.eproxy.lib.hku.hk/docview/1081805070?accountid=14548

Kwo, O. (2011). Strategic Action for Teacher Education in ESD: A Framework for a UNESCO-Led Leadership Force. Paris: UNESCO.

Lee, J., Lam, W., & Williams, M. (2009). The Education for Sustainable Development Project in Hong Kong. In J. Lee, & M. Williams. (Eds.), Schooling for Sustainable Development in Chinese Communities (pp. 157 - 176). Springer.

Lee, S.W., Ma, S.C.W., & Lee, N. (2016). Practicing the Integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the School Curriculum. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 18(4), 219 - 245.  

Lee, J.C., Wong, H., & Lo, L.N. (2000) Education for Sustainability in Primary Schools in Hong Kong. Education, 3-13, 28 (2), 40-45. doi: 10.1080/03004270085200201

Lee, J., Williams, M., & Lam, W. (2009). Case Studies from the Education for Sustainable Development Project in Hong Kong. In J. Lee, & M. Williams. (Eds.), Schooling for Sustainable Development in Chinese Communities (pp. 177 - 193). Springer.

Lee, S. & Lee, N. (2016). Practicing the Integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the School Curriculum. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 18(4), 219-245.

Luo, J, Ngok, L., & Qiu, H. (n.d.). Education for Sustainable Development in Hong Kong: A Review of UNESCO Hong Kong’s Experimental Schools. Public Administration and Policy, 18(1), 48 - 61. Retrieved from http://journal.hkpaa.org.hk/index.php/paap-journal/spring-2015/doc_download/104-education-for-sustainable-development-in-hong-kong-a-review-of-unesco-hong-kong-s-experimental-schools

Molderez, I. & Fonseca, E. (2018). The Efficacy of Real-world Experiences and Service Learning for Fostering Competences for Sustainable Development in Higher Education. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 4397-4410. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.062

Mogren, A. & Gericke, N. (2017). ESD Implementation at the School Organisation Level. Part 2 – Investigating the Transformative Perspective in School Leaders’ Quality Strategies at ESD Achools. Environmental Education Research, 23(7), 993-1014. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2016.1226266

Owens, C.R., & Valesky, T.C. (2007). Organisational Behaviour in Education: Adaptive Leadership and School Reform(p. 267 - 293). USA: Pearson

Scott, W. (2013). Developing the Sustainable School: Thinking the Issues Through. The Curriculum Journal, 24(2), 181–205. doi: 10.1080/09585176.2013.781375

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017, June 21). World Population Projected to Reach 9.8 Billion in 2050, and 11.2 Billion in 2100. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html

Vare, P. & Scott, W. (2007). Learning for a Change: Exploring the Relationship between Education and Sustainable Development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 1(2), 191–198. doi: 10.1177/097340820700100209

 8. About the Author

Melisa C Baldwick

MEd, The University of Hong Kong

Email: mbaldwick@gmail.com

The Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education and Teacher Training in Uzbekistan

By Khaydarov Sherzod

Table of Content

1. Introduction

2. The Role of the Government in the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan

3. The Incorporation of ESD in Higher Education and Teacher Training Institutions in Uzbekistan

3.1. ESD Implementation in Higher Education 

3.2. ESD Implementation in Teacher Training Institutions 

4. Challenges and Recommendations 

5. Conclusion

6. References

7. About the Author

1.     Introduction

Education for sustainable development (ESD), its implementation and its efficiency to build sustainable communities, is a major concern for researchers and policymakers. The announcement of 2005-2014 as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) by the United Nations (UN) encouraged worldwide implementation of practices intended to contribute to sustainable development. The central goal of DESD was to facilitate the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals and to advance ESD globally (UNESCO, 2009). In 2015, the UN launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an extension of MDGs. However, various controversial opinions arose regarding the concepts of ESD in respect of environmental education (EE), considerations of neoliberal ideology, and, more importantly, contextual differences in use (Jickling and Wals, 2008; Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien, 2005; Kopnina, 2012). Although authors expressed their worries by claiming that EE’s eco-centric perspective might be deterred with the emergence of ESD, this entry’s argument is grounded on McKeown and Hopkins’ (2003) perspective, which envisions the relationship between the two as healthy and symbiotic. 

UNESCO (2009) highlighted that the integration of ESD in education should be based on the settings and circumstances of each sub-region or country. Uzbekistan (Figure 1) started implementing ESD within its own context in cooperation with international organisations (IOs). This study aims to examine the endeavours to implement ESD in Uzbekistan. The entry focuses on higher education (HE) and teacher training institutions (TTIs), because these stages are efficient ways of disseminating SDGs by preparing future teachers and training current ones. The most challenging aspect of this topic is a research gap on an academic level; therefore, this entry relies on reports and resources of IOs. It serves to fill aninformation gap which can be helpful for students, teachers, and researchers who refer to Uzbekistan.

Figure 1. The map of Uzbekistan (Retrieved from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/uzbekistan-political-map.htm).

2. The Role of the Government in the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s current state of economic transition is facing multiple challenges, but the most salient is the environmental challenge. The Aral Sea catastrophe, one of the worst man-made ecological disasters (Figure 2), has led Uzbekistan to prioritise water policy. Being a double land-locked country, Uzbekistan has to rely on its restricted water resources to support sustainability in agriculture, the backbone of its economy. Therefore, SD became a priority direction in the development of the country and ESD has become one of the significant tools in raising awareness of the emerging environmental challenges.

Figure 2. The Aral Sea Disaster (Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/place/Aral-Sea).

As a member of the world community, Uzbekistan embarked on the policy for Sustainable Development (SD) in 1997 by establishing the National Commission for Sustainable Development to achieve the tasks set in the Agenda for the 21stcentury and the World Summit on SD in Johannesburg (Country Profile, 2002). This was followed by the adoption of the ‘State Strategy for Sustainable Development’ in 1999 (Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), 2009). However, economic and agricultural recessions in the early years of independence caused shortages in funding for SD activities; thus the government relied on the aid of IOs, such as UNESCO, UNDP, and the World Bank (CAREC, 2006).

In 2005, the National Commission for SD and its operational working group was abolished and its functions were allocated to a department in the Cabinet of Ministers. CAREC (2009) also stated that the authorisation of ESD into education systems had a ‘declarative character’, and in fact little was done practically (p. 48). Even though the ‘Concept of Education for Sustainable Development’ was adopted by Uzbekistan in 2011 (Vlek et al., 2017). Azizov (2016) reported that the integration of ESD in the curriculum was partial and not implemented in practice. Furthermore, the term ‘sustainability’ cannot be found in any of the state curricula of primary, secondary or higher education. These curricula may characterise some universal notions of ESD, but they cover only basic knowledge with a limited number of hours. 

3. The Incorporation of ESD in Higher Education and Teacher Training Institutions in Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, there are 78 tertiary institutions administered by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education and 16 teacher training institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education. The implementation of ESD in HE and TTIs is mainly related to ESD’s environmental dimension. EE is compulsory in all tertiary institutions due to the law on the ‘Nature Protection’ of Uzbekistan in 1992. EE existed long before in higher education curriculum.

3.1. ESD Implementation in Higher Education

There are two examples of integrating ESD at the tertiary level. The first is a partnership between the National University of Uzbekistan and the National Commission of the Republic for UNESCO. In cooperation, they established ‘the Coordination Council for EE and ESD’ which dealt with organising forums and seminars to introduce the goals of ESD, preparing Uzbek translation of multimedia programs for teaching and learning, and creating ESD guidebooks for teachers (UNESCO, 2013). The second is the launch of the UNESCO Chair on ESD at the State University of Urgench in 2011, to promote research, create a database on the subject, prepare and train staff, and establish cooperation between distinguished foreign researchers and the teachers of national universities ‘within the framework of train-the-trainers module’ in the field. (UNESCO, 2013, p. 27). Another major goal of this collaboration was to study and investigate the environmental conditions of the regions surrounding the Aral Sea. 

All regional universities provide bachelor’s courses on Ecology, Environment or Nature, and most technical universities have environmental engineering specialties. However, UNECE (2010) observed that no university curricula has fields of study such as ‘Environmental monitoring’, ‘Environmental Law’ or ‘Environmental Management’ despite being core courses of environmental studies. This is a very critical omission in the curricula, as the majority of specialists working for the government and non-government organisations will have to increase their qualifications by studying abroad. From the given examples, it is apparent that current curricula largely focus on environmental protection, but do not address other concepts of ESD. CAREC (2006) attributed the issue to lack of awareness of university teachers and administration about SD.

By contrast, Azizov (2016) asserted that ESD was partly integrated into subjects of ‘Ecology’ and ‘The Protection of the Environment’ in pedagogical institutions andpointed out that the syllabus included some general ESD notions, such as gender equality, HIV/AIDS prevention, and health. However, ESD’s aim of ‘capacity building’ (Vare and Scott, 2007) of individuals was overlooked by authorities and therefore by most students, and even teachers. 

3.2.ESD Implementation in Teacher Training Institutions

Despite the fact that tertiary institutions have general EE classes, graduating future educators are not well trained to include ESD concepts in their practice. Therefore, training current and early career teachers has become the task of TTIs. However, ESD at TTIs is also still focused on environmental topics (UNECE, 2009). This can be explained in the same way that was mentioned above, in the example of HE.  However, the EE of TTIs is slightly different from HE courses, because the duration of teacher training courses is limited to one month. Thus, the task of training for ESD is an extra load to in-service training courses. As the time frame of training cannot cover complete training of ESD, these courses are mostly restricted to delivering only the basics of ESD within several hours of training. One of the leading TTIs in Tashkent reported that they had only an eight-hour program of ESD training (UNESCO, 2010). Obviously, the integration of ESD in teacher training programmes is not fully applied, but considering the limitation of time, it should not be regarded as unsatisfactory. Rather, policymakers should consider solving the problem in a rational way. 

In general, EE has been the main course both in HE and TTIs. This is completely reasonable from the environmental perspective of the country. However, economy, society, and the environment are inextricably linked to each other. It is impossible to maintain the sustainability of the one without considering the others.  Therefore, maintaining the environmental sustainability will remain a challenge, without addressing social and economic problems in the country. 

4. Challenges and Recommendations

Vlek et al. (2017) pointed out three major challenges in the implementation of ESD: lack of competent trainers, deficiency of ‘networks’ to share experience, and the absence of teaching and learning materials (p. 60). Assimilating the experiences of foreign countries might be one of the possible solutions. For example, establishing an ‘ESD Society’ as a national network for SD in HE, or ‘eco-school programmes’ as an agenda to encourage schools to create their own sustainability programmes, such as in Hungary, would be very effective (UNECE, 2009, p. 35). Moreover, launching a journal of ESD would also enhance communication among researchers and practitioners, and strengthen the dialogue between administrators, scholars, and other benefited stakeholders. However, these are associated mainly with teaching processes. 

There are some other challenges which address a broader scope of ESD. One of the main challenges is to develop a consciousness of sustainability amongst students, teachers, and university staff. The implementation of ESD is not only restricted with the introduction of the subject into the curriculum and textbooks, but it also includes shaping the attitudes and behaviours of people towards SD (UNECE, 2005). It would be more logical to take regular practical actions such as roof gardening, “ditch disposable" campaigns, eco-energy programs, waste management within campuses (which are successfully implemented at the University of Hong Kong). They are very cost-effective and practically viable for most HE institutions.  

The implementation of ESD in formal education has a preliminary character, and legal bases are outdated, mostly reflecting MDGs. Therefore, the concept of ESD should be revised to consider future focal points towards achieving SDGs based on national interests. More emphasis should be directed to monitoring of the implementation. Also, there is a huge gap in awareness between the actors on the top and performers at the bottom. According to Vare and Scott (2007), policymakers regard ESD as a tool for delivering knowledge about SD and the authors expressed their worries against such policy. They pointed out that ESD should be a ‘learning process’, i.e., a bottom-up process in order to be successful (p. 5). Therefore, the government should also pay attention to raising awareness of the people through non-governmental organisations and volunteering groups. There are only a small number of such groups in the country and their activities are limited to specific areas, specifically in the capital only. 

5. Conclusion

Extensive implementation of ESD requires amending curricula, creating new textbooks, training teachers, renovating and modernising school buildings and so forth, which have been an excessive economic burden for the government. However, when financial barriers mount, goals seem unachievable, making the situation even worse. Today, if humanity transgresses the boundaries of the environment, the outcomes will be detrimental to the population of the world. Hence, maintaining the sustainability of the environment, economy and society has become a necessity in each country. The best way to do so is to educate people to live, act and think sustainably by infusing values of sustainability. Education can play a critical role in transformation to sustainability and long-term development in the country. The people of Uzbekistan have already experienced the dire consequences of unsustainable water management and irrigation, such as with the Aral Sea destruction and water crisis. Therefore, there is a need for further consideration of state policy to create efficient and sustainable learning environments at HE systems through combined efforts of stakeholders, community, government officials and international organisations.

6. References

Azizov, A. A. (2016). Оценка действий Республики Узбекистан по внедрению образования в интересах устойчивого развития в систему среднего и среднегоспециального образования [The Assessment of Actions of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development in the System of Secondary and Secondary Special Education]. UNESCO Report, Tashkent.  

Country Profile. (2002). Johannesburg Summit 2002. Uzbekistan. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/wssd/uzbekistan.pdf

Hong Kong University Sustainability Office. (2017). HKU Sustainability Report 2015.Retrieved from http://www.sustainability.hku.hk

Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., & O’Brien, G. (2005). Sustainable Development: Mapping Different Approaches. Sustainable Development. 13, 38-52. doi: 10.1002/sd.244  

Jickling, B., & Wals, A. E. J. (2008). Globalisation and Environmental Education: Looking beyond Sustainable Development. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 40(1), 1–21.doi: 10.1080/00220270701684667 

Kopnina, H. (2012). Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): The Turn Away from ‘Environment’ in Environmental Education? Environmental Education Research, 18(5), 699-717. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2012.658028

McKeown, R. & Hopkins, Ch. (2003). EE p ESD: Defusing the Worry. Environmental Education Research, 9(1), 117-128. doi: 10.1080/13504620303469 

National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Sustainable Development (NCSD). (1998). Концепция устойчивого развития Республики Узбекистан [The Conception of Sustainable Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan].Retrieved from http://www.cawater-info.net/library/rus/conc_sd_uz.pdf

Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). (2006). Progress Review on Education for Sustainable Development in Central Asia. Almaty. Retrieved from http://www.old.carecnet.org/assets/files/MAY%20publications/Legal_Acts_eng.pdf

Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). (2009). Legal Acts, Programmes and Regulatory Frameworks of Education in the Central Asian Region.Almaty. Retrieved from http://www.old.carecnet.org/assets/files/MAY%20publications/Legal_Acts_eng.pdf

The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education. (2015). Higher Educational Institutions.Retrieved from http://www.edu.uz/en/otm/index  

Vare, P. & Scott, W. (2007). Learning for a Change: Exploring the Relationship between Education and Sustainable Development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 1(2), 191-198. doi: 10.1177/097340820700100209

Vlek, P. L. G., Eshchanov, R., Khodjaniyazov, S., Rudenko, I. & Lamers, J. P. A. (2017). From Theory to Practice: Challenges and Constraints to Introducing Education for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan. In Michelsen, G. & Wells, P. J. (Eds.). A Decade of Progress on Education for Sustainable Development: Reflections from the UNESCO Chairs Programme (pp. 59-65).Paris: UNESCO. 

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About the Author

Khaydarov Sherzod

MEd, The University of Hong Kong

Email: u3541648@connect.hku.hk