Teaching Education for Sustainable Development at University Level: A Case Study from the Philippine

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In response to UNESCO’s Agenda 21, the Philippine initiative to assimilate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in tertiary education is enunciated in the Commission on Higher Education‘s Strategic Plan for 2011–2016, which contains the roadmap to reform higher education institutions (HEIs) to respond well to the academic pursuits of sustainable development. Over the years, ESD has been instituted with practical strategies hinged on previously-built efforts promoting environmental conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation as cornerstones of sustainable development among the HEIs in the country. The process of doing so has progressed from social marketing through alliance-building in pushing for eco-friendly and disaster risk reduction programs and community extension activities to enhance social awareness and preparedness to a more academic level through curricular review and development activities. The National Service Training Program (NSTP) is a platform whereby ESD is instituted formally in tertiary education. However, sophistication for ESD to tackle the development of theories of practice is underway but slow. Some universities have been moving forward in this aspect in cooperation with two environmental education associations, but knowledge to fast-track the development and study of theories for sustainable development for practical applications is still evidently wanting.

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https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-32928-4_11