[WATCH] 'Education on sustainable development should go beyond formal setting' - Bartolo

Education on sustainable development should go beyond the formal education setting, promoting a practical understanding of all aspects of sustainability.

Education minister Evarist Bartolo and environment minister Leo Brincat attended a press conference marking the launch of a national strategy for education on sustainable development.

The strategy, entitled ‘Nurturing a sustainable society’, would provide practical as well as well as theoretical measures that would positively impact society at large.

"It is important both for the government departments and for society in general, to understand that this should be a whole-society approach," Bartolo said, adding that formal education was only a single link in the chain and that education needed to beyond schools and into society.

A reassessment of current teaching methods was needed, he said.

Speaking at the conference, Brincat said that he hoped the consultation launched today would boost awareness about sustainable development.

"The educational sector is key to the success of the strategy," he said, adding that the strategy would prove important to various sectors including economic and social sectors.

"The aims have to be explained and understand by everyone and stakeholders should know what to expect and what can be achieved by the strategy," he added.

Prof Paul Pace, a lecturer in education for sustainable development, said that the national strategy was based on the five priority areas identified by the UNESCO global action programme.

"Education for sustainable development goes beyond the provision of knowledge about sustainibility issues, and it provides learners with the skills, attitudes and values to enable them to explore and respond to changing scenarios," Pace said.

He added that the drafting of the consultation document was carried out after a number of surveys to ensure the public's opinion was incorporated even in the compilation of the document.

A symposium starting tomorrow at the Univerity of Malta's Valletta campus will also include a public discussion in order to explain the proposals made in the strategy, and the document would be published online (on edu.gov.mt/sustainable)  and open to consultation until the end of April.