ABSTRACT
Sustainable development was first exposed to an international audience with the publication of Our Common Future by the Brundtland Commission in 1987. The process was first defined as: ‘sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’ (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987: 12). There followed World Summits in 1992 and 2002. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, education was described as an ‘indispensable element’, capable of turning sustainable development into a reality (UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/57/254 2003). One manifestation of this reality has been the declaration of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014 (UNDESD).
