ABSTRACT
The challenge of sustainable development fi rst came onto the global political agenda at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. The signifi cance of this ‘Earth Summit’ lay in the fact that issues to do with care of the environment and issues to do with development, previously largely treated as separate matters, were now seen as two sides of the same coin. The term ‘sustainable development’ was coined to embrace both the welfare of the planet and the welfare of people. This represented a considerable mind shift on the part of the world’s leaders in recognising that human actions today can threaten both the present and the future of the planet (Quarrie 1992). Education was considered as absolutely essential to this process and commitments were made to integrate environment and development issues into education at all levels. Education for sustainable development (see below) grew out of this process and has since been further endorsed by the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002.
