ABSTRACT
Japan is one of a very few countries where both government and non-governmental/non-profit groups have been actively committed to community empowerment through non-formal and informal educational approaches over the past 70 years. In Japan, however, there were two organisations that laboured to fill the gap between formal and non/informal education in the international theoretical and political discourse over education for sustainable development (ESD): the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the Japan Council on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J). ESD-J has taken two approaches to the promotion of ESD: community based and multi-stakeholder, spanning formal, non-formal and informal education sectors. The group networks with stakeholders across Japan and Asia, including schools, non-NGOs, national, municipal and local governments, business and researchers. It also reports on existing community-based activities from the perspective of ESD.
