ABSTRACT
The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) provides an impetus and a challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs) to demonstrate leadership. The sector has affirmed its support to sustainability collectively through a series of high-level conferences, declarations and partnerships and individually through mission statements that announce environmental credentials. However, sustainability remains a nebulous concept that is variously defined, debated and deconstructed. There is no uniformly agreed definition of the scope of ESD. Consequently a major challenge for the Decade is to promote the presence of ESD from words to actions, from concept to reality and to engage in a deeper self-critical inspection of the HEIs’ responsibilities.
