[Earth Charter+5 Progress Report] Education Programme Report – 2000-2005

Abstract

Following the launch of the Earth Charter in 2000, agreement was reached that the second goal of the Earth Charter Initiative should be “to encourage and support the educational use of the Earth Charter in schools, universities, faith communities, and many other settings.” An ambitious set of objectives was established in the year 2000 for the education programme of the Earth Charter Initiative. These objectives included: developing and disseminating educational materials to promote understanding, from an Earth Charter perspective, of the fundamental challenges and choices facing society; building a global network of educators committed to working with the Earth Charter; and the formation of partnerships with appropriate educational organizations around the world. These objectives remain ambitious given that the use of the Earth Charter in formal education at any level is a formidable challenge. Few curricula address sustainability in their content, and when they do, they invariably steer away from explicitly addressing the ethical dimension. So, educators attempting to make use of the Earth Charter in their educational programs and activities are confronted by such barriers.