Education & Awareness

Without access to relevant information, knowledge and the skills necessary to act, individuals will not be able to adapt their behaviours in ways that are necessary to ensure that their lifestyles promote sustainable development and environmental protection. One means by which this can be achieved is through education.

Indicator 12.8.1 measures the extent to which countries mainstream global citizenship education and education for sustainable development in their education systems. This is an indicator of characteristics of different aspects of education systems: education policies, curricula, teacher training and student assessment. It measures what governments intend and not necessarily what is implemented in practice in schools and classrooms.

The data required for the indicator are collected every four years as part of the regular monitoring of the implementation by UNESCO Member States of the 1974 Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace, and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

For each of the four components of the indicator (policies, curricula, teacher education, and student assessment), a number of criteria are measured, which are then combined to give a single score between 0-1 for each component. The closer to one each score is, the greater the level of mainstreaming and the greater the likelihood that learners behave as responsible citizens and act to protect the environment in which they live.