Wales is one of the few countries in the world to have government policy regarding Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship and the Welsh Assembly Government published its strategy in 2006 as ‘Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship - a strategy for action'.
The HEA convenes an Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC) Higher Education network in Wales. The group meets in Wales four times a year.
Working collaboratively, the group has:
- Co-ordinated a Wales' wide curricula audit of all programme provision in Wales and reported on the curricula audits of Welsh Higher Education Institutions, and also made recommendations for further development
- Run a conference on the ‘Opportunities for Leadership in Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: The Welsh Agenda'
- Shared practices both in Wales but also by contributing to the Academy's ESD e-newsletter
- Worked together on a successful application for a UNESCO Regional Centre of Excellence
The group links to Environmental Management System (EMS) activity and the environmental association of universities and colleges.
In Wales all Higher Education Institutions are encouraged (using best practice) to develop and suitable environmental management system (EMS) and equivalent measures, which cover all their operations. This is in order to minimise overall resource use to sustainable levels.
The Welsh HE Institutional ESDGC Group has produced a Common Understanding of ESDGC document. The paper presents a snapshot of the current position of ESDGC in HE in Wales. The paper can be used as a briefing paper for HE staff and students, those involved in strategic planning, those wishing to embed practices which support ESDGC principles and for a wider audience to develop an understanding of the role that HE can play in ESDGC.
