Education for Sustainable Development

The conference has been very inspiring. Gandhi is quoted in almost every presentation regardless of the origin of the presenter. A lot of the talks focus on the interaction of sustainability and education with peace and even spirituality so that is all very inspiring. I had not considered the significance of this conference being held in Gujarat prior to arriving here. Gandhi believed in local empowerment, in women's rights, in equality, and in simple living. His headquarters are within the city limits of Ahmedabad, although when they were built they were far outside the bustle of the city. Here we are, fifty years later still trying to put his teachings into practice and I know he would be proud of our efforts. The working group I attended focused on the role of education for sustainable development (ESD) in formal education. It was the duty of our group to produce a white paper on ESD in formal education to be presented to UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program). I got to know some of the workshop participants fairly well like Shepherd Urenje from Zimbabwe (though based in South Africa) and Rajeswari Namigiri who works for CEE in Ahmedabad. These people are simply brilliant and dedicated to their work and have inspired me tremendously in my life and work.

"My life is my lesson" Mahatma Gandhi