Maggie Smith
Abstract
Sustainable development is seen as a fundamental challenge facing all societies in the twenty-first century. Since the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 there has been a growing international recognition that action must be taken to bring about a more sustainable way of living. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is fundamental to that process of change. In England, ESD was incorporated into the national curriculum in 2000, particularly within the geography subject area, and it is represented within the specifications for geography at GCSE and AS’A2 levels. However it is a relatively new term and its meaning is complex and contested. The way teachers interpret ESD will affect the way that they teach it, but research, for example Cheadle (2003), suggests that teachers, including geography teachers, are not always clear what ESD involves.
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