INTRODUCTION & PROGRAMME - APCEIU

264th Asia-Pacific Teachers Training Workshoporganizations (NGOs), local communities and the media. All are essential to the birth of a culture ofsustainability. Within governments, for example, education for sustainability is of direct concern notonly to ministries of education but also to ministries of health, environment, natural resources,planning, agriculture, finance and others. New policies, programmes, resources and activities can bereported from almost every country.The role and importance of major civil society groups have also increased significantly sinceRio. The NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, representing about 350 professional NGOs, notably inthe field of education, set up a special commission to mobilize its members in support of the WorldSummit in Johannesburg.The major regional and international associations of higher education, including theInternational Association of Universities, have joined with UNESCO to form a Global HigherEducation for Sustainability Partnership. Several UNESCO Chairs have been established around theglobe to devote themselves to issues of sustainable development within the UNITWIN-UNESCOChairs Programme.I am happy to report that we will be consolidating the fruits of many of these initiatives throughnew partnerships that will be launched at this symposium. With the Government of South Africa, wewill be launching the South African version of Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future,UNESCO’s new mu1timedia teacher education programme. This version, which has attracted interestfrom other countries in the region, is the first of many adaptations and translations of this innovativeprogramme. With Education International, we will launch a Dissemination and Training Toolbox thatwill rapidly expand the adoption of the programme by members of the world’s teachers unions.These are exciting new developments, which, in their different ways, converge around the sameessential message: education and public awareness are indispensable for a sustainable future.UNESCO will continue to do all it can to promote this vita1 agenda.Extracted from a speech delivered at the High-Level International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development atthe World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2-3 September 2002, Johannesburg, source from “Educating for aSustainable Future: Commitments and Partnerships” UNESCO Paris.