This will be the last report of the series “Educating the Future Generation: Sustainability Education.” The past two reports featured the Eco Schools and Green Schools Alliance that have utilized different approaches to engaging students in sustainability. While they both highlight the importance of network in sustainable endeavors, they have employed unique challenges and structures that encourage students to spark change in their community in different ways. This report will cover the Global Schools Program an initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solution Network participated by schools over more than 75 countries. 

Global Schools Program

Over 1000 schools around the world are part of the Global Schools Program, which was initiated by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network with the support of UNESCO’s Global Action Program on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The program focuses on educating students on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental issues around the world today. It provides lesson plans for teachers in primary and secondary schools to teach their students about SDGs. Furthermore, it is a platform for schools and educators to create a network to share and collaborate on creating educational content to engage their students on learning about SDGs. While the pandemic has made it difficult for face-to-face teaching to happen, the online resources from the Global Schools Program allows easy transition for schools to educate students in a virtual learning environment. 

Global Schools utilize two main focuses in implementing sustainability education: grassroots advocacy and school outreaches. It provides sixty lesson plans for students grade 1 to 12 to aid educators in teaching about different sustainable development goals. Furthermore, it also provides resources for students through virtual resources such as Earth School, SDG Academy Library, TED videos, SDG book clubs, and interactive activities such as games, quizzes, books, and comics. Through these resources, Global Schools aim to educate students about sustainability via a variety of platforms to make their learning experiences more insightful and interactive. The program also runs an advocacy program, where different community leaders and organizations are trained to advocate for education for sustainable development in their respective communities. By having local advocates, the program aims to localize the SDGs and make local communities more aware of issues prevalent in their region as well as help create a solution for them. 

The recent natural disasters and abnormal weather phenomenons have made us more aware of the impacts of climate change. It is important for us to actively address the issue and take on the responsibility of addressing these issues on a local, national, and global scale. In order to make this possible, the first step can be through education. By educating our youth on the implications of our actions and importance of sustainable development, we can hopefully be able to take adequate measures to address climate change and save our one and only planet Earth. 

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