Our ESD-Approach:
“Education for Sustainable Development”
We see our activities as part of UNESCO’s “World Action Program on Education for Sustainable Development” (WAP ESD). In line with the WAP ESD roadmap, we believe that “strengthening the skills of educators and multipliers for more effective ESD outcomes” (action area 3) and the “holistic transformation of learning and teaching environments” (action area 2) are essential for a progress towards sustainability.
On November 20, 2019, Ifane was once again recognized for its outstanding work by the German Commission for UNESCO and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the Expert Network on Sustainable Nutrition (ENE) in Berlin.
The central portal for information and networking on “Education for Sustainable Development” is the ESD portal of the German UNESCO Commission. More information here.
We consider nutrition within the three “classic” sustainability dimensions (environment, economy, society) and also include two additional dimensions (health, culture).
We integrate seven “principles for sustainable nutrition” into the ESD- approach:
- Preference for plant-based foods
- Organically produced food
- Regional and seasonal products
- Preference for minimally processed foods
- Fair trade food
- Resource-efficient household management
- Delicious and wholesome food
This concept is described in detail in the reference book “Vollwert-Ernährung – Konzeption einer zeitgemäßen und nachhaltigen Ernährung” by the authors Karl von Koerber, Thomas Männle and Claus Leitzmann (first published in 1981). The 11th edition was recognized in 2012 by the German UNESCO Commission as a “Contribution to the UN World Decade of ESD”. There are also numerous other publications. All activities based on this approach serve the purpose of contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. They are aimed at various stakeholders in education, science, business, politics, NGOs and the media and thus promote the desired transformation of society towards sustainability.
The photo shows nutrition ecologist Dr. Karl von Koerber (2nd from right) and Thomas Schwab (3rd from right) receiving the award certificate on behalf of the ENE network from Dr. Catrin Hannken, ESD Division at the BMBF and former Minister Walter Hirche.