Nature Trust Malta is calling on political parties to give Education for Sustainable Development a higher priority in the Education System.

Nature Trust – FEE Malta, in a statement, said that it “regretfully notes that despite the renewed emphasis the EU is attributing to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a major catalyst to achieve the targets set by the European Green Deal, none of the political parties has included ESD in their respective electoral manifestos.”

The NGO highlighted that once again, such a crucial aspect in the promotion of Sustainable Development in our islands is “being neglected or treated as an afterthought.”

Through NTM’s Educational programmes such as EcoSchools (EkoSkola), Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) and Learning About Forests (LEAF), the organisation said it has been actively promoting ESD in Malta for the last 20 years.

NTM said that “educators participating in these programmes have often expressed their concern that ESD is today still not being granted the importance it deserves.”

Although, featured in the National Curriculum Framework, NTM explained that ESD is treated as an extra-curricular activity with educators giving up their free time to provide their students with this crucial dimension in their development as active citizens.

It insisted that “ESD needs to be integrated within all the curriculum subjects and offered at all levels of education – not just within the formal sector but also in the non-formal and informal ones as well. Moreover, ESD should also be extended to include adults through community-based ESD. ”

ESD should be accessible and a right to all as stressed by the United Nations and the EU, the NGO said.

NTM went on to say that, outdoor learning should become an integral part of teaching and learning. “How can individuals be expected to value something that have never (or rarely) experienced? Experience of natural open spaces would aid citizens to appreciate our natural heritage and develop a mindset that is not alien to sustainability.”

“This would support initiatives for waste separation campaigns, sustainable use of water and energy, sustainable transport; that is, a deeper commitment towards the achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Green Deal,” said NTM.

Nature Trust stressed that with its International ESD programmes, it is “ready to work with anyone who believes and promotes this type of education that is key to the development of a society committed to sustainability.”

Nature Trust has been running the ESD Programme Ekoskola in Malta since 2002

Logo of the International Programme Eco Schools run in 70 countries and reaching over 20 million students – NTM

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