In this TALK, Aravella Zachariou shares with us the strategy and the main initiatives of the Republic of Cyprus regarding education for sustainable development (ESD).
Head of the unit in charge of education and Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Education sport and youth of the Republic of Cyprus, Aravella is also the chair of the UNECE steering community (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and represents Cyprus Education ministry in the expert working group set up by the European Commission on Schools/learning for sustainability.
ESD is a main priority in Cyprus says Aravella, not only for the education agenda but for the whole public policies. A national strategy for sustainable development has been implemented that sees sustainability as a cross-cutting issue. Actions are led at national but also local level, at school level, and internationally, the strategy having a “multilevel” approach.
To reach such a result, political will is definitely a necessity. But as Aravella Zachariou tells us, “if change is not coming from the bottom, from the teachers”, if teachers are not taken seriously, then you just can’t make change happen. Teachers were the key driver for the enactment of the Cyprus strategy. A lesson to be learnt.
Questions
1:55 Can you give us a rapid overview of the main initiatives and programmes on ESD led by the education ministry in Cyprus and the objectives you are trying to reach?
11:15 What is the outcome of your policies? What were the challenges you faced?
19:00 What was the main driver of success of the Cyprus strategy on ESD?
Learn more about Cyprus ESD initiatives:
- Unit of Education for the Environment and Sustainable Development (in Greek)
- The National Curriculum for ESD (in Greek)
- Cyprus Eighth National Communication & Fifth Biennial Report - under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (in English)
- PEDIA project (Promoting Energy efficiency & Developing Innovative Approaches in Schools) - (in English)
- Hadjiachilleos, S. & Zachariou, A. (2022). Implementation of the UNECE Strategy for ESD across the ECE Region (2015-2018). ECE/CEP/196. Geneva: UNECE
- Scoullos, M. & Zachariou, A. (2022). Report of the Task Force on Climate Change, Education and Outreach of the Climate Change Initiative in the EMME Region. Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth/Pedagogical Institute: Nicosia
Are you interested to watch previous episodes? Check the Education for Climate Talks
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