Over the past few years, the French Ministry of Education has been committed to building educational capacity in ESD, both via curriculum revision, support to dedicated teaching projects and other dedicated actions and instruments.
In this TALK, Coralie Noël, Hight-level Senior official for sustainable development and national coordinator for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Bertrand Pajot, General inspector for Education, Sport and Research, are explaining the main policies and initiatives undertaken by the French Education Ministry.
ESD is seen as an innovative educational activity, with a cross curricular/whole school approach that encourages interdisciplinary projects. ESD benefits from a network of coordinators in France, administratively at regional level, but also at school level, with teachers acting as referent and students acting as “eco-delegates” in high school, playing the role of ESD ambassadors acting on the ground (there are currently 250 000 of them!).
Let’s also mention the "E3D École/Établissement en démarche de développement durable" label which awards schools with a global approach to sustainable development aimed at continuous improvement. The plan is ambitious, aiming to have 40% of schools certified within two years, before achieving certifications for all schools by 2030.
Questions :
1. Can you give us a rapid overview of the main policy initiatives and programmes on ESD led by the education ministry in France and the objectives you are trying to reach?
2. What is the value of integrating ESD in the French education system. What do you expect from it from a pedagogical/educative point of view?
3. Could you share with us the challenges you are facing in designing and implementing all these initiatives? What can we learn from these challenges and how do you meet them?
Learn more about French initiatives on green education: https://www.education.gouv.fr/l-education-au-developpement-durable-7136
Are you interested to watch previous episodes? Check the Education for Climate Talk
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