Introduction

Many civic skills are involved in working for a sustainable future. These include:

	A willingness to investigate issues in the local, school and wider community.
	A readiness to recognise social, economic, ecological and political dimensions of issues needed to resolve them.
	The ability to analyse issues and to participate in action aimed at achieving a sustainable future.

Developing these skills is the realm of citizenship education. Indeed, active democratic citizenship is one of the defining features of a sustainable society.

Indeed, the importance of citizenship education has been emphasised in several international agreements:

We, the Ministers of Education (of the world) strive resolutely to pay special attention to improving curricula, the content of textbooks, and other education materials including new technologies with a view to educating caring and responsible citizens committed to peace, human rights, democracy and sustainable development, open to other cultures, able to appreciate the value of freedom, respectful of human dignity and differences, and able to prevent conflicts or resolve them by non-violent means. [I]t is necessary to introduce, at all levels, true education for citizenship which includes an international dimension.

Source: UNESCO Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy, 1995.

Member States should promote, at every stage of education, an active civic training which will enable every person to gain a knowledge of the method of operation and the work of public institutions, whether local, national or international; and to participate in the cultural life of the community and in public affairs. Wherever possible, this participation should increasingly link education and action to solve problems at the local, national and international levels. Student participation in the organisation of studies and of the educational establishment they are attending should itself be considered a factor in civic education and an important element in international education.

Source: UNESCO Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1974.

This module provides an introduction to ways in which students can develop the knowledge, skills and commitment for active and informed citizenship. This module also provides an opportunity to consider ways of teaching about citizenship for sustainable futures across the curriculum.

There are links between this and other modules, particularly Module 17 on Sustainable Communities which provides examples of ways citizens can be engaged in local action for a sustainable future. It is also closely related to Module 25 on Community Problem Solving, which provides an eight-step process for educational action by students in their local communities.

Objectives

	To develop an understanding of the nature and scope of educating for active citizenship;
	To provide examples of some school initiatives in active citizenship; and
	To develop skills for planning across-the-curriculum learning experiences in citizenship education in school, community and settings.

Activities

References

Internet Sites

This module was written for UNESCO by John Fien, Bernie Cox, Angela Colliver and Margaret Calder, using ideas suggested by Michael Singh in Teaching for a Sustainable World (UNESCO - UNEP International Environmental Education Programme).