Generic Modules and Resource Materials for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
This project involved the publication of a book entitled “Education for Sustainable Development – Issues, Principles and Practices for Global Application”, which was a joint effort by ProSPER.Net institutions to aid teachers and researchers in their endeavors to integrate a sustainable development paradigm in courses and programmes.
The book consists of a collection of diverse case studies and sustainability endeavors that have been and are currently being carried out by ProSPER.Net members, as well as the best practices of other sustainability-driven organizations that have made integration of sustainability a priority. This publication functions as a manual, playing the role of a working handbook which will assist readers in better understanding the implementation and inclusion of sustainability in areas as diverse as business, education, health and technology. It is also hoped that the manual will provide readers with the inspiration and practical know-how needed to make sustainability integration an integral part of their respective institutions.
The project was mostly designed for the academic community, with the hope that the book would contribute positively toward helping the academic and research communities attain global sustainability goals. The modules in the book are generic and inclusive in nature and contain introductory level material that can be used by faculty members from any academic discipline. Overall, the handbook is not meant to be an exhaustive reference that pushes new approaches or advocates new principles and practices but rather an easy, readable compilation of references and materials developed by many researchers and practitioners in the area of sustainable development.
In November 2008, a group of experts and practitioners met at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang to develop the major framework for the book. Other meetings and exposure workshops were held at TERI University in India in February 2010 and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia in April 2010 to further discuss the book’s content. USM acted as the secretariat for the book’s publication throughout the project.