Education for sustainable development

Future Policy Award 2015 was dedicated to policies that contribute to protecting and strengthening the rights of girls and boys based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We focussed among others on the right to education, meaningful participation as well as on the right to a healthy environment. 

Maryland’s Environmental Literacy Standards won the Silver Award: In 2011, Maryland became the first US State to make environmental education obligatory for high-school students. The State Board of Education ruled that each local school system must provide a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education program that is integrated into the general school curriculum. While the teaching of environmental education is now required from pre-school to graduation, the focus is on all incoming Grade 9 students (14 and 15-year-olds) who must complete a comprehensive environmental education programme that meets the Maryland Environmental Literacy Curriculum Standards.  

In Oct 2016 we hosted an international workshop in Annapolis, US-Maryland inviting environment educational leaders and decision-makers from around the world to explore the positive impacts of Maryland’s Environmental Literacy Standards and see some of these positive impacts first-hand.