Following the success of the 2011 inaugural Summit, Eye on Earth 2015 will take centre stage once again to promote dialogue and drive international action that revolutionises the way we collect, access, share and use data and information for real-world change. The 2015 summit will seek to foster a culture of collaboration through a network committed to achieving scalable impact for a sustainable future - See more at: http://www.eoesummit.org/summit-2015/
Environmental Education Special Initiative Breakout Session
Education is a key component in informed decision-making and in the achievement of sustainable human development and international development targets. It promotes societal and individual well-being, and contributes to new innovations, new solutions and new connections. Education is a powerful means of transitioning behavioral change for sustainable development. Education is an integral component of the Millennium Development Goal and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The Environmental Education (EE) component is a vital cross-cutting foundational area within the EoE community. For EoE to make a real impact, a strong, vibrant, and innovative education component is needed at the heart of the initiative and involved in all projects. EE not only has the potential to hasten the achievement of other SIs; contribute to the Rio+20 outcome document (The Future We Want); and ensure the implementation of the 2014 Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and SDG Goal 4, among others.
The goals of the session are three-fold: 1) to provide an overview of global trends in education as it relates to sustainable development and data-driven decision-making; 2) showcase achievements of the EE SI since its inception through its seed-funded projects; and 3) to formulate the future vision of the EE SI, based on a variety of stakeholder perspectives, from a range of geographical areas (e.g. Europe, Asia/Pacific, regional) and from a range of sectors (e.g. universities, private entities, non-profit organizations, and international organizations).