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dubbed by the United Nations as the decade of Education for Sustainable
Development. ESD literature analysed through the lens of the SDG 4 emphasizes
the importance of collaboration for effective implementation of ESD goals and policies. The overall goal of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD) was to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education. This educational effort encourages changes in the
behaviour of stakeholders in order to create a more sustainable environmental integrity, economic viability and just society for present and future generations.
UNESCO’s final DESD Report released in 2014 presents how approaches to
partnerships evolved during the DESD. Greater inclusivity and stakeholder diversity underpinned UNESCO’s ESD strategy. This encouraged the participation of the
private sector, youth and media groups. To bridge the gap between policy and practice, UNESCO emphasizes the importance of a clear research agenda, reliable monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and a strong multi-stakeholder dialogue. The
development of the UN Interagency Committee for DESD (IAC), the DESD
Reference Group and the Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Group (MEEG) were
all developed to foster continued engagement between stakeholders at the global
level (governing institutions, member states), the national level (NGOs, CSOs,
NFPs), the local level (indigenous groups, faith-based community organizations),
etc. (Buckler 2014, p. 172).
There are three broad gaps highlighted across the range of literature reviewed.
The first gap presented in the research is the definitional cohesion of ESD. This
review engaged with a series of definitions that presents key limitations for interdisciplinary understanding of ESD, as well as effective implementation of ESD. The
UNESCO roadmap for implementing the Global Action Programme for ESD and
the SDGs provides an explicit definition outlining the key sectoral and temporal
expectations for SD. This normative standard provides a cohesive definition that in
turn could accelerate sustainable solutions at the local level in order to increase the
participation of ESD stakeholders at multiple levels. However, in order to strengthen
multi-stakeholder networks at the local level, it is necessary to improve the quality
of local platforms for learning and cooperation.
The second gap evident in literature is temporal expectations relating to shortterm and long-term ESD implementation strategies. Critical analysis of Franco
et al. (2018), Vaughter et al. (2015), Annan-Diab and Molinari (2017) and Borges
et al. (2017) presents key short-term outcomes of ESD implementation. In all articles, there was no succinct reflection on the key expectations for the outcomes of
these studies. The general nature of temporal expectations reflected in approaches
to ESD policy advancement and implementation provides a gap in knowledge for
predicting the viability of certain approaches to ESD.
This leads to the third gap which highlights the applicability of a normative
approach to a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. The majority of the studies
reviewed were undertaken in a western educational context. This presents a gap to
understanding the viability of capacity building schemas reflecting ESD principles
in higher education institutions (HEIs) in different cultural circumstances. This gap
was raised by Ryan et al. (2010) in their assessment of Sustainability of Higher
5 SDG 4 Quality Education
dubbed by the United Nations as the decade of Education for Sustainable
Development. ESD literature analysed through the lens of the SDG 4 emphasizes
the importance of collaboration for effective implementation of ESD goals and policies. The overall goal of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD) was to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education. This educational effort encourages changes in the
behaviour of stakeholders in order to create a more sustainable environmental integrity, economic viability and just society for present and future generations.
UNESCO’s final DESD Report released in 2014 presents how approaches to
partnerships evolved during the DESD. Greater inclusivity and stakeholder diversity underpinned UNESCO’s ESD strategy. This encouraged the participation of the
private sector, youth and media groups. To bridge the gap between policy and practice, UNESCO emphasizes the importance of a clear research agenda, reliable monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and a strong multi-stakeholder dialogue. The
development of the UN Interagency Committee for DESD (IAC), the DESD
Reference Group and the Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Group (MEEG) were
all developed to foster continued engagement between stakeholders at the global
level (governing institutions, member states), the national level (NGOs, CSOs,
NFPs), the local level (indigenous groups, faith-based community organizations),
etc. (Buckler 2014, p. 172).
There are three broad gaps highlighted across the range of literature reviewed.
The first gap presented in the research is the definitional cohesion of ESD. This
review engaged with a series of definitions that presents key limitations for interdisciplinary understanding of ESD, as well as effective implementation of ESD. The
UNESCO roadmap for implementing the Global Action Programme for ESD and
the SDGs provides an explicit definition outlining the key sectoral and temporal
expectations for SD. This normative standard provides a cohesive definition that in
turn could accelerate sustainable solutions at the local level in order to increase the
participation of ESD stakeholders at multiple levels. However, in order to strengthen
multi-stakeholder networks at the local level, it is necessary to improve the quality
of local platforms for learning and cooperation.
The second gap evident in literature is temporal expectations relating to shortterm and long-term ESD implementation strategies. Critical analysis of Franco
et al. (2018), Vaughter et al. (2015), Annan-Diab and Molinari (2017) and Borges
et al. (2017) presents key short-term outcomes of ESD implementation. In all articles, there was no succinct reflection on the key expectations for the outcomes of
these studies. The general nature of temporal expectations reflected in approaches
to ESD policy advancement and implementation provides a gap in knowledge for
predicting the viability of certain approaches to ESD.
This leads to the third gap which highlights the applicability of a normative
approach to a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. The majority of the studies
reviewed were undertaken in a western educational context. This presents a gap to
understanding the viability of capacity building schemas reflecting ESD principles
in higher education institutions (HEIs) in different cultural circumstances. This gap
was raised by Ryan et al. (2010) in their assessment of Sustainability of Higher
5 SDG 4 Quality Education