Education for sustainable development and global health: Recognizing the inter-linkage of the health of people and the planet

In preparation of the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development on 17-19 May 2021, in Berlin, Germany, in which ESD for 2030 framework will be officially launched, UNESCO is organizing a series of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) online workshops in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, and with the German Commission for UNESCO as advisory partner. The aim is to explore how ESD contributes to building a world that is more sustainable and equitable, and how ESD provides the basis for how to recover and rebuild beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our natural environment provides us with the essentials we need to survive and thrive in this world. Access to clean water and air, healthy nutrition and the absence of natural catastrophes are very obvious examples of how environmental conditions will directly impact not only our life expectancy, but also our quality of life. However, there are also more complex interlinkages between the health of people and planet.

More people now understand how climate change and extreme weather conditions, the loss of biodiversity and pollution significantly increase the likelihood of emerging new and zoonotic diseases (diseases that transfer from wild animals onto humans). The change of our environment effects the emergence and the progression of infectious disease as currently Covid-19 or also Ebola. But also non-communicable disease (NCDs) – diseases which develop over time due to certain lifestyles or environmental factors, mental health, nutrition, displacement and general wellbeing – are highly connected to our natural environment. Conversely, research shows that a strong connection to nature can improve wellbeing and general health.

ESD contributes to human health by promoting knowledge, skills, values and attitudes on the interlinkages between the environment and human wellbeing, in particular around issues such as climate change, zoonosis, pollution, sustainable food, and social and emotional wellbeing.

In the light of the above, this session will address the following questions:

• What are the interlinkages of between the health of the planet and people?
• How can ESD contribute to strengthen the awareness that protecting the planet’s health affects humans’ health?

Register for this event here.