AbstractThe paper reviews on the impact ofsustainable education in todays’ VUCA world. The SEBI (Security and ExchangeBoard of India) on August 13th 2012 introduced ESG (Environment,Social and Governance) by and making a mandate inclusion of BusinessResponsibility Reports (BR Reports) as a part of annual reports for the listedentities. SEBI has provided numerous guidelines to listed companies to impartgood Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance; however is itreally helping to maintain the balance. The world today is focusing on makingprofits, but businesses never focused on sustainable development.Sustainability by definition is to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
However sustainability plays even a bigger role in today’s world wheresustainability means avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in orderto maintain an ecological balance. Businesses are being thought to make profits,but at the cost of the environment. For e.g. all the OPEC nations and thecompanies involved in oil production focus on the profits by extracting crudeoil, but oil companies never focus on the emissions that are causing globalwarming around the world. Because of this the society is also affected andthere is no governance to check this act.
The paper focuses on teachers and theirimpact towards imparting sustainable education. By doing this research, theresearcher could find out on whether the education of today is helping thestudent to build a sustainable world or are we building a world that is headingtowards the dooms’ day. Keywords: ESG,Environment, Social, Governance, Sustainability, Education. IntroductionEducation today has become an essentialtool to understand sustainability and make the public aware of the variousneeds for sustainability. We as a society are moving towards sustainabledevelopment.
Our Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi also supports sustainabledevelopment and says that it is our responsibility to look after it. “Wein India have always believed in sustainability. For us, the law of natureholds great value. If we all observe it, then many man-made laws will not berequired. A path becomes sustainable, if all stakeholders are benefitted,”said Prime Minister Modi while addressing the International Conference on Ruleof Law for supporting 2030 Development Agenda. (5)Unfortunately the public awareness isvery less about sustainability and the companies imparting sustainability intheir organisations aren’t doing enough to build a sustainable environment. Infact organisations also feel that why educators are not moving towards makingthis as a curriculum for the learners. Educators need to teach sustainabilityto today’s generation.
With the population growing and is about to crossbillion people in the coming future and the limited supply of natural resourcesavailable education on sustainable development has even become a greater concernfor the people today. The world today we see is a VUCA worldfull of chaos. The VUCA concept was first introduced by the U.S. military afterthe end of the Cold War to describe the conditions of a world ever moredifficult to predict and rely on, shaped by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexityand Ambiguity.1. Volatility: Somethingwhich changes or is likely to change is referred to as being volatile. Volatileis a term highly used in chemistry for substances which change from solid tovapour state.
In general terms we refer to stock markets being highly volatile i.e.suddenly they go down or up. Just today i.e. on 11-01-2018 the market hit 7years high reaching a 34450. (4) 2. Uncertainty:Situation where the current state of knowledge is such that the order andnature of things is unknown, the consequences, extent or magnitude ofcircumstances, conditions or events is unpredictable, and credibleprobabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned.
Although too muchuncertainty is undesirable, manageable uncertainty provides the freedom to makecreative decisions. (6)3. Complexity: Thequality or state of not being simple. (7)4.
Ambiguity: Ambiguitycomes from the Latin ambiguous, which was formed by combining ambi – meaningboth and agere to drive. Something which does not have a clear meaning isambiguity.The Perfect Storm, by Sebastiandescribes of how in the year 1991 a super storm was created by an incrediblerare combination of three weather systems. Very few people took note of theweather alerts from the National Weather Service’s seriously.
The perfect stormkilled all the crew members on the boat, Andrea Gail, causing destructions on theeastern coastline worth $200 Million. The three forces that create a perfect storm are (Hollingworth, 2016)1. People2. Places3. TechnologyPeople: With the population of the world reachingclose to 7 billion people and almost 61% (1) of thepopulation resides in Asia. India and China are the largest contributors of thepopulation in Asia. Vast variety of religion, caste, culture and traditions arethe driving forces are the storm. Also understanding the fact that the wealthdistribution is highly uncommon as Asia stands number 6th in the GDP per capitalisting (2).
This creates a highamount of inequality amongst the world population with the maximum wealth ishold up in North America. The number of people having access to information isthe highest in Asia at a staggering rate of 49.7 % of the world population (3). Places: As we speak the world population is comingcloser, thanks to the growing use of internet world wide. Places seem to feelcloser since the advancement and cheaper transportation costs worldwide.
Travellers seeking new places to explore.Technology: Computers have been in reach of everyindividual today. Being connected to internet accessing social networkingwebsites and connecting virtually to friends and family is the trend of today’sgeneration. 12 years ago we also faced a similar situation inMumbai when on 26th July 2005 faced a severe cloudburst and the rain fall wentover 900 mm for a span of 24 hours and did not stop.
The city of Mumbai came toa standstill and caused damages worth millions and lives of hundreds. “It waswater logging due to poor drainage and fast disappearing mangroves and forestcover.” (8) Various reasons wereput forth stating that plastic bags caused the Mithi River to clog.
We learnedfrom our experiences of how important it to save the mangroves.Education for Sustainable Development:”Sustainable development recognizes that growth mustbe both inclusive and environmentally sound to reduce poverty and build sharedprosperity for today’s population, and to continue to meet the needs of futuregenerations.” (9)Sustainable development imparts development of systemswhich can bring environmental stability without affecting the need of thefuture generations. One classic example of sustainable development done by MrSonam Wangchuk in Ladakh, India. Students need to be educated Sustainabledevelopment taking this example, about the scarcity of water in the hillyregions of the Ladakh. The water scarcity lead to Mr Sonam Wangchuk was theformation of the “Ice Stupa” which is formed by a method of glacier graftingtechnique to store water inside during winters and use them during summers whenthere is scarcity. (10) Sustainable education needs to be imparted to thegeneration of today. This can be achieved in the following ways.
Improving the basic education: the first priority isto improve the basic education of the country. In India the basic education isgiven to pupils till the age of 15 years after which they decide to pick up aneducation which would help them in getting a job. The literacy rate in thecountry has gone up to 74 % but the drop in the literacy rate is not matchedwith the increasing population of India.
The fact is that the children enrolledin the primary schools have increased by just 1.86 crores and the upper primary What issustainable development?Sustainable development is an ability tomeet the human needs off today without compromising the future needs. The worldis falling short of resources ,economy is are trying to survive and how they can build a prosperous nation and the constant pressure from various environmental agencies has given her eyes for us to understand a feasible solution that would be equally good for the generation of today without compromising any of the needs for the future generations to come.The United Nations has pointed out 17 goalswhich should be implemented in order to achieve sustainable development theyare (11)1.
End poverty inall its forms everywhere. 2. End hungerachieves food security and improved nutrition and promotes sustainableagriculture.3. Ensure healthylives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.
4. Ensure inclusiveand quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.5. Achieve genderequality and empower all women and girls. 6. Insurances towater and sanitation for all. 7. Ensure access toaffordable reliable sustainable and modern energy for all.
8. Promoteinclusive and sustainable economic growth employment and decent work for all.9. Build re-silentinfrastructure promote sustainable industrialization and Foster innovation.10. Reduce inequality within and among countries. 11. Make cities inclusive safe re-silent and sustainable.
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and productionpatterns. 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and itsimpact.
14. Conserve and sustainably use the Oceans Sea andMarine resources. 15. Sustainably manage forests combat desertificationhalt and reverse Land Degradation halt biodiversity loss.16. Promote just peaceful and inclusive societies. 17. Revitalize the Global partnership for sustainabledevelopment.
Goal 1 endpoverty in all its form everywhere:With the world population coming close to 7 billion people there areapproximately 767 million people who earn less than $2 a day and 10% of theworld’s work force is earning less than $2 per day this population is highlyscene in countries like Southern Asia and sub Saharan Africa because of thishigh poverty.Goal 2 andhunger achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainableagriculture : Today ouragriculture is severely degraded in the sense that highly poisonous Chemicalsare used as fertilizers which unfortunately enter in the foodchain a part of Sustainableagriculture should focus on without causing a problem to the environment how can clean agricultural be carried out.Goal 3 ensurehealthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages: research says that more than 6 million childrendie before their 5th birthday is here but it is also true that measlesvaccination have averted nearly 15.
6 million deaths maternal mortality Has Fallenby almost 50% since 1990 HIV infections have declined by 58% since 200 theobjective is to promote good health for all citizens Of all the countries Goal 4 ensure inclusive and quality education forall and promote lifelong learning :we have seen a considerable rise in education in India in the past fewdecades more and more people are becomeconscious of education and make surethat the children are educated tellprimary education however this is not possible for everyone there are a lot of countries whostill face severe education shortages Like an example of sub Saharan Africa where more than half of childrenhave not enrolled in the school yet another conflicting areas an estimated 50%of out of school children I’m not able to get proper educationGoal 5 achievegender equality and empower all women and girls: gender equality is one of the most pressing issuesin today’s India a girl is not given the same privileges as the one that a boy receivesin almost every Indian household girls are not given the right for education inmost of the rural parts in India and there is a tremendous rise in crimeagainst women across India Goal 6 ensureaccess to water and sanitation for all :The movie toilet is an excellent exampleof how sanitation is important inIndia with Limited access to fresh water and the growing population of India sanitation has caused numerous deaths across the rural parts. India has numeroussupplies of freshwater from its rivers however rivers are highly contaminatedfrom majority of industrial wastes as well as human one of the biggest river inIndia is the Ganges which is supposed to be one of the most polluted river inthe world efforts are being taken to improve the quality of water in theserivers but the immense pollution is causing these rivers to go badGoal 7 to ensureaccess to affordable reliable sustainable and modern energy for all: Our everyday lives depend on reliable andaffordable energy services to functions movie and to develop equitably for manydecades fossil fuels such a school or oil or gas having major sources ofelectricity production but burning carbon fuels reduce large amount ofgreenhouse gases which causes climate change and have harmful impact onpeople’s well being and the environment.Goal 8 promoteinclusive and sustainable economic growth and employment and decent work for all: Poverty eradication is only possible through stableand well-paid jobs nearly 2.2 million people live below us $2 poverty line itis said that 417 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to thelabour market between 2016 and 2030 just to keep up with the growth of theGlobal working age population.Goal 9 build resilientinfrastructure promote sustainable industrialisation and Foster innovation : for good economic growth this should be goodinfrastructure like rose information technology and communication sanitizationprevention of electricity and water across developing countries more than 2million people do not have access to reliable phone services and more than 2million people lack basic sanitation.Goal 10 reduceinequality between and among countries:a lot of countries still believe in equality is based on income sex agedisability sexual orientation race class ethnicity religion and opportunitythese kind of inequalities threaten a long-term social and economic developmentand also harms poverty reduction and destroys people sense of fulfilment ofself-worthGoal 11 citiesinclusive safe resilient and sustainable:The population of India is close to 1.25 million people and cities like Mumbaihave more than 10 crores people living in managing city is at such a large scalehas become difficult taking into account the limited resources available reportsays about 2.5 billion people live in cities today And in the future it willgrow too large numbersGoal 12 ensuresustainable consumption and production patterns : research suggests that more than 1 trillion dollar worth of food andsupporting in dust bins of customers retailers or is damaged duringtransportation because of poor consumption there is approximate 29% of global energyConsumed and 21% result in Carbon monoxide emissionsGoal 13 takeurgent action to combat climate change and its impact: India has faced severe issues related to climate changein term of the heavy rains that hit Mumbai to the flooding of East Bengal andthe various other regions in India the world has also seen tremendous change inclimatic conditions right from the West Coast of America which was hit by theKatrina hurricane damaging millions worth of propertiesGoal 14 conserveand sustainably use the oceans Seas and Marine resources: Life below the water matters oceans provide keynatural resources including food medicines bio fuels and other products TheMarine environment is also a home for the stunning variety of beautifulcreatures reading from single celled organisms to the world’s biggest animalever lived on this earth that is the blue whale Goal 15 Sustainably manage forests combatdesertification halt and reverse Land Degradation hot biodiversity loss :Deforestation kills deforestation Candy to some of the worst disasters around 1.
6 million people depend on forestfor their livelihood also there are hugenumber of animal breeds known to befound in forests who are almost at therisk of extinction deforestation isleading to which climatic changes and also reading to Soil erosionGoal 16 promotejust peaceful and inclusive societies:peaceful countries are a necessity for sustainable development across the worldborder tensions as well as war with neighbouring countries could lead to poordevelopment across Nations promotion of free speech is a must to enablesustainable development for these countriesGoal 17revitalize the Global partnership for sustainable development: the general secretary of United Nations Ban Ki Moonsays to successfully implement the 2013 agenda for sustainable development wemust move from commitments to action to do that we need strong inclusive andintegrated partnership at all levels. Sustainable development needs to beincorporated within and education system without which the countries will collapse and the environment will fallto do this a series of steps could be suggested to implement sustainableeducation in this volatile uncertain complex and ambiguous world which we alsoreferred to as the world.1. Academicians canlook into improving Awareness of poverty and so on how can science help in reducing poverty across the world this could be achieved by using various new scientific techniques which can help in changing lives for example use of science to implement cleaner and safer drinking water in those countries where is a must. 2.
Students can goahead and start a various campaigns related to zero hunger Also awareness couldbe created to support local farmers Markets and making sustainable food thechoice for all as a consumer students can vote to fight against food wastage and demanding policies whichgood make zero hunger reality. 3. Various programscan be carried out To raise Awareness of AIDS cancer also communities could beinformed about good life and how to improve health of oneself and the peoplearound them students can also seek help from government or local leaders andmake them accountable for improving the health conditions in the country.4. We can ask thegovernment to make education as a Priority also private sector could berequested to invest resources in the development of Infrastructures and facilitiesthat could deliver quality education to the local communities lobbying could bedone at a government level to make primary education absolutely free of cost. 5.
Women teachersand women students can come forward and empower other female students for the rightsmale members can also do achieve gender equality by walking alongside women andenabling a healthy respectful relationship. 6. Technology canbe used to develop clean water and improve sanitation also various awarenesscould be raised promoting clean water students can get involved in the WorldWater Day and the world toilet day campaigns that talk about various hygieneissues.7. Awareness couldbe created about sustainable energy Technologies like solar power would bedeveloped to replace the existing source of energy also various campaigns couldbe carried out improve the efficiency of the electrical devices used in homesalternate modes of transportation could be suggested within campuses or citiesto reduce pollution.
8. The youth oftoday should be provided with the best opportunity to transition to a decent jobthis should be provided with a level playing field so that they can attainproductive employment irrespective of the gender income level of socialeconomic background. 9. The public sectorcan collaborate with education institutes to help promote sustainable growthwithin developing countries.
10. Reducing inequality Is a Mammoth task whichrequires transformative change however Government and otherstakeholders can look food intothis and provide solutions on various ways to reduce inequality and promote inclusive social and economic growth. 11. Student bodies can take an active interest in the governance and management of thecities in which they live teachers canalso interact with the municipal corporation To suggest them practices that could help in bringing sustainable City.