SEAMEO’s Journey to Promote Education for Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has a prominent place in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. Indeed, ESD is part of the SDGs. Target 4.7 of the SDG 4 on quality education addresses ESD and related approaches such as Global Citizenship Education. It is believed that ESD is a vital means of implementation for sustainable development and acts as a key enabler of all the SDGs. ESD shall help students, young people, or anybody that wants to learn more about sustainability. According to UNESCO, ESD empowers people to change the way they think and work toward a sustainable future. This can be achieved by equipping people, especially youth, with skills and knowledge that help them develop lifestyles, initiatives, mindsets, and role models for a sustainable future. The most effective way to teach ESD is by having them be involved in an active process. In response to this, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) has conducted several activities through its Education Agenda. SEAMEO has convened several meetings on ESD aiming to promote it at all education levels. SEAMEO, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, has also consistently run its SEAMEO-Japan ESD Awards since 2012. This paper elaborates further on the journey of SEAMEO to promote ESD in Southeast Asia through its decade of SEAMEO-Japan ESD Awards.