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© Hartmut Jungius/WWF
Environmental Education

Education for sustainable development and youth empowerment

Children starting school today will grow up in a world that’s very different from the one we know now. Climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources will intensify while economic, technological and social changes will create new demands but also new opportunities for young people in an increasingly interdependent world.

Environmental education has been a part of WWF's work since the organisation's inception. The WWF network currently conducts one of the largest, most diverse and widespread programmes of education led by an international organisation. Education programmes initiated by WWF, including school and outreach programmes, community learning and developing curricula, aim to empower and motivate young people, partners and local communities, to solve the challenges facing the environment.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) takes a holistic and realistic approach to learning by linking ecological, social and economic aspects of our daily lives.

ESD develops students' knowledge of environmental challenges and their abilities to promote sustainable development by fostering holistic, critical and independent thinking, the ability to formulate and solve problems and the ability to participate in democratic systems and to take responsibility for the well-being of our planet. It develops students' understanding of ecological and environmental issues and motivates them to apply the principle of sustainability to their everyday activities and decisions.