Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has announced over €250,000 in funding for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) projects for twelve organisations across the country.
Funding of between €1,000 and €25,000 have been paid to organisations who successfully proposed their 2024/2025 sustainability projects under the 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD to 2030).
Successful projects include resources and supports for the development of school gardens, Wellness Projects, Climate Nature Summits, Community and School collaboration projects, sustainable fashion training and a Rubbish Film Festival. Many of the projects involve workshops for students and focus on continuing professional development in ESD for teachers.
The ESD to 2030 plan aims to ensure all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD to 2030 has five priority areas: Aligning Policy, Transforming Learning Environments, Building Capacity of Educators, Empowering and Mobilising Youth and Accelerating Local Level Action.
The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said:
“It is so encouraging to see the level of interest from the organisations who have applied for funding this year. Congratulations to those who have been successful in their applications this year and I look forward to seeing all of the educational opportunities that are being offered through sustainable development to young learners and throughout our communities”.
“We continue to provide supports needed to offer ESD education in our schools and these organisations are a vital part of that. My department publishes a quarterly ESD newsletter that promotes the hard work being done by both organisations and schools throughout the year”.
Education for Sustainable Development
The 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030 – is co-sponsored by the Department of Education, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
ESD aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD is a target under the Sustainable Development Goals (Target 4.7) and acknowledged as a key enabler for the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
ESD to 2030 has five priority areas, in line with UNESCO’s framework for ESD for 2030:
– Aligning Policy
– Transforming Learning Environments
– Capacity Building of Educators
– Empowering and Mobilising Youth
– Accelerating Local Level Action
The accompanying ESD to 2030 Implementation Plan 2022 – 2026 sets out the roadmap to achieving target 4.7 by 2030 across the Education Sector from Early Learning and Care to third level and beyond to non-formal and informal education.
ESD has three interlinked and equally important strands: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability.
Funding of €250,000 is being delivered to organisations to support them in carrying out ESD related projects to schools, including for example; making the school and its grounds more sustainable; teacher training in ESD; student projects; collaborative projects between the school and the local community etc. Detailed criteria were set out in the funding call document, issued May 17, which can be found here. Funding was allocated based on the criteria and subject to level of demand.
Funding of almost €600,000 will be available to schools in September 2024 to support a range of ESD related projects for schools.
ESD to 2030 supports the implementation of the Climate Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan, The EU Green Deal and the UNs Agenda 2030 (17 Sustainable Development Goals).
ESD Newsletter:
The department’s ESD Newsletter is a quarterly e-zine that is key for raising awareness of ESD and for finding out what is happening on the ground in schools. The newsletter promotes examples of good practice, promoting CPD and hosts regular competitions for readers and contributors alike. The ESD newsletter goes out to all schools and anyone can subscribe. Currently there are 1,200 subscribers and this number increasing all the time. The newsletter can be found at: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/a1d6e-education-for-sustainable-development-newsletter/
List of Organisations to be granted funding for ESD projects in August 2024
| Organisation | Grant | Project | |
| Wool in Schools | €24,910 | Wool2Ewe Programme for primary schools | |
| Wise Water | €25,000 | Wise Water Wellness Project, workshops, teacher resources, community event | |
| Biodiversity in Schools | €25,000 | CPD and resource development | |
| Dúlra Éireann | €18,000 | CPD and video resources: www.engagewithnature.ie | |
| Sustainable Fashion Ltd | €25,000 | Development of new CPD courses: www.sustainablefashioneducation.com | |
| ISSN | €25,000 | CoP, CPD schedule, Climate and Nature Summit, resources, newsletter, student engagement | |
| Global Citizenship Schools | €25,000 | whole School resources, One Minute Video project | |
| Future Focus 21c/ UCD | €25,000 | Sustainable STEAM futures literacy training for PP teachers, resources | |
| Friends of Merlin Woods | €1,000 | Community and School collaboration project | |
| ISSU | €21,000 | Debate your Decision Makers event | |
| Academy of the Near Future/ Trinity College | €14,000 | Design your Future City project in the Gaeltacht region | |
| Createschool | €25,000 | Rubbish Film Festival, workshops, local community engagement | |
| Grand Total | €253,910 |