We, the participants of the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 10 to 12 November 2014, adopt this Declaration and call for urgent action to further strengthen and scale up Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in order to enable current generations to meet their needs while allowing future generations to meet their own, with a balanced and integrated approach regarding the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This Declaration recognises that people are at the centre of sustainable development and builds on the achievements of the United Nations (UN) Decade of ESD (2005-2014); the deliberations of the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Aichi-Nagoya; and the Stakeholder Meetings held in Okayama, Japan, from 4 to 8 November 2014, namely, UNESCO ASPnet International ESD events, the UNESCO ESD Youth Conference, the Global Regional Centres of Expertise Conference, and other relevant events and consultation processes, including regional ministerial meetings. We express our sincere gratitude to the Government of Japan for hosting the UNESCO World Conference on ESD.

1. CELEBRATING the significant achievements made by the UN Decade of ESD (2005-2014), in particular, in putting ESD higher on national and international agendas, advancing policy, improving the conceptual understanding of ESD, and generating substantive good practice amongst a wide range of stakeholders,

2. EXPRESSING our appreciation to many governments, UN entities, non-governmental organizations, all types of educational institutions and setups, educators and learners in schools, communities and workplaces, youth, the scientific community, academia and other stakeholders who have actively committed to and participated in the implementation of the UN Decade of ESD, and to UNESCO for the leadership role it has played as lead agency of the Decade,

3. RECALLING the international commitment to further promoting ESD that was included in the outcome document of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), The Future We Want,

4. NOTING that the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD, endorsed by the 37th session of the General Conference of UNESCO as a follow up to the Decade of ESD and a concrete contribution to the post-2015 agenda, aims at generating and scaling up ESD actions in all levels and areas of education, training and learning,

5. REAFFIRMING ESD as a vital means of implementation for sustainable development, as recognised in intergovernmental agreements on climate change (Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Doha work programme), biodiversity (Article 13 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its work programmes and related decisions), disaster risk reduction (Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015), sustainable consumption and production (Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production 2012-2021), and children’s rights (Articles 24[2], 28 and 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), among many others, 

6. WELCOMING the growing international recognition of ESD as an integral and transformative element of inclusive quality education and lifelong learning and an enabler for sustainable development, as demonstrated by the inclusion of ESD as a target in the Muscat Agreement adopted at the 2014 Global Education For All Meeting and in the proposal for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the Open Working Group of the UN General Assembly on SDGs,

7. RECOGNISING the establishment of the UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD approved by the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 195th session,

We, the participants,

8. EMPHASISE the potential of ESD to empower learners to transform themselves and the society they live in by developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, competences and values required for addressing global citizenship and local contextual challenges of the present and the future, such as critical and systemic thinking, analytical problem-solving, creativity, working collaboratively and making decisions in the face of uncertainty, and understanding of the interconnectedness of global challenges and responsibilities emanating from such awareness, 

9. STRESS that ESD is an opportunity and a responsibility that should engage both developed and developing countries in intensifying efforts for poverty eradication, reduction of inequalities, environmental protection and economic growth, with a view to promoting equitable, more sustainable economies and societies benefiting all countries, especially those most vulnerable such as Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries,

10. UNDERSCORE that the implementation of ESD should fully take into consideration local, national, regional and global contexts, as well as the contribution of culture to sustainable development and the need for respecting peace, non-violence, cultural diversity, local and traditional knowledge and indigenous wisdom and practices, and universal principles such as human rights, gender equality, democracy, and social justice,

11. APPRECIATE the commitments to ESD expressed by all concerned stakeholders through their specific contributions to the GAP Launch Commitments,

12. COMMIT ourselves to building and maintaining the momentum of the launching of the GAP, in its five Priority Action Areas for ESD, namely policy support, whole-institution approaches, educators, youth, and local communities, through inclusive quality education and lifelong learning via formal, non-formal and informal settings,

13. CALL UPON all concerned stakeholders, including governments and their affiliated institutions and networks, civil society organisations and groups, the private sector, media, the academic and research community, and education and training institutions and centres as well as UN entities, bilateral and multilateral development agencies and other types of intergovernmental organisations at all levels, to: a) set specific goals, b) develop, support and implement activities, c) create platforms for sharing experiences (including ICT-based platforms), and d) strengthen monitoring and evaluation approaches in the five Priority Action Areas of the GAP in a synergistic manner,

14. URGE all concerned stakeholders, in particular Ministries of Education and all ministries involved with ESD, higher education institutions and the scientific and other knowledge communities to engage in collaborative and transformative knowledge production, dissemination and utilization, and promotion of innovation across sectoral and disciplinary boundaries at the science-policy-ESD practice interface to enrich decision-making and capacity building for sustainable development with emphasis on involving and respecting youth as key stakeholders, 

15. INVITE governments of UNESCO Member States to make further efforts to:

a) Review the purposes and values that underpin education, assess the extent to which education policy and curricula are achieving the goals of ESD; reinforce the integration of ESD into education, training, and sustainable development policies, with a special attention paid to system-wide and holistic approaches and multi-stakeholder cooperation and partnerships between actors of the education sector, private sector, civil society and those working in the various areas of sustainable development; and ensure the education, training and professional development of teachers and other educators to successfully integrate ESD into teaching and learning;
b) Allocate and mobilise substantial resources to translate policies into actions, especially building necessary institutional capacities for both formal and non-formal education and learning at national and sub-national levels along the five Priority Actions Areas of the GAP; and
c) Reflect and strengthen ESD in the post-2015 agenda and its follow-up processes, ensuring, first, that ESD is maintained as a target in the education goal and also integrated in SDGs as a cross-cutting theme; and, second, that the outcomes of the 2014 World Conference on ESD are taken into consideration at the World Education Forum 2015 to be held in Incheon, Republic of Korea from 19 to 22 May 2015,

16. REQUEST UNESCO’s Director-General to continue to:

a) Provide global leadership, support policy synergy, and facilitate communication for ESD, in cooperation with governments, other UN entities, development partners, private sector and civil society, within the framework of the UNESCO Roadmap to Implement the GAP;
b) Harness partnerships and mobilise networks including the UNESCO ASPnet, UNESCO Chairs, Centres under the auspices of UNESCO, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage Sites, as well as UNESCO Clubs and Associations; and
c) Advocate the importance of ensuring adequate resources including funding for ESD.