The Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education was established in July 2008 based on revisions to the Basic Act on Education. The Basic Plan affirmed ESD as an important ideal in Japanese education and identified the promotion of ESD as a policy to be pursued for the next five years. The Second Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education, established in June 2013, likewise affirmed the continued importance of ESD.

Part 1: Overview of Future Education in Japan

III. Four basic policy directions
(1) Developing social competencies for survival: Individual autonomy and collaboration in a diversified and rapidly changing society
(The shape of future education)
○From the perspective of creating sustainable societies, the promotion of education for sustainable development (ESD) is needed to nurture individuals with a respect for "relationships" and "connectedness"; such education also contributes to development of the "key competencies."

Part 2: Educational Measures to be Implemented During the Next Five Years

I. Measures based on the four basic policy directions
  1. Developing social competencies for survival
(4) Initiatives to be promoted across all stages of life
Basic Measure 11: Promote education relevant to contemporary/societal issues

<Basic Philosophy>
○To promote an education (ESD: education for sustainable development) that enables individuals to undertake the building of sustainable societies, by thinking about modern and social issues with a global perspective, seeing them as their own problems, and approaching them at a grassroots level.

<Main Activities>
11-1: Promote education relevant to contemporary/societal issues
To promote an education (ESD: education for sustainable development) that contributes to the building of sustainable societies on a global scale through the further development, etc. of UNESCO Associated Schools in terms of both their number and quality.