During the exchange in the State Chancellery, where the expert panel presented its recommendations for the further development of education for sustainable development (ESD) to the state government, the members of the Future Council and the representatives of the departments agreed on the high relevance of ESD and discussed the further development of the future concept ‘ESD in Rhineland-Palatinate 2015+’. “This requires a clear vision, a smart target system and consistent monitoring. Rhineland-Palatinate is on a very good path and already has a large number of projects and programs on which a state ESD strategy can build,” said the chair of the Future Council, Prof. Dr. Nadine Kammerlander, and Julia Schneider for the committee’s Education Working Group.
State Secretary Dr. Erwin Manz thanked the Future Council for its valuable input and pointed to the ongoing support from the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility, as well as the upcoming update of the future concept ‘ESD in Rhineland-Palatinate 2015+’, which is planned in a moderated one-year process. “In an increasingly complex world, ESD is a cross-cutting issue that must be broadly anchored,” said the State Secretary. State Secretary for Education Bettina Brück also thanked the Future Council’s Education Working Group for its good work and underlined the importance of the issue. “It is important to anchor ESD even more firmly in schools, because education continues in concrete action. The participatory development of a more comprehensive ESD state strategy will take us further along this path,” the State Secretary said with conviction.
The Future Council for Sustainable Development Rhineland-Palatinate was established in March 2022 and works independently of the state government. The Future Council includes experts from various areas of society. The council’s tasks include advising the state government on issues of sustainable development. The council is also intended to intensify the dialogue on sustainable development in the state, for example as part of the first Sustainability Day Rhineland-Palatinate on November 16, 2024 in the Alte Lokhalle Mainz.
