Abstract:
There is much debate about the concepts of environmental education (EE) and
education for sustainable development (ESD) amongst practitioners, researchers and
organizations. This study examines the diverse notions of environmental education and
education for sustainable development by drawing on findings from semi-structured
interviews. The aim of this study is, to explore the interpretation and practice of
environmental education and education for sustainable development. The United
Nations declared the years 2005-2015 as the Decade for Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD). In the midst of the United Nation’s Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development, this research will be able to gauge whether organisations in
Gauteng have embraced education for sustainable development and the implications
this has had on their environmental programmes. Interviews were conducted with two
non-governmental organisations and two local government organisations that are
implementing environmental education. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse
interview data. The findings in this study correspond to the findings in the literature that
when environmental education is implemented there is very little focus on environmental
action. The concepts of environmental education and education for sustainable
development are not clearly understood by participants in this study. This finding
concurs with the findings of the UNESCO (2009) review of the Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development.
