Introduction
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) embodies a transformative method to
tackling the intertwined challenges of environmental deterioration, social disparity, and
economic enslavement (Agbedahin, 2019). In South Africa, this necessity is intensified
by the historical impacts of colonialism, which solidified mechanisms of resource
exploitation, cultural destruction, and psychological injustice. According to Ewuoso
and Hall (2019), the Ubuntu philosophy is anchored in communalism, shared well-
being and interdependence, combined with the decolonial agency, provide essential
frameworks for rethinking ESD as a means for restorative equity. This essay examines
the situational difficulties of unsustainable development, defines the function of ESD
in South African education, examines the Ubuntu philosophy and its tenet of
communalism. It will also define the Decolonial paradigm and discuss why colonization
should be Sustainable Development Goal 1. Lastly, it will assess how Artificial
Intelligence, digital tools and Education for Sustainable Development can be
integrated into teaching practices.
Unsustainable development, rooted in methods that put short-term profits above
intergenerational equity, is a failure to create a balance between current needs and
long-term ecological and social needs (Szabó, 2015). According to Ukwandu (2018),
unsustainable development is seen through environmental downgrades like pollution,
overuse of resources and loss of biodiversity. It is also seen through social inequalities
like unequal access to resources and services. Unsustainable development has a
series of interconnected challenges between economic, social and political paradigms.
South Africa’s economy relies on extracting natural resources through the coal, mining
and agricultural industries, which contribute a lot to the country’s GDP but also lead to
the degradation of the country’s environment and GDP growth prioritizes short-term
profits rather than sustainability in the long run (Stallworthy, 2024). For example, in the
Global South, sectors like the pulp industry have displaced communities and caused
deforestation while ignoring poverty (Stallworthy, 2024). Neoliberal Policies that
prioritize investment from other countries over the welfare of the community worsen
unemployment and wage recessions, which increases poverty in rural areas and
townships (Lotz-Sisitka, 2011).
One of the social challenges of unsustainable development is that it erodes culture in
some cases. For example, in Brazil and Indonesia, the industrial expansion led to the
displacement of indigenous communities and tarnished the traditional livelihoods of
those people (UIA, 2022). Another social challenge is that unsustainable practices like
deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels lead to pollution, which can lead to health
problems and premature deaths of biodiversity (Directory, 2025a). Vulnerable
populations are the most negatively affected by climate change. Floods and droughts
impact subsistence farmers, which further increases poverty (UIA, 2022).
Unsustainable development can also lead to economic challenges. Developing
countries face major losses annually due to corruption when the money that is meant
for sustainability projects, like building sustainable infrastructure, is used for personal
gain (Slaton, 2012).
The goal of education for sustainable development (ESD) is to equip students of all
ages with the values, attitudes, abilities, and knowledge needed to build a sustainable
future. It incorporates important themes of sustainable development into education,
including poverty alleviation, loss of biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable
consumption. In order to encourage students to alter their behavior and take legal
action for social justice, economic viability, and environmental integrity, for current and
future generations, ESD supports collaborative, critical, and participatory learning
strategies (Hofman, 2015).
The need to ensure learners are oriented and provided with knowledge and
pragmatics of sustainability is motivated by several crucial factors. For instance,
environmental deterioration, social injustice, the depletion of resources, and climate
change all call for creative and well-informed solutions. ESD gives students the critical
thinking and problem-solving abilities they need to evaluate these intricate problems
and come up with solutions that are sustainable ((Elstad, 2024). According to (South
African Broadband Education Networks, 2024), equipping learners with the knowledge
of sustainability gives them environmental awareness and a sense of responsibility,
by making them understand how economic, ecological and social systems are
interconnected. This creates a sense of control and motivates them to be responsible
in their consumption, which is important for long-term sustainability (Elstad, 2024).
EDS also prepares learners for careers they may pursue in future and the different
roles they will play in society. For example, careers in environmental sciences, some
engineering fields and urban planners (Gvi, 2022). ESD is crucial for making progress
across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as it empowers people and
communities to make smarter decisions that will preserve and protect the earth and
live in just societies (The University of Salford, n.d.).
The South African education system integrates ESD in various ways. The Curriculum
and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) integrates content that includes
sustainability in different subjects from the Foundation Phase to the Further Education
and Training stage (DBE, n.d). This incorporation is aligned with Sustainable
Development Goal 4, which says that all learners must gin the skills and knowledge
needed to support sustainable development, as well as global citizenship human rights
and gender equality (Assembly, 2015). According to Schudel et al. (2021), South
African teachers undergo various programs like the Fundisa for Change and the
UNESCO Sustainability Starts with Teachers, which aim to equip teachers with the
relevant content knowledge, assessment practices and teaching skills to effectively
teach ESD. The sills they gain in these programs enable them to choices that are
relevant to the contexts of their teaching, facilitating social and ecological justice in the
classroom (Schudel et al., 2021).
In order to progressively integrate ESD values, competencies and concepts
throughout all educational levels by 2030, the Department of Basic Education is
currently preparing a National Strategy for ESD. Some of the planned strategies are
new lesson plans, learning resources, and improved teacher training and support
(DBE, n.d.). Other programmes exist beyond curriculum integration, like the WESSA
Eco-Schools initiative, which provides a more practical approach to promoting
sustainability. The programme offers teachers and learners hands-on opportunities to
participate in projects that promote sustainability. The programmes focus on
environmental and social issues within that community, which benefits that community
and its surrounding townships (UNESCO, 2024). The Eco-Schools programme covers
aspects such as energy, biodiversity, waste, water and climate change and promotes
collaboration amongst teachers through online workgroups (UNESCO, 2024).
Although there have been strategies put in place for integrating ESD in school, there
have been some limitations to it. The first limitation is that many educational
stakeholders do not fully understand what sustainable development is and thus fall
short of capacity-building chances, especially in terms of pragmatic things like
greening school infrastructure (Bopape et al., 2021). Another limitation is that some
schools do not have the necessary resources to implement ESD effectively, which
negatively affects teaching and pragmatic activities (Bopape et al., 2021).
Life Sciences is highly amenable in integrating ESD as its content focuses on
biodiversity, ecosystems and their interactions with the environment, which serves as
a means of working towards sustainability (Mandikonza & Kavai, 2023). The Life
Sciences curriculum integrates real-life examples which shows how humans impact
the ecosystems and the biodiversity which helps learners understand the aftermath of
unsustainable activities have and why it is imperative to conserve the natural
resources found on earth (Munasi, 2024). Life Sciences tackles complicated ecological
and biological systems, which prompt learners to become critical thinkers and
develops their problem-solving skills, which are crucial in solving sustainability
problems (Mofokeng, 2023).
Life Sciences promotes a values-based approach to sustainable development by
offering a forum for talking about moral problems pertaining to environmental,
conservation and biotechnology management (Mofokeng, 2023). The subjects also
incorporate mathematical skills which can be used by learners to assess biological
data, design ecological systems, and made knowledgeable decisions based on facts
and evidence, which is important in sustainability (Munasi, 2024).
Life Sciences can be used as a channel for transformation in various ways. It can
incorporate inquiry-based learning, hand-on activities and community-based research
aimed at addressing local and worldwide sustainability issues (Mofokeng, 2023). Life
Sciences teacher can be provided with continuous, context-specific, professional
development opportunities to enhance their ability to incorporate ESD in their teaching,
to ensure life-long transformative teaching methods (Munasi & Msezane, 2024).
Teachers can also have discussions during lessons where learners can develop their
ethical dimensions and share their thoughts on how human advancements, or their
own doings, can either contribute to sustainability or pose a problem to sustainability
in the future. This will build a sense of environmental responsibility within the learners,
making them reflect on their actions and roles as humans on earth (Mofokeng, 2023).
Teachers face various challenges with integrating ESD. Teachers do not understand
the concept of sustainability and its importance well. Teachers' capacity to
communicate the significance and relevance of sustainability successfully to learners
is hindered by its frequent perception as abstract, complicated, and vague (Dahlin,
2023). This may be because teachers were not taught about ESD during their teacher
trainings (Daniels & Niemczyk, 2022). ESD integration into the curriculum is difficult
because it requires subjects to be interconnected, which traditional education systems
are not. ESD needs to be a designated part of the curriculum so that teachers do not
face problems with finding the coherence and time for sustainability topics when they
teach (Dahlin, 2023).
According to Trofymenko and Smelkova (2024), teachers usually do not have
adequate training when it comes too ESD and how to integrate it in their lessons. Most
of them have not been taught about sustainability and the different teaching practices
they can implement to enforce ESD. This reduces their confidence to effectively teach
ESD content, as they are not properly prepared to do so. Another challenge is that
some schools do not have the necessary resources, such as teaching and learning
materials, time and financial support, to teach ESD (Khadim et al., 2022). Time is a
factor as they need to complete the syllabus in time and may not have time to
incorporate ESD content in their lessons if the curriculum for that particular subject
does not integrate ESD (Smithsonian Science Education Center, 2024).
When teaching ESD, learners may not be interested in engaging in that lesson if the
lesson is not taught in a fun or interactive manner. This is another challenge that may
arise when trying to teach ESD. Teachers need to find innovative methods and AI tools
like simulations that will grasp the learners’ attention and make them more engaged
in the discussions (Dahlin, 2023). Assessment methods do not assess ESD holistically
to see whether learners understand the concept of sustainability and to what extent,
which makes it difficult to know where or how to improve (Dahlin, 2023).
Ubuntu is an African philosophy that id derived from the Nguni language meaning
“humanity”. This philosophy epitomizes the notion that a person is a person because
of other people, highlighting how people are interrelate (Ewuoso & Hall, 2019). It says
that a person’s humanity is asserted through their relationships with other people.
Communalism is the main tenet of Ubuntu philosophy. It states that the wellbeing of a
community is more important that people’s individual interests and that real
contentment is gained through being dependent on other people rather than being
independent (Ajitoni, 2024). IN Ubuntu, communalism is not just about people living
together, it is about them supporting, caring and helping each other. Every member of
the community’s well-being is wound up collectively and the community is seen as a
living being (Ochieng’-Odhiambo, 2023).
One of the key aspects of Ubuntu’ communalism is that people are interconnected,
they are not isolated beings, and their existence and success is dependent on the
community (Ewuoso & Hall, 2019). Another aspect is that within a community, people
share responsibilities and pitch in for the greater good and support each other in times
of need (Ngubane & Makua, 2021). Ubuntu encourages the division of resources
within communities to ensure that one is left I need or want, which can help achieve
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 and 2, which aim to have a world with no
poverty and zero hunger (Assembly, 2015). Ubuntu also prioritizes reconciliation over
punishment in times of conflicts. This helps maintain peace and harmony in
communities, which aligns with SDG 16, which aims to achieve peace and justice
(Assembly, 2015). By promoting peace and harmony within communities, it builds
empathy, solidarity and compassion amongst the community members and
encourages them to be there for each other and get through tough times together.
Ubuntu has played a role in bringing people together, nation building in countries like
South Africa after apartheid (Ajitoni, 2024).
Decolonisation is the process whereby previously colonised countries try to become
independent of their colonisers by removing the systems that they put in place socially,
economically, politically and culturally (Wenzel, 2017). It aims to gain the country’s
autonomy and identity back from the colonial powers and give it back to its indigenous
people. This can be done in a harmonious or violent manner, depending on the people
to seek to decolonise their country (Ivison, 2025). The relevance of decolonisation is
that it is a continuous effort to rectify the inequities and unequal power brought on by
colonisation, as well as bringing change in the social norms, education systems,
governments and cultural restoration (Gopal, 2021). This gives power to the
indigenous people of that place by giving them control over their land, politics and
culture.
Decolonization should be Sustainable Development Goal 1 because all other SDG
goals are greatly influenced by the long-lasting effects of colonization, which limit the
potential to achieve other SDG’s. By the repression of indigenous knowledge and
tenacity, colonialists created systems that were entrenched with social injustice,
exploitation and epistemic violence, all of which sustain damage to the environment
and global inequalities (Directory, 2025b). In order to achieve the other SDGs lie
eradicating poverty, gender equality combating climate change (Assembly, 2015),
decolonial systems needs to be addressed because if they are not, here is a risk of
further perpetuating the very same injustices they aim to solve.
Sustainable development is mostly reliant on Western-centric paradigms and systems,
ignoring how realities previously colonized individuals and their priorities (Porter,
2024). By putting decolonization as SDG one, it would shift the focus from enforcing
Western-centric solutions to empower context-specific, community-led roads for
development that will advance real equity and merit various knowledge (Directory,
2025c). By putting decolonization as SDG on, it would ensure that the other SDGs do
not reinforce the same injustices that were created by colonization.
Integrating AI, digital tools and ESD into teaching practises can be done in various
ways. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChaGPT, can be used by learners to do
research on sustainability topics, create tailored solutions on what the learners want
to know about the topic and come up with effective solutions to sustainability issues
(Meletiadou et al., 2024). The use of digital tools and apps such as Google Earth can
be used as virtual tours to show learners how climate change and pollution affects
communities from different parts of the earth. These will show learners the important
of prioritizing sustainable development, encouraging them to be problem solvers and
critical thinkers (Nanjundaswamy et al., 2021). Digital tools can be used to encourage
inquiry-based learning whereby learners are given issues on sustainability that they
need to find solutions for, which they can submit online or present using digital tools
and submit them online. This will reduce the amount of papers and other materials
that might later hard the environment.
Conclusion
Education for Sustainable Development, together with Ubuntu's tenet of communalism
and decolonial agency provide a route to deconstruct the exploitative principles of
colonization. South Africa's Policy structures, like the National Curriculum Statement,
offer a foundation for transformative ESD, but systemic inequalities remain. Focusing
on indigenous knowledge, developing teacher skills and pedagogy, and using
technology responsibly, ESD can nurture a generation of analytical minds prepared to
create sustainable futures. Sustainability is not just a technical solution but a shared
pursuit of justice that is grounded within the Ubuntu philosophy of “I am because we
are.”
This is how I introduced Education for Sustainable Development to my learners:
[Link]
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