Background and Context

Through a partnership between Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF), Environment Canada, and Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth (MECY) and Manitoba Advanced Education and Literacy (MAEL), the ESD Canada National Council (formerly NESDEC) was established in 2006. The Council was conceived as a key mechanism that would be used to bring a complementary and national perspective to the work that is being done by the recently established seven provincial / territorial Education for Sustainable Development Working Groups (ESDWG).

The purpose of the National Council and the ESDWGs, at the macro-level, is to support systemic change toward ESD within the formal, non-formal and informal education systems. Both structures provide an opportunity and a means to support and contribute to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD). Ultimately, the goal is to help citizens acquire the knowledge, skills and values they need to contribute to the development of a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable society.