Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can advise the Deputy that a second National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030 – co-sponsored by my Department, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, was published in June 2022.

ESD to 2030 aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development.

ESD, and it’s three pillars: Environmental, Social and Economic sustainability, are embedded across the curriculum at all levels as outlined in an audit published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2018: esdreport_final_june2018.pdf (ncca.ie)

The NCCA is currently working on updating Aistear, the Early Childhood Curricular Framework in consultation with stakeholders in the early childhood sector. It is envisaged that NCCA will have completed its work on the updated Framework in mid-2024. Proposals include ‘Guidance for Good Practice’ which will be curated as online resources in a Toolkit to support educators in working with the updated Aistear. The proposals in this section make explicit reference to Biodiversity as part of supporting sustainability in the hope that babies, toddlers and young children will come to know about biodiversity.

The Primary School Curriculum is also being redeveloped and the Primary Curriculum Framework (Department of Education, 2023) was launched by Minister Foley, TD on 9 March 2023. The framework was informed by an extensive consultation and while the framework makes no explicit reference to Biodiversity it is implicit through its references to sustainability. It views biodiversity as part of sustainability education.

The eight principles of learning, teaching and assessment in the Primary Curriculum Framework demonstrate the value placed on education for sustainable development, inclusive of biodiversity, during the eight years of primary education. This is needed to further children’s playful and experiences as they deepen their knowledge and understanding of the natural world.

The five curriculum areas currently under development include Social and Environmental Education which makes a valuable contribution to children’s knowledge, understanding and competency of Biodiversity. An overarching consideration for the curriculum development Group includes Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) including Biodiversity and a draft curriculum specification will be available for public consultation in the first half of 2024.

In the context of senior cycle redevelopment, a new subject, Climate Action and Sustainable Development (CASD) is currently being developed. This subject focuses on the development of students’ knowledge on climate change and sustainable development, their skills such as systems thinking, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving, and their dispositions in relation to values and futures thinking. The focus is on motivating students’ to action for a sustainable future. This new subject will enhance and deepen existing cross curricular content.

There are a wide range of ESD related programmes available to schools including for example:

- the Green Schools Programme which engages with more than 90% of schools and includes a strand on Biodiversity.

- the Heritage in Schools Programme provided over 200 free visits to primary schools to raise awareness of biodiversity and associated topics during National Biodiversity Week 2022 and 2023. An estimated 15% of total visits for this period explored the links between climate change and biodiversity.

The Department of Education is working with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure policy alignment between ESD to 2030 and the 4^thNational Biodiversity Action Plan.

The Department is also engaging with Biodiversity Ireland with a view to commencing work early in 2024 on the development of a basic biodiversity training programme for non-teaching school staff, in accordance with the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.

The Scoilnet ESD portal has links for schools to relevant ESD programmes and resources.

A first progress report on implementation of ESD to 2030 will be published shortly setting out some of the key achievements to date including:

-Publication of a Sustainability Toolkit for schools to support them in implementing the School Sector Climate Action Mandate and in particular in adopting Sustainability Policy Statements.

-Funding of almost €550,000 delivered to schools in 2023 to support ESD projects, including projects on biodiversity and school gardens, and a further €270,000 delivered to organisations to support ESD related programmes and projects in schools

-Publication of a quarterly ESD Newsletter – issued to all schools and to over 750 subscribers providing information, advice and examples of good practice for sustainable development in schools including information from time to time on biodiversity initiatives.

-ESD to 2030 has been published by UNESCO as Ireland’s Country Initiative for implementation of Education for Sustainable Development

-The Department hosted an EU Working Group for Schools on Learning for Sustainability in Kinsale Community School in May 2023 focused on collaboration and partnership for ESD.

-The co-sponsoring Departments will host an ESD Forum for key stakeholders on 1^stDecember in TU Dublin, Grangegorman Campus.

-The appointment of the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) to the Board of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the nomination of a Youth Representative to the EU ECE Youth Platform for ESD

-The mapping of ESD related Continuing Professional Development for teachers and the inclusion of sustainability as a criteria for summer courses for teachers and in the Refund of Fees scheme for Teachers.

The Sustainability Toolkit, published in September 2023, comprises a self-assessment audit for schools, Sustainability Guidelines including an A – Z of all things ESD including Biodiversity and a Sustainability Policy Statement template.

Further information including the Sustainability Toolkit, ESD Newsletter and ESD Funding grantees and their projects is available on the ESD to 2030 webpage here: gov.ie - National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland (www.gov.ie) The progress report will be available here in the coming days.