Sustainable Development Goals and Environmental Education (to the 50th Anniversary of the Scientific Council on Environmental Education of the Russian Academy of Education)

Abstract

The National Development Goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030, defined by the decree of the President (2020), corresponding to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The Russian Federation conducts systematic work to implement SDG, including Goal 4, “Quality education”. The article presents a brief outline of the history of the created in 1970 Scientific Council on environmental education of the Russian Academy of Education (previously it was called Problem Council on informal environmental education of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR), the main directions of its activities and contribution to the SDG through the development of scientific and methodological support of environmental education (in contemporary wording, of the environmental education for sustainable development). With the participation of members of the Scientific Council, federal and regional textbooks on sustainable development for secondary and higher schools were published, and several monographs and dissertations were prepared. Issues of environmental protection and sustainable development are included in federal state educational standards. The Concept of general environmental education for sustainable development is prepared. The Interregional network partnership “Learning to live sustainably in a global world” is functioning. Currently, designing of the national set of SDG 4 indicators, and, particularly, an indicator 4.7.1 related to training in sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, is on the way.