What Is It?
The goal is to provide a quality education for everyone, as it is the building block to creating a world with fewer conflicts and happy, wealthy people. To get jobs - and therefore the income needed to live - education is a must. This is especially true as machines replace low-skill jobs, meaning the lowest-paid human jobs require more and more skill. Education is also needed for fostering kindness and awareness.
Given the posts previously about poverty and the goal surrounding that (here), it is no surprise that many people live without the education that we take for granted. Poverty and lack of education go hand in hand. Similarly, it’s unsurprising that Covid-19 has exacerbated the issue. 147 million children missed over half of in-person instruction from 2020-2021, and 24 million students may never return to school.
These statistics are honestly quite hard to imagine. Let’s bring it closer to home. 21% of adults in the US - one of the most universally recognized first world countries - are illiterate in 2023. When we think of illiteracy and lack of education, we think about poverty. About hardly-heard-of countries. But education isn’t as prevalent as it feels when we’re surrounded by it.
Just imagine. You’re in school. You have stress related to it, of course. But regardless of how well or badly you do in school, you will come out with enough skills to get a job - what kind of job, of course, depends on what you’ve done and how well you’ve done it. But you will have something.
Even leaving school at 16 - the minimum age - allows you a viable path to a healthy and prosperous lifestyle - it doesn’t always have to be the graduating-college-at-22 pipeline.
But imagine having none of this. It is so difficult to think about, when we have had education take up the majority of our lives since we could walk. But just think about it for a second. Think about getting to the age of sixteen and having real-life experience but no formal training nor skills. Imagine being an 18 year old with that fate. From then on, you’re put in the same competitive pool as those who have been shaped their entire lives for their adulthood. When you’ve just been trying to survive.
Of course, everyone knows this. Of course, it’s not fair. People know why education is so important. That is one of the few things that is rarely disputed.
And it’s also one of the few things that has an impact on the problem it stems from. Educating those in poverty, upskilling them, brings them out of poverty.
How Does It Relate to Sustainability?
Education is incredibly important in every aspect of one’s life. It helps fulfill the other UNSDGs too - we already discussed how it decreases poverty, but it also increases equality through awareness (about why it is so important). It improves food safety as people will understand that it is important to pay attention to.
So, following this, education also improves sustainability. Again, looking at those who receive no formal education will not maximize the potential for sustainability - they have to focus on their skill sets to obtain jobs and therefore income to be able to consider sustainable products.
Here, education is raising awareness about sustainability. One example of this is what I’m doing right now! That simple! Of course, this is just a small example. The reason education for sustainability is so important is because even though it seems like everyone is talking about sustainability, and it’s a buzzword now, the truth is, that’s not enough. Just knowing about sustainability isn’t enough to make a difference - it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not the end. Education about how to make sustainability actionable for people, businesses, and governments (through economics, technology, and policy). My focus is on people (and food businesses), and there are a myriad of interesting initiatives on all sorts of fronts to make sustainability possible through education.
People want to be sustainable. But not at the expense of their comfort, or their profits, or their country’s growth. Education helps to help them find a way to maximize sustainability in a way that makes sense for them. To make a true impact, we need to be realistic.
Another reason why education is so important is that it builds. It spreads. That’s another reason schools have begun to incorporate sustainability into their curriculums. Picture this: a school has a day where students learn about sustainability. If their students know about sustainability, there’s a chance they’ll talk amongst themselves about it, during class tasks or elsewhere. Then, the children - especially younger ones - will go home and talk to their parents about it. Then, say the school does a sustainability related event. The parents, who have been made aware that their children are learning about sustainability, may be willing to contribute and support the cause, making an impact on sustainability.
Clearly, education was the driver. And this can be emulated in other places too, not just those as obvious as schools.
What Can You Do?
The good news is that education is everywhere, in every form. Talking to your friends about sustainability is a form of education. Talking to your parents is a form of education. Everything is a form of education! But here are some more concrete methods.
Talk to people about sustainability!
Talk to your friends and family! It’s easier to make conversation about things you know, so talk about the UNSDGs! You can always frame it as “did you know…” and say something cool that the UN is doing! You’ll be surprised by the amount of people interested. Everyone likes a good story on progress being made.
Use Greenome!
Reminder that the other posts you can use as a clear conversation starter on sustainability are here.
It’s no surprise there are millions of other ways to educate, but these are the two easiest and main things you can carry out in your own community! Education compounds impact!
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