Sustainable Estonia: Education for Adult Formation in Sustainable Development (EDU-SD/DD)

1. Education et Formation des adultes au Développement Durable (EDU-SD/DD)

2. ESTONIA 45 000 km² 1,34 million inhabitants Independent from 1991 Member of EU from 01.05.2004

3. Estonia – local municipalities 15 counties 227 local municipalities Including 186 rural municipalities 41 towns

4. The objectives of Sustainable Estonia developmentEstonian strategy “Sustainable Estonia 21“ • The viability of the Estonian cultural space • The growth of human welfare  • Coherent society  • Ecological balance

5. Estonian legislation and acts in SD and Education Act on Sustainable Development - 1995 National Environmental Strategy and action plan of Estonia – 1997 and 1998 Sustainable development in Estonia and Estonian National Strategy on SD(SE 21) www.envir.ee Education et Formation des adultes au Développement Durable (EDU-SD/DD)

6. Sustainable Estonia 21 (SE21) Sustainable Estonia 21 (SE21) is a developmentstrategy devised on the basis of the Terms of Reference. According to the Terms of Reference, SE21 is a strategy for developing the Estonian state and society until the year 2030 with the aim of integrating the success requirements arising from global competition with the principles of sustainable development and preservation of the traditional values of Estonia.

7. Estonian National Strategy onSustainable Development Development Sustainable Estonia 21 was approved • by Estonian Government: March 17, 2005 • by Estonian Parliament: September 14, 2005

8. Sustainable Estonia 21 (SE21) ContexAs the first step towards designing a sustainable development strategy for Estonia, the key assumptions and context factors which Estonia’s development in the near decades will depend on need to be outlined. Continuation or deepening of the following global development trends having an impact on Estonia’s development can be assumed.

9. 1. Continuation and deepening of globalisation processes The area of open market economy isexpanding, which in turn implies an increasing influence of international corporations, increasing globalisation of economy and politics, sharpening competition for employment, growing pragmatisation of politics, ever stronger domination of the English-speaking global (economic, scientific, cultural) elite.

10. 2. Increasing appreciation of local identity As a counter-reaction to globalisation, local and regional attempts to diverge from globally spreading trends, to value the local language and culture and to integrate the global and the local are strengthening worldwide. Regions and states that better succeed in cultivatingtheir identity will gain an important competitiveadvantage.

11. 3. More differentiated population picture, increasing individualism A continuing rapid growth of population in developing countries vs. negative growthand ageing of population in developed countries will resultin an increasing external pressure for immigrationcombined with the need for additional workforce. Transformation of the traditional family model intodifferent (more individual-centred) models.

12. 4. Continuation of consumer society, expansion of the model of welfare society As development resource (energetic natural resources, consumptiondemand) will suffice in the near future and the open economic area will increase, also the productionconsumption cycle will accelerate. There will be a shift towards an increase in the share of services related toindividual welfare/development (tourism, recreation,health, entertainment, counselling), in particular for the elderly.

13. 5. Increasing differences, growing polarisation Continuing regionalisation – an increase in regionaldifferences (in incomes, way of life, attitudes) bothglobally and nationally; growing disparities betweendevelopment centres and peripheries both in the economic and cultural sense. Perpetualisation ofdisparities and their periodical canalisation intoconfrontation (with terrorism as an extreme form). The power and energy of international politics will be spent on reconciliation of the (ever distancing) opposites/ differing interests: north-south, poor-rich, global-local, profit-environment, etc.

14. 6. Accelerating technologisation New technologies – IT advances, biotechnology, social technologies – will continue to be the key areas and development engines. Internet will become a total communication channel. Technological research and development will become the key areas of central economy. Social innovation or societal renovation will gain equal importance with technical innovation, driven by the knowledge that (a society) who does not renovate itself will lag behind.

15. 7. Increasing pressure to counterbalance thedrawbacks of consumer society Actions to ensure ecological balance (environmental conventions, regional agreements, protection programmes, etc.), to mitigate developmental differences (Tobin’s tax, regional policy, development aid), and to protect local cultures andcounteract to Anglo-American cultural monopolism(stricter language laws, immigration quotas) willescalate, international anti-globalisation movement will strengthen.

16. 8. Ideology of hot spots Political approach to development issues continues not to be systematic and forward-looking (i.e. in accordance with the sustainable development paradigm) but focused on individual key issues or “hot spots” – AIDS and immigrants, terrorism and climate change, lack of water and educational renovation. Resources and activity are channelled into individual hot spots, while all the rest will recede into the background.

17. 9. Advantages of strategic planners States and societies capable of moving from the responsive or hot spots’ scheme to the model of strategic planning, who not only respond to current concerns but are capable of setting common and longer-term goals and mobilise resources for achieving the goals, will continue to have asignificant development advantage. Societies asintegrated actors (societies capable of making decisions and realising their goals) have obvious advantages in an open and ever more complex world.

18. GOAL 1:VIABILITY OF THE ESTONIANCULTURAL SPACE According to the Constitution of the Republic ofEstonia, the state of Estonia shall “ensure thepreservation of the Estonian nature and culture through the ages”. Sustainability of the Estonian nation and culture constitutes the cornerstone of sustainable development of Estonia. The development goal postulating this has a fundamental meaning, the persistence of Estonianhood is the highest priority among the development goals of Estonia.

19. GOAL 2: GROWTH OF WELFARE Welfare is defined as the satisfaction of the material, social and cultural needs of individuals, accompanied by opportunities for individual self-realisation and for realising one’s aspirations and goals. From the point of view of the Western ideology ofindividualism, welfare of an individual is a value in itself. Also the definition of sustainable developmentformulated by the Brundtland Commission reflects the mindset according to which the realisation of thewelfare aspirations of one generation should not impair the possibilities of future generations.

20. GOAL 3: COHERENT SOCIETY Achievement of the first two goals established inthis strategy (preservation of the Estonian culturalspace and growth of welfare) will be possible only ifthe benefits from these goals can be enjoyed bythe majority of the population and the price forachieving the goals is not destructive for the societyas an integral organism. Realisation of the goals ispossible only in a situation where an absolutemajority of the members of society believe in andcontribute to their achievement, i.e. in a coherentand harmoniously functioning society.

21. GOAL 4: ECOLOGICAL BALANCE Maintenance of ecological balance in the nature ofEstonia is a central precondition for oursustainability. It is also our contribution to globaldevelopment, following the principle that requires abalance both in matter cycles and in flows o energyat all levels of the living environment. The overall aim is to integrate the considerations ofself-regeneration capacity of nature into the use ofnature. The main function of environmentalprotection is not to protect resources and the naturalenvironment but to achieve their harmonious and balanced management in the interests of theEstonian society and local communities.

22. Stockholm Enviroment Institute SEI is an independent international research institute. We have been engaged inenvironment and development issues at local, national, regional and global policy levelsfor more than a quarter of a century. SEI is an innovator, and has consistently shown the vision to confront issues before they enterthe mainstream: our pioneering work on renewable energy and sustainable sanitation has itsroots in the early days of the Institute.

23. ̀SEI Tallinn´s agenda is driven by local, European as well as global challenges in sustainable development.

24. INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT In terms of drafting new policies it is important to know which trends were followed inprevious years, the areas characterized by rapid development and the areas suffering frominsufficient development. Use of the indicators complementary to GDP for measuring the development of the societyhas been discussed at the international level more frequently lately.

25. Participation in lifelong learning There are large differences in the shares of population participating in lifelong learning in the European Union Member States. In Estonia, this indicator is a little below the European Union average.

27. Share of renewable energy in gross national energy consumption, 2000–2007 In 2007 the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption was somewhat higher in Estonia than in the European Union on average.

29. Share of the public passenger transport turnover in total passenger turnover in the European Union, 2007 In Estonia the share of public passenger transport turnover in total passenger turnover was one of the biggest in the European Union, however, in terms of the use of rail transport Estonia was the one but last.

31. Recovery of waste in the European Union, 2006 In Estonia the recovery rate of waste is about at the same level as the average of the European Union.

33. Environmental Action Plan The National Environmental Action Plan of Estonia 2007-2013 serves as the implementation plan of the Estonian Environmental Strategy 2030.  The principal aim of the Environmental Action Plan is to present a consensual list of nationally prioritised activities aimed at achieving the primary goals of the environmental policy specified in the national Environmental Strategy, indicating the financing needs and discussing the most optimal use of non-budgetary funding sources.

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