Publish at April 13 2014 Updated April 05 2023
Sustainable development is a concept that has gained prominence in recent years. But it is a complex concept, at the intersection of the economic, environmental, social and cultural. Not easy to grasp with students or pupils.
The report from the 2013 climate change conference in Rio emphasized the importance for students graduating from higher education institutions to know about sustainable development (SD) and what it entails so that future cohorts of graduates will be agents of change for the future. This is all the more important as the authors of the report noted that current elites, including politicians, often give empty speeches on sustainable development, not understanding what it means in economic, social, etc. terms. In addition, there is the popular perception that knowledge on this subject is only available to environmental activists. An idea that is rejected, among others, by Kedge Business School, which firmly believes that social and economic sustainability will require a better understanding of the issues and components of sustainable development.
Since early April 2014, a sustainability literacy test has been available to students at academic institutions around the world. This "TASK" is a multiple-choice questionnaire consisting of about 50 questions. Two-thirds of these are identical throughout the world, the remaining third being related to the region where the student lives. Moreover, 6,000 French students were able to test a zero version of the test during the fall of 2013.
The creators plan to release the first results to the test at the Nagoya conference in November 2014. This, in order to be able to present a first sample of the level of knowledge of students in sustainable development, in the different countries that participate in the experimental pahse.
The creators plan to release the first results of the test at the Nagoya conference in November 2014.
Proof that the topic is not only of interest to green groups, companies have already asked the organization if it is possible to obtain the Sustainability literacy test TASK to pass it to their employees. This is strongly encouraged by the creators, who hope that in the near future, workers will also be selected according to their skills and a minimum level of knowledge about sustainable development.
And then, why stop at the academic and professional environments? Why shouldn't all future students graduating from high school be assessed on their SD knowledge? For now, only higher education institutions are being targeted, but for the sustainability of the planet, we may need to ensure that the youngest students already have a high level of SD literacy, well before college.
They will be tested on their knowledge of SD.
Illustration: patpitchaya, shutterstock
References
Novel, Anne-Sophie. "After the TOEFL for English, here comes the Sustainability Literacy Test for SD." Not even bad. Last updated April 3, 2014. http://alternatives.blog.lemonde.fr/2014/04/03/apres-le-toefl-pour-langlais-voila-le-sustainability-literacy-test-pour-le-developpement-durable/#xtor=RSS-32280322.
International Certificate of Sustainability Knowledge - TASK - https://en.sulitest.org/task
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