Welcome to Global EfS Learning Community...

At a recent EfS residential in Africa...

Four good reasons for studying EfS at London South Bank University:

 We are an internationally recognised pioneer in the field of Education for Sustainability (EfS).
 We welcome and thrive on diversity and inclusion.
 We offer a range of qualifications with flexible study modes.
 We continue to grow steadily as a dynamic interface between theory and practice in EfS.

We are an internationally recognised pioneer in the field of Education for Sustainability (EfS).

Our roots lie in the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil. There, almost all the countries backed the commitment to integrate environmental and development concerns in the emerging concept of sustainability while emphasising the importance of education’s role in building a sustainable world. In response to this a group of development and environmental organisations – with the financial contributions from WWF-UK, Oxfam and the EU – got together with London South Bank University and the eventual result was our EfS programme, the first ever masters programme of this kind.

In 1994 the first batch of students began their studies and the first masters degrees were awarded in 1997.

Our programme is recognised by Unesco and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

We welcome and thrive on diversity and inclusion.

Although our programme is primarily designed for educators and communicators striving for a sustainable world, we welcome anyone who is committed to become an agent for change for sustainability in their professional, social or cultural context. That’s why we have students from diverse areas (e.g. health education, media, business, and botanic and zoological work) studying with teachers, educators and NGO educational, training and campaigning staff.

And we welcome students from all parts of the world and view this rich diversity as an asset to the emerging field of EfS as well as to our programme. As a result, our alumni represent today a diverse international learning community, covering all continents except of course Antarctica.

What binds our diverse student population and alumni them together is their dream – a sustainable world – and their commitment to make it real some day.

Diversity does not stop there. Our tutor team is rich in diversity too. And so are our course materials, where academic articles from scholars holding diagonally opposite views sit next to each other.

We offer a range of qualifications with flexible study modes.

Our flagship qualification (or course) is Masters of Science (MSc) in EfS and it comprises eight units plus dissertation. We also offer three other qualifications, namely University Certificate (two units), Postgraduate Certificate (four units), and Postgraduate Diploma (eight units).

To suit your personal and professional commitments, we offer a choice of study modes, namely fulltime through self-supported study at the University, part-time through distance learning, and a mixture of both.

What’s more, if your circumstances change after you start a course, you can change your study mode or even the course itself!

We continue to grow steadily as a dynamic interface between theory and practice in EfS.

In an emerging field like EfS the interface between theory and practice is even more important. Theory informs practice and practice in turn nourishes theory. That’s why our course materials undergo continuous review and updating.

Networking is an essential element for us to consolidate our premier position as a theory-practice interface in EfS. The e-bulletin board of our programme’s website provides a platform for students and tutors to learn, discuss and debate various aspects related to EfS. Because students can login to this facility for two more years since graduation, they will not lose their contacts soon after graduation.

Instead of being a mere academic programme, we facilitate external networking, too! We actively engage with external groups, organisations as well as individuals who are concerned about and interested in EfS. For this we employ various means such as our annual EfS conference, our Indicator e-Journal (www.indicator.org.uk) offering free access, publication of books and, most recently, the London Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as its initiator.

Three EfS gradutes after graduation ceremony in 2009