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I am grateful to the Government of Manitoba and to the museum for sponsoring this cocktail reception. Their generosity reflects their understanding of the tremendous challenges before this international forum.
A truly unique and productive partnership underpinned the publication of our book on education, training and sustainability. The OECD, UNESCO, the International Economic Forum of the Americas and the Canadian Council on Learning all collaborated on the preparation of this volume.
But what I want most to recognise is the signal contributions, efforts and commitment of my friend and colleague, Gil Rémillard, whose enlightened insight into the centrality of learning issues to our collective futures has been the true driving force behind this book.
The subject matter is far from new. On the contrary, the three imperatives we discuss in this volume are at the very heart of what concerns the four organisations, though from different perspectives. The book presents education, training and sustainability from a standpoint that focuses on what unites them.
First, education: education is a key agent of social and economic change. Adaptability to a rapidly changing, interrelated global economy now requires a lifelong learning approach. The pursuit of inclusive and sustainable education means recognising the role of informal learning outside conventional educational venues.
Second: sustainable development, defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This includes the social and economic infrastructure that determines a society’s capacity to sustain itself in that evolving global environment.
Third: social sustainability, including ongoing training as a key element in social infrastructure.
Sustainable social development involves both the individual and the community. Investment in the two elements consolidates social capital: skills, creativity, networks, shared values, as well as political institutions founded on cooperation that are in a position to make decisions. Sustainable social development—which includes education and training—strengthens a society’s capacity to ensure sustainability on the environmental front.
Undeniably, sustainable social development must involve the pursuit of three interrelated ideals: the sound management of the biosphere; the establishment of an economic paradigm that conserves the planet’s resources; and the establishment of systems focused on the well-being of humans, within which harmony between nature and humanity constitutes an essential concern.
This book is aimed at pushing the analysis further than a simple critique of current affairs. We wanted to cover three elements—education, training and sustainability—from the perspective of their interdependence. We are not trying to provoke a debate with the publication of this book. The debate on the confluence of these elements is already taking place. We are aiming rather to make a tangible contribution to the process so that convergence can become a reality in public policies and daily practices.
Education, training and sustainability: three lines of thought that we want to integrate into national and international society.
Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Your presence shows that you share this vision and this objective.
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