UNESCO is the lead agency for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The goal of the decade is to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning.
This educational effort is to encourage changes in behavior that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations.
Since environmental education (EE) was defined internationally at the first UNESCO-UNEP sponsored conference on EE held in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1977, international leaders and practitioners have gathered every decade--in Moscow in 1987 and in Thessaloniki in 1997, to take stock of the progress and to set new goals for advancing the field.
The Fourth International Conference on Environmental Education, co-sponsored by UNESCO and UNEP, is being organized by the Government of India at the Center for Environment Education (CEE), the nodal agency for the Conference. The main Conference is being held in Ahmedabad on 26, 27 and 28 November 2007, with pre Conference workshops beginning 24 November 2007.