In 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 57/254 and declared the period 2005-2014 as the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” (DESD).

In its declaration, the United Nations General Assembly defined ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) as a “learning process (or approach to teaching) based on the ideals and principles that underline sustainability and is concerned with all levels and types of learning to provide quality education and foster sustainable human development – learning to know, learning to be, learning to live together, learning to do and learning to transform oneself and society.”

At the end of the DESD in 2014, the UNESCO World Conference held in Japan announced the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD aimed at generating and scaling up ESD actions at all levels and in all areas of education, training and learning to accelerate progress towards sustainable development to the post-2015 agenda.

While ESD is implemented worldwide under the GAP, in support of further promoting ESD in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT), in cooperation with the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, have shown their collective commitment to promote best practices in ESD in schools across Southeast Asia, by organising the SEAMEO-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award.  The award scheme has been held annually since 2012.

The objectives of the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award are:

– To raise awareness of ESD in schools and communities across Southeast Asia;
– To promote ESD best practices in schools and communities across Southeast Asia;
– To share and exchange knowledge and best practices on ESD in schools across Southeast Asia and Japan;
– To encourage networking among schools and communities which implement ESD practices in Southeast Asian countries and Japan; and
– To support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of United Nations.