ESD aims at educating individuals to have competencies that enable them to think about the effects of their activities globally and locally, economically, socially, and environmentally and contribute to sustainability with their behaviors and also advance their society towards SD with their ideas and participation. School leadership plays a vital role in implementing and promoting ESD projects and initiatives. The ability of school leaders to effectively communicate with the school community and gain the commitment of students and staff is a critical component of the success of transforming education to tackle sustainable development issues. Therefore, to lead the change in their contexts, educational leaders must possess several critical competencies concerning the topic of ESD, including skills in strategic management, strategic and systemic thinking, an appropriate mindset, an open, broad view, and also the ability to envision school and education in a positive light, especially when it comes to ESD.
TopSustainable Development
The most current and global term that has been used to characterize the notion of global development is “Sustainable Development” (SD). Another similar and interrelated term that is sometimes interchangeably used with SD is the term “Sustainability”. However, to distinguish between these two terms, O’Riordan (1985) clarifies that sustainability is related to the environment while SD is mostly about development. The term SD may be placed into many concepts in our life but the understanding of the concept occurs in the Brundtland Commission and its report as Our Common Future (WCED, 1987). The definition of the SD concept in the conference held in 1987 at Nairobi is “the development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 43). As seen in the definition, it can be thought of as briefly thinking twice before acting, using, and fulfilling our needs since all things present now are shaped by the past and the present will shape the future, so future generations should be the focus of our actions.
This shows that sustainable development is not just a concept itself; it includes more complex and interrelated dimensions such as economic, social, and environmental. The most final shape of sustainable development was seen in the Brundtland model of SD, where the notion of SD and its three key dimensions were reaffirmed at the Johannesburg Summit (UNESCO, 2006).
· Economic Dimension: To be aware of not only the restrictions but also the potential of economic development and to consider the extent to which the environment and society will be affected.
· Social Dimension: To grasp not only a democratic system where everyone can express their opinion freely but common opinions are also shared and secure the right for individuals to live their lives in the way they like. From a social perspective, in particular, human well-being cannot be sustained without a healthy environment and is equally unlikely in the absence of a vibrant economy.
· Environmental Dimension: To comprehend the vital importance of the environment and resources and consider the consequences of sanctions on these issues in terms of economics and social aspects.
The relationship between the three dimensions is figured out as a triad, as Herremans and Reid (2002) called it, where sustainability is located at the intersection between the three major dimensions of SD and if one of them cannot be achieved, others will be affected, and sustainable development will not be achieved.
Recent reports and publications identify fifteen sub-topics for each dimension of SD. These topics or perspectives are (UNESCO, 2006, pp.18-20; Olsson, 2014, p.18; Berglund et al., 2014, p.320):