UNESCO and Environmental Education

It is UNESCO's Decade of Sustainable Development[1] and the Green Schools program is the implementation of it in U.S. schools.  It should be noted that the Globe Schools[2] program is also a UNESCO program being promoted by the U.S. Dept. of Education.  According to the Globe Program website, Idaho has 179 GLOBE Schools using school children to provide location and measurement data on our environment[3] under the guise of hands-on science education.   GLOBE is an acronym standing for Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment.  

From the UNESCO website above on Education and the Decade of Sustainable Development: 

Reorienting Programmes

Rethinking and revising education from nursery school through university to include a clear focus on the development of the knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability is important to current and future societies. 

More basic education as it is currently taught will not create more sustainable societies. The conundrum remains, that it is educated nations that leave the deepest ecological footprints, using large amounts of resources and energy to support their lifestyles. Creating a more sustainable future will not occur simply by increasing the amount of education; instead, it is an issue of content and relevance. Questioning, rethinking, and revising education from pre-school through university to include more principles, knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability in each of the three realms -- environment, society, and economy -- is important to our current and future societies. This should be done in a holistic and interdisciplinary context, engaging society at large, but carried out by individual nations in a locally relevant and culturally appropriate manner.

This implies a review of existing curricula in terms of their objectives and content to develop transdisciplinary understandings of social, economic and environmental sustainability. It also requires a review of recommended and mandated approaches to teaching, learning and assessment so that lifelong learning skills are fostered. These include skills for creative and critical thinking, oral and written communication, collaboration and cooperation, conflict management, decision-making, problem-solving and planning, using appropriate ICTs, and practical citizenship.

UNESCO Values Education For Sustainable Development (ESD)[4]

Regarding the implementation of sustainable development into the schools, UNESCO had this to say:

ESD mirrors the concern for education of high quality, demonstrating characteristics: such as:
- Interdisciplinary and holistic: learning for sustainable development embedded in the whole curriculum, not as a separate subject;
- Values-driven: sharing the values and principles underpinning sustainable development;
- Critical thinking and problem solving: leading to confidence in addressing the dilemmas and challenges of sustainable development;
- Multi-method: word, art, drama, debate, experience - different pedagogies which model the processes;
- Participatory decision-making: learners participate in decisions on how they are to learn;
- Locally relevant: addressing local as well as global issues, and using the language(s) which learners most commonly use.


 

ESD will be shaped by a range of perspectives from all fields of human development and including all the acute challenges, which the world faces. ESD cannot afford to ignore their implications for a more just and more sustainable process of change. The plan notes the important perspectives provided by: human rights, peace and human security, gender equality, cultural diversity and intercultural understanding, health, HIV/AIDS, governance, natural resources, climate change, rural development, sustainable urbanisation, disaster prevention and mitigation, poverty reduction, corporate responsibility and accountability, market economy.


 

ESD is for everyone, at whatever stage of life they find themselves. It takes place therefore within a perspective of lifelong learning, engaging all possible spaces of learning, formal, non-formal and informal, from early childhood to adult life. ESD calls for a re-orientation of educational approaches - curriculum and content, pedagogy and examinations. Spaces for learning include non-formal learning, community-based organisations and local civil society, the workplace, formal education, technical and vocational training, teacher training, higher education educational inspectorates, policy-making bodies, and beyond.

Green Schools Programs In-Progress

Green Schools[5]

"Environmental education should be a central element in any child's education, helping children to understand and appreciate the natural world around them and to foster critical thinking and environmental stewardship".     Another quote: "Teachers successfully teach to math, science and social studies standards, while inculcating nutrition and environmental stewardship concepts in these gardens"  (referring to the school collaboration with small farms so that children can have hands-on learning about food systems - and probably earn a Certificate of Mastery in Spud Picking.)   

Antioch New England Institute[6]

"At CPBE, we believe that an ideal 'Green School' is a small-scale model of an ecologically sustainable society. The definition of a Green School that is embodied in the detailed Green School Guidelines (GSG) on the following pages is broad and comprehensive. It goes well beyond the traditional bounds of science education to include all academic disciplines, specific educational strategies and a strong connection between a school and its community . . .   The purpose of CPBE's Green School Guidelines is to grow the quantity and quality of schools across the nation working toward this Green ideal.  Re: Place-Based Education[7]:  "Place-based education focuses learning within the local community of a student. It provides learners with a path for becoming active citizens and stewards of the environment and place where they live."

Global Green USA[8] (Mikhal Gorbachev's program affiliated with Green Cross International[9])

 "Green features may also be incorporated into school design as teaching tools.  Students often learn better when abstract concepts are demonstrated to them visually. For instance, some schools have placed utility meters in visible location in the classrooms, others have incorporated stormwater management into the landscape design.  There are also many innovative programs, such as the Center for Ecoliteracy, where teachers incorporate aspects of the classroom or school facilities into the curriculum".[10] 

Schools as a Teaching Tool[11]

(cut and pasted to fit the page)

Environmentalism As A Religion

Earth Worship as a Unifying Principle for Global Governance

"One reason why the environment has taken center stage in Gorbachev's campaign for world government is that by its very nature it is an "international" issue which evokes strong feelings. This makes it especially easy to manipulate. To globalists like Gorbachev it is the perfect issue behind which they can rally a naive and easily misled public." Gary Kah[12]

At the founding of Green Cross International which is the parent organization of Global Green, USA, Mikhail Gorbachev made a speech[13] regarding the agenda of the new organization.  The following is an excerpt from that speech:

"The emerging environmentalization of our civilization and the need for vigorous action in the interest of the entire global community will inevitably have multiple political consequences. Perhaps the most important one of them will be a gradual change in the status of the United Nations. Inevitably, it must assume some aspects of a world government. Indeed, such a process has already begun. One day, however, the entire structure of the organization will have to be reconsidered."

The concept in a nutshell is to use the environment as the single unifying principle to rally the people of the world behind global governance.  The following are quotes by Maurice Strong and Gorbachev explaining it in different terms:

"The real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten Commandments, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It will become a symbol of the aspirations and the commitments of people everywhere."  Maurice Strong[14]

"Do not do unto the environment of others what you do not want done to your own environment . . . my hope is that this charter will be a kind of Ten Commandments, "A Sermon on the Mount," that provides a guide for human behavior toward the environment in the next century. -- Mikhail Gorbachev, The Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1997[15]

While this all sounds seriously nutty, they are very serious about it.  There is even an Arc of Hope which is modeled after the Arc of the Covenant. 
 

Arc of Hope

The following is an excerpt from an excellent article on the Arc of Hope written by Terry Melanson titled, "The Earth Charter and the Arc of the Gaia Covenant"[16]  It is posted at the Conspiracy Archive website but don't be put off by the name.  The information in the article is available at mainstream websites but Terry puts it all together better because this really isn't something that the mainstream press wants to talk about:

"On September the 9th, 2001 a celebration of the Earth Charter was held at Shelburne Farms Vermont for the unveiling of the Earth Charter's final resting place. This "Ark of Hope" will be presented to the United Nations along with its contents in June of 2002. It is hoped that the United Nations will endorse the Earth Charter document on this occasion; the tenth anniversary of the UNCED Earth Summit in Rio.

Placed within the Ark, along with the Earth Charter, were various items called "Temenos Books" and "Temenos Earth Masks." Temenos is a concept adopted by Carl Jung to denote a magic circle, a sacred space where special rules and energies apply. Some of the Temenos Books were created within this magic circle by children, who filled them with visual affirmations for Mother Earth. Fashioned with the "earth elements", the Temenos Earth Masks were also worn and created by children. 

Inside this  Ark of Hope the Earth Charter is handwritten on papyrus paper, and ready for presentation to the United Nations; the Ark along with it's Gaia "Ten Commandments" - a new covenant to which every nation must adhere. Each panel represents one of the five traditional elements of pagan worship: Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Spirit. According to the Ark of Hope website, the Ark's dimensions are 49" X 32" X 32" and it was crafted out of a single Sycamore plank. The obvious meaning behind the Ark of Hope is to mock God's own Ten Commandments and the Ark of the Covenant. In this context the choice of Sycamore wood for the Ark of Hope's construction is a revealing one. The Sycamore tree was sacred to most all the pagan religions in the middle east during biblical times, and in Egypt especially: To the Egyptians the Sycamore was a healing tree; The tomb of Osiris was built in Sycamore wood, and shaded by Sycamore trees; Burial in Sycamore coffins was a symbolic return into the womb of the mother goddess; The deceased hoped to live in the Sycamore tree. In the book of the dead there are examples of a letter the deceased would write to the Goddess of the Tree, containing a prayer so that she would provide water and air. ¹ 

From the Gary Kah organization website, "Hope for the World"

Campaigning in the Heartland[17]

"On October 8, 1996 I had the personal opportunity of hearing Gorbachev speak on this subject in Indianapolis, Indiana. I listened as he carefully built his case for environmental reform, calling for a global restructuring to deal with this immense crisis." A few of his statements follow:

We need a new paradigm of development in which the environment will be a priority... World civilization as we know it will soon end... We have very little time and we must act... If we can address the environment problem, we have hope... but it will have to be done within a new system, a new paradigm... We have to change our mindset-the way humankind views the world.

Gorbachev wasted no time in presenting The Earth Charter as the only solution to the global environmental crisis, asserting that The Charter would "be the basis for changing current values." In order to make this transition into a new global society, people everywhere would have to be educated. He stated that he was already working with UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to introduce new education curriculums in all countries. He also indicated that he was working through his special environmental organization, Green Cross International, to bring about these changes, revealing that chapters of Green Cross were already active in 17 countries with a dozen more countries to be added soon. (His affiliate in the United States is Global Green.) He purported that government organizations throughout the world were already "seeking the involvement of Green Cross International to help solve these problems."

The Red-Green Revolution

Corporate Incentives For Cooperation

The Green in the Green Schools Initiative for corporations is the Greenback.  A person could literally drown in the corporate salivation on this program:  The following are a few statistics provided to potential investors in the 'Go Green' program. 

Market Analysis[18]

"According to the U.S. Department of Education Annual Report for 2003, there are 94,112 public K-12 schools in the United States employing 3 million teachers and reaching 48 million students . . . The Go Green Initiative seeks to create environmental change on every campus across the country, affecting millions of students, teachers and parents. Therefore, the market opportunity for sponsors that align themselves with the Go Green Initiative is extraordinary!

Past experience has shown that schools are eager to adopt the Go Green Initiative when presented with the program, even without incentives. However, we have found that financial incentives provide school communities with the ability to create optimal conditions for Go Green success. Schools need two things that the Go Green Initiative supplies: (1) a simple environmental education program that encompasses all aspects of a school's environmental impact; and (2) the necessary funding to acquire goods and services to make their Go Green program as successful and enjoyable as possible for participants."

There is big money to be made from supporting and promoting the socialist agenda of UNESCO and the transnational corporations are all on board.  As we've pointed out before, Bill Gates signed an agreement with UNESCO to promote UNESCO's agenda in it's corporate and Foundation endeavors.  Microsoft is not the only one but they are actively promoting the agenda to 'reform' schools via The Gates Foundation.  From the International Education website[19]:

"International studies should be a new basic for all students. That's why Asia Society and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are working with urban school districts to create small, international studies secondary schools. Learn more about the schools, high school reform efforts and promising practices for replication."

MOVEMENT POLITICS

The Politics of Deception

Excerpt from an article by Grover Norquist,  Why Go Green?[20]  Coincidently, this article was published in September 2001. 

"Why would George Bush stand firm on Kyoto, then turn around and sock GOP bulwark Jack Welch's GE with a half a billion dollar bill for dredging specious PCBs from the Hudson River? Why push for new oil drilling in Alaska, then ratify Bill Clinton's deliberately destructive arsenic water standards that will bankrupt small Western towns? Is Bush hurting himself and Republicans by running against the great green tide? Or is Bush caving for no good reason, conceding on issues that will not move votes?

Just how smart is it to go green?

With money, organization and high poll numbers, the green machine on paper looks fearsome indeed. Environmental groups raised and spent nearly $3.5 billion in 1999. The largest five groups-the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited and Sierra Club-have combined budgets of $1.6 billion and 3,000 employees. If these five groups direct only one-tenth of their budgets into politics in an election year, they would command $320 million in each two-year election cycle, more than the National Rifle Association and the Republican National Committee combined. In 1999, 64 percent of Americans agreed: "Environmental standards cannot be too high, and continuing improvements must be made regardless of cost." A majority of Americans have agreed with that statement every year since 1981.

Norquist neglected to mention that Dow Chemical actually provides the funding for the groups he mentioned.  From the Congressional Record:

 PARTNERSHIP FOR WETLANDS CONSERVATION (Senate - June 06, 1990)

[Page: S7417]

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, on May 23, 1990, the Dow Chemical Co. announced a new 4-year partnership for wetlands conservation with Ducks Unlimited, Inc., the Nature Conservancy, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to preserve and protect North America's endangered wetlands.

During a press conference, which was held in my Capitol office, Dow presented the first installment of a $3 million contribution for wetlands protection and restoration. This donation represents the largest corporate financial donation ever to benefit the North American Waterfowl Management Plan [NAWMP] and demonstrates Dow's dedication to environmental conservation and protection.

Interesting Connections

Excerpt from a commentary written by Vicky Davis on Movement Politics[21]

"Jack Abramoff, the felon lobbyist was taking money from Indians to lobby for casino gambling interests while at the same time, he was funneling money to fund 'environmental causes' - the most notable of which was the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA) headed by Italia Federici.[22]  During the hearings, it came out that Federici's main contact at the Interior Dept. was Steven Griles, the Deputy Secretary of the department.  If it was mentioned, I didn't hear it - but Gale Norton actually co-founded CREA[23] with Grover Norquist in 1998[24].  Federici took over leadership when Norton stepped down to become the Interior Secretary. 

Abramoff's connections with Indians and the Interior department and a fake environmental group interested me because of a case in Idaho involving what can only be described as the theft of water rights[25] by an Indian tribe in 'partnership' with the U.S. government.

The picture that is emerging is that the transnational corporations are using the radical environmental movement to loot our nation and change our way of life by cooperating with the radical environmental agenda of the "Three Musketeers":  Mikhail Gorbachev, Maurice Strong and Albert Gore - hence the name Red-Green Revolution.

Don't make Idaho's children pay for this insanity by "transforming" our schools into centers for social training as opposed to institutions for academic learning.  That will do for a start, but as you can see, we have a lot of work to do to take our country back.