Global institutional transformations and modern educational and scientific strategies for the Paradigm of sustainable development of society

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Global institutional transformations and modern educational and scientific strategies for the Paradigm of sustainable development of society

Viktor Zinchenko

Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine



ABSTRACT

The article considers the processes of democratization of social institutions of education and science on the basis of the world-system global-stage concept developed by the author and presented in his earlier works as an institutionalized process of functioning of deliberative socioeconomic development in the institutional model of globalization. The author considers “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (UN) and the Global Action Program “Education for Sustainable Development” (UNESCO) as key documents shaping the tasks of further development of these social institutions. It highlights the key educational concepts for the transformation of the global world and shows how they correspond to the goals and objectives of these key international documents; substantiates specific directions for key areas of the educational goal of global sustainable development (for all Ievels of education), which should be included in the education and training system, formulates the tasks of further transformation of educational institutions; states that the principles of education defined in these global programs are most successfully implemented today within the framework of the “Education for Sustainable Development” model, which allows the formation of such key competencies as a sustainable lifestyle, knowledge of human rights and mechanisms for the i r observance, gender equality, promoting a culture of peace and non-violence and recognizing cultural diversity.

KEYWORDS sustainable development of society, institutional transformations, philosophy of education, international strategy, higher education, global system

transformational models higher education science ustainable development society



Introduction. One of the main features of the contemporary stage of the development of world civilization is the globalization of all human social life, namely of its cultural, informational, and economic spheres. Various concepts of globalization are emerging and being developed. To understand the modern world as a single whole, as an economic and social system, the term “internationalization” has been widely used for a long time.

In earlier times in science, we talked only about the internationalization of the economy, social and cultural life, etc. However, this concept has now spread to all systemic and institutional levels and structures.

Internationalization and integration of higher education in a global international aspect poses many new questions to the theory and practice. The most important of them are what is common and individual in education and science, what laws, forms, methods of management are universal, and which of them operate within the range of specific conditions of different countries, what is the best way to perform the functions of education and science in international activity, what are the peculiarities national style in education and development of the university as an educational institution, in organizational behavior, management systems, how important these features are for achieving the desired results. Almost every developed country has rich experience in developing a higher education system. The results of the analysis of this experience can contribute to the development and enrichment of the domestic education system, make it possible to avoid the repetition of mistakes and give the opportunity to discover new approaches to solving a number of issues in this field (Zinchenko, 2020).

Nowadays, the word “globalization” is increasingly being used to characterize the processes taking place in the world. Significant changes in the processes taking place on a global scale lie behind the change of terms.

Globalization presupposes the fusion of societies and economies (and all their institutions, including educational and scientific ones) of all countries into one single socioeconomic system with the prospect of similar political and ideological unification and possible (although not always desirable) cultural and spiritual standardization within the global social system (Zinchenko, 2018).

As a result, there is a need for integrative conceptualization and scientific synthesis of existing concepts and theories of the relevant direction. It seems to us that a new type of social contract between society and citizens should be formed, which should necessarily be included in contemporary institutional systems (Sintschenko, 2017: 239).

At the same time, it is manifested differently on the basis of different national cultures, and because of this, the specifics of socio-economic development in the modern globalized world should be built on the basis of inter- cultural dialogue of different countries, social systems and civil institutions (Petrow, 2013). Finally, such a system of institutionalization should include the ideas of the security of society and culture from the destructive influence of anti-culture and anti-values.

In the contemporary world, there is a diversification of various models of higher education. At the same time, the multivariate nature and diversity of models of higher education do not exclude their originality (Bildung auf einen Blick 2017, URL).

At the same time, the multi-model nature of education systems does not exclude the existence of the general problems related to the need for permanent adaptation of educational programs to the current needs of society and increasing requirements for the level and quality of education.

Almost every developed country has rich experience in building a higher education system. The results of the analysis of this experience can contribute to the development and enrichment of the domestic education system, make it possible to avoid repeating mistakes and to discover new approaches to solving a number of problems in this field. Therefore, based on this, we believe that it is impossible to claim to create a strategy of modernizing educational and scientific reforms that affect the problems of the educational and scientific social institutions in the management of the scientific and educational space and, at the same time, not to analyze the existing models, schools, trends, their classification in contemporary philosophy of education. This applies both to the field of the social component of the philosophy of education and to the field of education management.

Recent decades have seen the growth of integration processes in the world, the development of tendencies towards joint solutions of the tasks by countries. Another difference is related to the scientific and technical revolution and the formation of the “information society".

The revolution in technological processes, in turn, is the cause of significant shifts in the nation's hierarchy, the prerequisite for which is institutional transformations for the sustainable development of society in the context of the internationalization of higher education and science (Newby, 1999).

Research methods. Theory building, analysis and consideration of positions and concepts should be based on the method of comparative analysis, and the grounds for such analysis are specified for each case, namely a certain comparison of works and ideas of authors who do not belong to the same direction within the worldview school. At the same time, they are considered as methodological and theoretical prerequisites for a multifaceted, objectively determined process of understanding the transformations of socio-economic structures and the institutionalization of civil society in the conditions of globalization as a holistic, interconnected phenomenon.

On this basis, the possibility of an authentic conceptual consideration of the originality of ideas, their role in global socio-economic processes and people's daily life is revealed and implemented.

With such an approach, the attention of the research is focused on moments that do not always appear as defining or fundamental for one or another thinker, while other positions are involved only to the extent that they are related to the problems of general and special global studies.

We consider a promising “model” of research to be one that distinguishes and integrates the transformational and structural aspects of the branches of knowledge about the trends of institutionalization in the conditions of globalization processes. These ideas are used as methodological bases for determining the principles and attitudes of socio-economic activity in the conditions of global development and transformational processes.

In contemporary global studies, a simulated homeostatic avalanching model of the crisis degradation of a society that lives according to the principles of consumption has been formed, which threatens to cause the situation of a drop in the development of intelligence below a critical mark and a stoppage of technical progress and a sharp increase in mortality compared to the birth rate as a result of it (Zinchenko et all., 2018). This determines the pressing need for the development of an institutional approach in social cognition and social philosophy.

At the same time, civil and institutional practice in the conditions of globalization needs a high-quality methodological basis, which should be precisely the sociophilosophical system of the integrative global paradigm of civil institutionalization based on the generalization of achievements, in particular, the world-systems analysis, the macro-social approach, the concept of dependence (dependent development) (Chase-Dunn, 2015) and postimperialism, theories of subsidiarity, communitarianism, concepts of social deliberativeness and libertarianism in the context of forming a global-stage understanding of social development.

It is assumed that it is necessary to identify and conceptualize the essential interdependence and interconditionality of systemic and functional characteristics of the institutional dimension of global transformations of world development, its systemic connections in global reality as an institutionalized process of functioning of deliberative socio-economic development in the institutional model of globalization on the basis of the author's world-systemic global-stage concept.

The research hypothesis also lies in the assumption that the process of democratization of social institutions of education and science can be effectively investigated on the basis of the analysis of the decision-making process in the field of socio-economic activity, which consists of two relatively independent factors: on the one hand, of the community of citizens, as a whole, which has the capacity for self-organization and self-management, and, on the other hand, of the structures and bodies of social- administrative management, which fulfills the will of the state and society, but are capable of transferring part of the powers in self-government relations.

In this regard, global-stage understanding of the world's global development and its transformations as a process of reproduction of the internal need for the development of not every socio-economic socio-historical entity taken separately, but as all those socio-economic historical systems that existed in the past and that exist now taken together, i.e. human society as a whole should be formed, which necessarily implies the study of interaction between individual concrete societies as socioeconomic historical formations and their various systems and institutions (Zinchenko, 2017). Socio-historical systems always influence each other in one way or another, and often the impact of one socio-economic historical system on another led to significant changes in the structure of the latter's institutions (including in the fields of education and science). The term “social induction” is introduced and applied to the aforementioned institutional type of influence; one of the results of this is that less developed socio-historical systems of a lower type are transformed into systems of the same type as those that influence them, that is, are brought up to the next level under the influence of socio-historical systems of a higher type and their institutions. All existing socio-economic historical systems form a certain institutionalized integrity and unity - the world socio-economic historical space.

Therefore, it is necessary to study the transformational models of globalized world development and institutional transformations for the sustainable development of society in the context of the internationalization of higher education and science, which is important today for the discussion and understanding of the following issues:

- the degree of adequacy of the analysis of the main models of development and crisis of the global system (“neo-capitalism”, late capitalism, industrialism, postcapitalism, etc.);

- the nature of current manifestations of the social revolution; transformations of the ideology of world and social development;

- the perspectives of the market economy functioning;

- the doctrine of globalization and its ideological cover.

Results and Discussion. A country's place in the modern world is increasingly determined by the quality of human capital, the state of education and the degree of use of science and technology in production.

Wealth in the amount of labor force and raw materials can be considered less and less as a competitive advantage in accordance with how the share of these factors in creating the value of all products decreases. Because of this irreversible development, it is increasingly likely that developing countries can succeed solely on the basis of their minerals and correspondingly cheaper labor (Human Development Report, 2016). However, this process is still far from identical to the real universalization of the global community.

In other words, in addition to certain realities of globalization, institutional transformations for the sustainable development of society in the context of the internationalization of higher education and science, equally real trends of regionalization, dissociation, and even asocialization coexist in the world.

Studying the social future and institutional transformations for the sustainable development of society in the context of the internationalization of higher education and science, the emphasis should be placed equally on the analysis of values and on the analysis of social institutions, which will allow understanding the real mechanisms of the practical construction of a new society taking into account globalization processes.

Turning to the immanent content of institutional problems of institutional transformations for the sustainable development of society in the context of the internationalization of higher education and science, it should be noted that scientific reflection has always been present in the depths of globalist knowledge in a decisive way, since the discovery of its content was connected with the discovery of the understanding of the unity of natural and social existence, and, within the latter, in the unity of educational, scientific, political, economic, etc. existence. Such unity implements the target function and provides a controlling influence in relation to society in the form of practical-transformative activity or social, economic and political power over space.

In contemporary conditions, the “contradictions of globalism and imperialism” cannot be reduced to general formulas, such as “universal contradictions between labor and capitalism”, and even more so cannot be resolved by them.

Therefore, in order to substantiate the theoretical and applied tools, the state of research of the perspectives and strategies of sustainable development of society in the processes of institutionalization of the world global system as a holistic and multi-level sphere of interaction of economies, societies, states, social institutions, cultures, peoples, nations, worldviews and people should be analyzed first of all in the context internationalization of educational and scientific space.

Contemporary models of institutionalization and problems and tasks of analysis of global transformations.

Contemporary models of institutionalization and selforganization of social systems should be developed around basic principles: intellectual and moral enlightenment, civil institutionalization, socially significant models of public administration.

The study of general multicultural contexts of social development makes it obvious that the development of a new type of social development should become a priority area of social institutionalization.

Institutionalized civil society is a social and cultural factor, which includes a person's relationship to the means of not only material production, but also the selfproduction of the person as a social, cultural being.

The historical trend of transition from political and economic determinism to freedom, thanks to which a person becomes a co-owner of the universal conditions of the personal development, regardless of the socioeconomic functions and roles performed by them, is expressed in the idea of civil society.

For modern scientific thought, social science and so- cio-philosophical, economic and political and managerial theories, the integration of developed societies in the contemporary “neo-capitalist” (or “neo-industrial”, “postindustrial”, “late capitalist” in the terminology (Marcuse, 1993)) phase of their development is the object of special research on how modern developed states manage to institutionalize and control socio-economic and political relations.

This is, first of all, an analysis of global institutional, worldview and social transformations, the functioning of ideology, the educational system and mass media, methods of limiting social struggle within the framework of a formalized social system, and above all within the framework of the development of existing social institutions and, in particular, market control.

Contemporary science confirms the presence of social conditions and forces alien to human beings in society today, which not only have not been weakened, but what is more, nowadays, a person and humanity have fallen into such severe dependencies and dangers that not only threaten to turn them into objects of social relations beyond their control, but also endanger the very foundations of human life on a global scale. These problems can only be solved on a global scale.

In the new economy, wealth is determined by the possession of human capital - knowledge has become not only an independent factor of production, but also the main factor in the entire system of factors. The formation of a new economy is the result of the development of new knowledge (Metzger, 2017). Estimates show that knowledge doubles every decade. This is due to the fact that it is rapidly changing the appearance of the modern world, existing in the form of information as systematized data.

There is a need not just to improve the institutional level of global society, but also to perform a fundamental changing of thinking, to develop and implement new approaches, organizational forms and methods of forming strategies for its development. The concept of globalization, starting with which the processes of social transformation and institutionalization, or, more precisely, of transformational institutionalization are considered, has become the ascendant.

Goals of sustainable development of education and science as an integrative component of the global strategy of social development at all levels.

Developed countries (primarily EU states) undertook to implement “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” together with all UN member states, or 2030 Agenda called “Transforming our world”. The whole name is “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Thanks to the 17 goals of sustainable development “Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs” (Ziele der Agenda 2030, URL) the world community has specific areas of activity. To implement its ambitious vision of a peaceful, fair, socially inclusive world that uses natural and human resources sustainably, comprehensive changes are necessary at the economic, complex-social (including educational-scientific) and ecological levels to ensure general respect for human rights and opportunities, equality and self-determination.

In addition to encouraging people and protecting the environment and social development, the member states declared their determination to take bold and transformative steps that are urgently needed to put them on the path of sustainable development and sustainability, and promised to act together. Thus, the concept of “partnership in the spirit of global solidarity” plays an important role in the implementation of “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Cooperation at all levels is crucial for sustainable development. Governments and civil societies, the private sector, the education sector and individuals should all work together to make progress in remaking the world.

In this regard, the UN adopted the relevant Resolution of the General Assembly - “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (Vereinte Nationen, URL).

To implement the educational goal, UNESCO developed the Global Action Programme “Education for Sustainable Development”, which was adopted by the UN at its General Assembly in 2015 in a resolution.

In addition to being a component of Goal 4 (Inclusive, equitable and quality education), the Global Action Programme will also contribute to the achievement of Goal 12 (Sustainable consumption) and Goal 13 (Combating climate change).

Given the global lack of resources and the related problems of distribution, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should contribute to the creation of peaceful, free and prosperous coexistence and a safe environment for present and future generations. A critical reflection of one's own reality of life, social conditions, currently existing thought patterns and value judgments is aimed at the responsibility and maturity of the individual. People of all ages, genders and cultures should be supported to develop alternative visions of a sustainable future and work creatively with others to implement these visions.

ESD not only raises awareness of the complexity of problems, but also promotes connection between sustainable development and its concrete implementation. The goal is to develop the capacity for critical reflection and systemic and future-oriented thinking, as well as for practices that contribute to sustainable development.

Education for Sustainable Development should be perceived as a general problem and a regulatory idea in the entire education system. Cross-school educational links are essential for the general thinking in the ecological, economic and social dimensions, required as a standard.

The main focus is on sustainable development, people should focus more on its issues in the education and training system.

The new goals set benchmarks for sustainable development at the economic, environmental and social levels. Education should contribute to all 17 goals, but Goal 4 is about special education: ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Education as a key area and direction of sustainable development.

The global goal of education, recorded in “2030 Agenda”, is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

To achieve this goal, all education partners around the world should be involved. In particular, goal 4 “High quality of education” is to achieve the following targets:

- By 2030, create means and models that would allow everyone to receive and complete free, fair and high- quality primary, secondary and higher education, which will lead to relevant and effective learning outcomes and social development.

- By 2030, ensure everyone's access to quality education at all levels, create appropriate conditions, which will allow them to successfully move to the next educational levels and carry out lifelong education.

- By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and academic education.

- By 2030, ensure that significantly more young people and adults acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities related to employment or self-employment.

- By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

- By 2030, ensure sufficient literacy and skills for all adolescents and the majority of adults.

- By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to sustainable development (Ziel 4, URL).

Implementation mechanisms.

- To create and improve educational institutions that are “child and youth-friendly, disability- and gender- sensitive, and create and strengthen safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all” (Ziel 4, URL).

- By 2020, to expand scholarship opportunities for students from developing countries, in particular, for students from least developed countries, developing countries and African countries, for higher education, including vocational training and information and communication technologies, technical and scientific programs in developed and other developing countries.

- By 2030, to provide training of qualified educational personnel, including through international cooperation in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and in developing countries.

What options do educational institutions have to implement the goals of sustainable development?

“2030 Agenda” was formed not only for governments. All people are called to participate in an ambitious program of transformation that can ultimately succeed only in cooperation at all levels - both in society and in general.

The education system “teaches” society on a small scale. By learning to work in partnership, develop sustainable development skills, critical thinking, share responsibility between students and the entire school team, schools can be models of sustainable living.

Educational concepts for transforming our global world.

“2030 Agenda” also defines educational concepts and models that are necessary for sustainable development:

Education for sustainable development, education for global citizenship and related concepts should teach competencies to help us all transform our world to work together. Complex competencies of this kind can be developed with the help of educational models, educational principles and educational problems embedded in education systems.

Particular directions for the key areas of the educational goal of global sustainable development (for all levels of education) can be divided into:

- Education for sustainable development.

- Global citizenship education and global learning.

- Political education.

- Ethical and moral education.

- Environmental education.

- Gender education issues/Equality in all educational aspects.

- Intercultural education.

- Education in the field of human rights.

International organizations and “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Leading Education 2030 is also an updated holistic and transformative education program of the UNESCO “Education 2030” Agenda (Leading Education 2030), in accordance with which it aims to contribute to the achievement of all its sustainable development goals.

The goal of sustainable development 4 (SDG 4) is the goal of education.

It is aimed at ensuring “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. SDG 4 consists of 10 goals:

Goal 4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

The provision of 12 years of free, publicly funded, inclusive, equitable, quality primary and secondary education, at least nine years of which are compulsory, leading to relevant learning outcomes, must be provided to all without discrimination.

Goal 4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

Provision of at least one year of free and compulsory quality pre-primary education is ensured, which must be provided by well-trained teachers, as well as pre-school development and care.

Goal 4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

It is critical to reduce barriers to skills development and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) starting with secondary level up to higher education, including university, and ensure learning opportunities throughout life for youth and adults. The provision of higher education should gradually be free, in accordance with current international agreements.

Goal 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

1. Access: Equal access to TVET needs to be expanded, ensuring quality. Learning opportunities should be expanded and diversified, using a wide range of modalities in teaching and learning, so that all young people and adults, especially girls and women, can acquire the relevant knowledge, skills and abilities for decent work and life.

2. Skill acquisition: In addition to job-specific skills, emphasis should be placed on the development of high- level cognitive and non-cognitive/transferable skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, communication and conflict resolution skills that can be used across a range of professional fields.

Goal 4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

1. Inclusion and equity: All people, regardless of sex, age, race, skin color, ethnicity, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property or birth, as well as persons with disabilities, migrants, indigenous peoples, children and youth, especially those in vulnerable situations or other status, must have access to inclusive, equitable, quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. Vulnerable groups that require special attention and targeted strategies include people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities and the poor.

2. Gender equality: All girls and boys, women and men should have equal opportunities to receive quality education, achieve equal levels and receive equal benefits from education. Particular attention is needed for girls and young women who may experience gender-based violence, child marriage, early pregnancy and heavy housework, as well as those living in poor and remote rural areas. In contexts where boys are disadvantaged, targeted action should be taken for them. Policies to overcome gender inequality are more effective when they are part of an overall package that also promotes health, equity, good governance and freedom from child labour.

Goal 4.6. By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.

The principles, strategies, and actions for this goal are underpinned by contemporary understandings of literacy as a continuum of skill levels in a given context. This goes beyond understanding the simple dichotomy of “literate versus illiterate”. Consequently, the objectives of this goal aim to ensure that by 2030, all young people and adults worldwide should achieve appropriate and recognized levels of proficiency in functional literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to the level achieved on successful completion of basic education.

Target 4.7 By 2030, ensure that all students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development, including, among others, education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and assessment of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development.

It is important to give a central place to strengthening the contribution of education to the fulfillment of human rights, peace and responsible citizenship from local to global levels, gender equality, sustainable development and health. The content of such education should be relevant with an emphasis on cognitive aspects of learning. The knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that citizens need to lead productive lives, make informed decisions and take active roles at the local and global levels in addressing and solving global challenges can be acquired through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED), which include peace issues and human rights education, as well as intercultural education and education for international understanding.

Goal 4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

This goal is aimed at the need for adequate physical infrastructure and a safe, inclusive environment that promotes learning for all, regardless of background or disability status.

Goal 4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

Scholarship programs can play a vital role in providing opportunities for young people and adults who would otherwise not be able to continue their education. In cases of offering scholarships to students from developing countries by developed countries, they should be structured to develop the potential of the developing country. While the importance of scholarships is recognized, donor countries are encouraged to expand other forms of education support. In line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG- 4) - Education by 2030, focus on equity, inclusion and quality, scholarships should be transparently targeted at young people from disadvantaged environment.

Goal 4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

Teachers, lecturers, educators are the key to achieving all the goals of Sustainable Development Goal 4 - SDG-4. This requires urgent immediate attention, as the education equity gap is exacerbated by the shortage and inequitable distribution of professionally trained teachers, especially in disadvantaged areas. As teachers are fundamental to guaranteeing quality education, teachers and educators must be empowered, adequately recruited and paid, motivated, professionally qualified and supported in a system that is adequately resourced, effectively and efficiently managed.

Five other SDGs have a direct connection with education

Health and Wellbeing (Target 3,7 SDG 3). By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthJcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.

Gender Equality (SDG 5, Target 5.6). Number of countries with laws and regulations that ensure that women aged 15-49 have an access to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education

Decent work and sustainable growth (SDG 8, Target 8.6). By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12, Target 12.8). By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature

Mitigation of climate change (Target 13, SDG 3). Improve education, awarenessJraising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning of environmental hazards.

UNESCO considers education to be an integral and essential condition for promoting democracy and human rights, strengthening global citizenship and sustainable development. UNESCO has developed a foundation for actions to achieve the global education goal and supports implementation processes in its member countries.

UNESCO understands education as comprehensive and necessary for the development of democracy and human rights, as well as strengthening global citizenship and sustainable development. Global sustainability goal SDG 4 is also UNESCO's current holistic agenda for education. Member States have adopted a concrete framework for the implementation of the global education goal.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD also develops, controls and monitors sustainability targets at the global level of expertise. In addition, reports on policy coherence, progress analysis, etc. are planned. The comprehensive programmes “The Future of Education and Skills Education 2030 - OECD” and “OECD Learning Framework 2030” have been created. “OECD Learning Framework 2030” offers forms, visions and principles that are the basis for the future of the global system of education and science. It is about certain “orientations”, not about a ready-made recipe. The Learning Framework was jointly created for the OECD Learning Framework 2030 as a project of representatives of governments and a growing community of partners, including thought leaders, experts, educational and scientific networks, heads of educational institutions, teachers, academics, researchers, students and youth groups, parents, universities (and other forms of higher education institutions), organizations and other social partners.

A new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “OECD Indicators. Education at a Glance”, explores how education is global. It contains data on the development, financing and effectiveness of education systems in 35 OECD countries and a number of partner countries.

For the first time, two new indicators provide comparative data on the level of success in higher education and the criteria for access to higher education. One section is devoted to the educational policy goal of the 2030 Agenda.

Higher academic and professional education remains popular and continues to generate high returns for both individuals and taxpayers. However, new evidence shows that the differences between individual fields of study are significant. This follows from the latest OECD research.

The report shows that economics, administrative and legal sciences are the most popular fields in OECD countries.

Every fourth student starts studying in these fields. In contrast, an average of only 16% study engineering each year and only 5% study computer science, even though the employment rate of these graduates exceeds 90% in many countries.

For example, in Germany, law and economics are in demand among first-year students, similar to the OECD average.

However, the share of students in science and technology is significantly higher than the OECD average (10% and 23% in Germany compared to 6% and 16% in the OECD average). In engineering sciences, women belong to first-year students with a share of only 22% and are also underrepresented in the OECD comparison.

With an employment rate of around 90%, all three units achieve similar values. In the social sciences and humanities, the employment rate is 84%, but is still higher for adults with only a vocational education or a high school diploma.

Overall, the economic benefits of higher education remain substantial. For example, 88% of adults with a college degree are employed, while 81% of adults with a secondary education are employed. The earnings advantage of a worker with a college degree averages 66%, and he or she is almost five times more likely to be among the top workers than a worker with only a vocational qualification.

“Higher education promises individuals a high income, but education systems should help young people in better choosing their education industry,” said OECD Secretary General J. A. Gurria. “Equal access to quality education creates conditions for a fulfilling life and for economic development” (Bericht Bildung, URL).

Although the chances of high-skilled workers are increasing, the employment prospects of less-skilled workers are weakening. Even in Germany, 13% of 25-34- year-olds do not have a professional qualification or a high school diploma. This is lower than the OECD average, but much higher than in other dual vocational training countries such as Austria or Switzerland.

At 4.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), spending on education remains well below the OECD average (5.2%). In primary education, spending per pupil is also lower than the OECD average of $8,846. Even in higher education, costs have not kept up with the increase in student numbers.

The European Union seeks to take into account the goals of sustainable development in all its forms as one of the key guiding principles for EU policy. The Council of the EU states that “a prosperous Union also depends on an open and fair international economic, financial, trade education system and sustainable and fair access to global public goods” and emphasizes the need to “promote global citizenship and inform the public about the positive transformative potential of these goals” (Rat der Europaischen Union, URL).

The European Union wants to include sustainable development goals in all its policies and establish sustainable development as the main guiding principle of EU policy.

In January 2019, the European Commission presented a reflection document on the EU's contribution to the implementation of global sustainable development goals. The Council of the European Union in its conclusions called for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Variable applied design models (global, continental, national, regional levels):

I. “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” offers the following practical mechanism for achieving and ensuring inclusive, fair and high-quality education and training at the global level of education and science, promoting all opportunities for education and training throughout life:

- To allow everyone to receive and complete free, fair and high-quality primary, secondary and higher education, which will lead to appropriate and effective results of sustainable social development of both individual states and the global system.

- To ensure access of all, regardless of social, gender, race, ethnicity, to quality education at all levels, create appropriate conditions by 2030, which will allow them to successfully move to the next educational levels and perform lifelong education.

- For this, all levels, models and systems of education should be transformed (through “Education for Sustainable Development”) to acquire such knowledge and skills as are necessary for sustainable development, namely a sustainable lifestyle, human rights, gender equality, promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, through global citizenship education and recognition of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development.

II. “Leading Education 2030” - the education system should develop only as an integral and important condition for promoting democracy and human rights, strengthening global citizenship and sustainable development.

III. “The Future of Education and Skills Education 2030" - comprehensive monitoring of sustainability targets at the national educational and scientific levels to form a global level of experience. In addition, reports on policy coherence, progress analysis, etc. are planned.

IV. “OECD Learning Framework 2030" offers certain “orientations”, but not a ready-made recipe, namely forms, visions and principles that are the basis for the future of the global system of education and science. According to this, forms of project interactions and cooperation of government representatives and stimulation of the growth of the community of partners are developing: in particular, ideological leaders, experts, educational and scientific networks, heads of educational institutions, teachers, scientists, researchers, students and youth groups, parents, universities (and others forms of HEIs), organizations and other social partners.

V. European Union - the goals of sustainable development in all its forms, including at the level of educational and scientific institutions, are key guiding principles for EU policy and are ensured by it at the level of national member states. Educational institutions can develop only as:

- open and fair educational systems - this means ensuring sustainable and fair access to global public goods at the levels of a) national governments and b) HEIs;

- governments, educational institutions and educational management should promote global citizenship and ensure public awareness of the positive potential of educational transformations as a result of implementing the goals of sustainable development.

1) At the regional level, the EU finances higher education programmes such as Erasmus+. The programme provides grants in the field of education, training, youth and sports to individuals and organizations, encouraging mobility, cooperation and partnerships.

2) EU target funds were also created to respond to specific regional situations. These include “EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa”, “EU regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis”. These trust funds are financed by the EU, its member states and other donors. They work directly with governments, local authorities and civil society organizations in partner countries to support vulnerable population groups.

3) The European Commission actively contributes to regional and global policy dialogue and funding educational initiatives, such as “Global Partnership for Education (GPE)” and “Education Cannot Wait (ECW)”.

3.1) GPE provides support in more than 65 countries with the greatest educational needs. The EU and its member states are the largest participants in the GPE. The EU allocated total funding of 475 million euros for the period of 2014-2020.

3.2) ECW is a global initiative that aims to transform education in emergencies and protracted crises. Since its foundation in 2016, it has supported up to 1 million of the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach children and youth in 19 crisis-affected countries. The EU allocated 16 million euros to support ECW so far.

4) However, even in these contexts, EU support is focused on maintaining and strengthening the system and implementing the opportunity to “build better” to increase sustainability in the future.

The EU is increasing its support to fragile states, both by increasing the share of humanitarian aid allocated to education to 10% from 2019, as stated in the “Communication on Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises”, and by allocating a greater share of bilateral development aid to fragile and crisis-affected countries.

How can the EU evaluate the results of its interventions in education?

1) Strategic assessment of EU development cooperation support for higher education in partner countries. This assessment examines the EU's support for higher education in partner countries. Therefore, this is a thematic evaluation that provides general judgments rather than evaluation of individual programmes.

A seminar on dissemination (the term “dissemination” defines a special way of spreading and mastering experience, adequate to the specific needs of its recipients, which has a formative nature) was held on December 18, 2017 in Brussels, with the aim of presenting the main conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation to interested stakeholders.

2) The Global Education Meeting 2018. The 2018 Global Education Meeting in Brussels brought together education leaders from around the world to review progress on the overall global commitment to education following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

3) Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO).

3.1) DEVCO Unit (Sector) 04 “Evaluation and Results” together with the thematic units developed sectoral benchmarks to improve the quality of DEVCO interventions in terms of design, monitoring and reporting. Education is one of the various sectors covered by the guidance. It presents performance outcomes that align with DEVCO's policy priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as a number of indicators to monitor progress.

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