A Comparative Study of Education for Sustainable Development in Australia and China in the 21st Century

The purpose of the study was to examine the practical implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Australia and China in the 21st century, with a special focus on curriculum in schools by taking a qualitative approach. The recent ESD development in Australia and China was reviewed first, and then several semi-structured interviews were conducted among staff, teachers and students in four schools supported by Australian Sustainable Schools Initiatives (AuSSI schools) and four ESD schools in China The study shows that compared with ESD in China, there is a more consistent and timely development of ESD in Australia curriculum, Australian schools have gained a more comprehensive support from government, state and schools, and ESD has been advanced with deeper and wider support and corporations within schools themselves and with local communities and local, state, federal governments.