The Costa Rican National Commitment on the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is been implemented through several actions that “Peace with Nature” Presidential Initiative is undertaking in the field of education.
In close coordination with the Ministry of Education, this initiative has been offering since 2008 a course for in service teachers on education for sustainable development. In this effort the Earth Charter is considered as an ideal framework for this action-oriented course. Therefore the first theoretical session of this seven-session course is devoted to explore the Earth Charter as an educational instrument.
The following sessions are thematic-specific and are organized by other NGOs or governmental agencies who are experts on each topic (environmental management, organic production, biodiversity, climate change, energy, and others).
In 2009, ECI Secretariat has offered two workshops. In Puntarenas (12 May) and Nicoya (2 July). Approximately 150 teachers and administrators from four regions (Puntarenas, Aguirre, Nicoya and Liberia) learned about the concept of sustainability, interdependence, systems thinking and the Earth Charter. They played games, used the arts to express the Earth Charter principles and had interesting group discussions and a debate, plus, had the opportunity to be in a beach front facility where time for relaxation was also possible.