This study utilizes literature databases and correspondence between UNESCO and Japan to clarify the effectiveness of implementing UNESCO’s recommendations for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and examines Japan’s domestic educational policy. After the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development ended in 2014, a noticeable decrease in references to ESD within the databases was observed. However, with the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, a noticeable pivot towards promoting sustainable development via ESD and global citizenship education (GCED) has occurred in Japan. This shift suggests that the SDGs act as an inclusive framework that effectively incorporates both GCED and ESD. With the recognition of the SDGs from 2015 onwards, problem-based research in the integrated study periods focused on the 17 SDGs became widespread in public schools, further accelerating the integration of sustainability concepts into mainstream education.
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