Education for Sustainable Development in Rwanda: Where Classrooms and Communities Grow Together

At GS Shyorongi, 13-year-old Kenny’s sketches—trees sprouting from old tires, bottles brightening school walls—tell more than a story. They reflect a movement: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) taking root and flourishing in classrooms, communities, and beyond.

Albert Mutesa, Secretary-General of UNESCO Rwanda, is turning that movement into a call to action. He urges everyone in a student’s world—parents, local leaders, neighbors—to help translate lessons into action. “Sustainable development is participatory,” he insists, encouraging communities to help students bring school learning into daily life.

Pascal Gatabazi, Chief Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Education, agrees. “The old ways of teaching are no longer enough. Climate change, pollution, and environmental shifts demand a new approach.”-He says.

By 2030, Rwanda aims to weave sustainability into every grade—creating learning that gets students thinking, doing, and caring.

On the ground, the impact is already visible at GS Shyorongi. Teacher Nubuhoro Alexis recalls how ARCOS first stepped in during the 2020 COVID lockdown with hand-washing stations and thermometers—and stayed with seedlings and gardens.

“Each class now tends a patch of land that feeds the school and allows students from low-income families to contribute,” he explains. “Other schools have begun visiting to see how lessons in the garden can grow into broader community transformation.”

Leading these efforts is Kenny—but he’s not working alone. With peers by his side, he turns ideas into action. “Planting trees and protecting forests is not just work for adults,” he says. “It’s for all of us—together.” His creativity and teamwork even earned him a meeting with First Lady Jeannette Kagame and inspired him to dream bigger. One day, he hopes to launch—or join—a company like ARCOS to spread the green wave.

This vision extends far beyond Rwanda. Dr. Sam Kanyamibwa of ARCOS sees the work at Shyorongi as part of a larger mission. “Spanning the Albertine Rift—from Lake Albert to Lake Tanganyika—ARCOS and its partners are advancing environmental learning across East Africa,” he explains.

That mission took clearer shape during the two-day East Africa Regional Forum on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), held in Kigali earlier last week. The forum opened with a visit to GS Shyorongi, where Kenny and Teacher Nubuhoro showcased how their school is actively applying ESD in creative and impactful ways.

Organized by ARCOS, the forum brought together educators, policymakers, and practitioners from across the region to share lessons, strengthen partnerships, and explore innovative approaches.

From Kampala to Kigali, participants discussed how schools and communities can work hand in hand to embed sustainability into daily life. The conversations reinforced what Rwanda’s classrooms are already proving: education for sustainable development grows strongest when rooted in both policy and practice, in both classrooms and communities.

Listen closely to these voices—students collaborating in gardens, teachers guiding hands-on projects, policymakers embedding sustainability in national frameworks, and regional networks linking curriculum to climate action—and you hear something powerful.

ESD in Rwanda isn’t just a program. It’s a growing story of transformation: one classroom, one community, one student at a time.

Other pictures:

For Day one of the forum, click here

For Day two of the forum, click here