ESD in higher education in the Philippines: policies shaped through international discourse and national realities

Abstract

This study explores the narrative evolution of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) higher education policy in the Philippines up to its present conceptions. This is done through qualitative methods, namely a policy analysis through the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), and semi-structured interviews with participants from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO (PH NATCOM), and a higher education institution (HEI). While the MSF is commonly used to explain policy change through moments of convergence, this study looks at non-convergence and the absence of a policy window in mainstreaming ESD in Philippine higher education governance. The policy analysis maps the problem, policy, and politics streams across time, grouping them into three distinct time periods: early (1977–1996), recent (2001–2010), and present (2011–2022). This study identifies a structural limitation of the MSF in executive-centred governance contexts, where political authority shapes both agenda-setting and institutional capacity that is required for coupling. It also provides empirical evidence of institutional decoupling in ESD governance, with international sustainability norms adopted discursively, but translated into domestic development priorities. Finally, this study demonstrates the value of a longitudinal, processual approach, highlighting how ESD policy is cumulative and shaped by factors outside of discrete concrete windows. These findings suggest the need to adapt the MSF for Global South contexts and provide an opportunity for comparative research across Southeast Asian contexts.