"Education does not change the world, it changes the people who are going to change the world." This frequently quoted phrase by Paulo Freire invites us to reflect on the ways in which we project the future of the planet. Education should not give us shortcuts to to prevent problems from disappearing temporarily, but to become the means to forge in each person a committed and empathetic spirit with the problems of our world.
The 2030 Agenda put 17 goals on the table to make the world more fair and sustainable for all people.
Finding solutions that allow us to address and achieve these goals requires acting for today and tomorrow.
But that's not enough either.
We cannot only think about meeting objectives, reaching the goal.
The world is dynamic and that requires that every action we undertake - from the social role that each person has - always has Sustainable Development as its horizon.
It is not about accumulating colored labels that respond to each SDG, it is about having a vision on how to move from the development that is currently carried out to a truly sustainable one.
This is where education is key to the future.
On the one hand, we have the challenge of finding ways for each of the 250 million out-of-school children around the world to access quality education.
And on the other hand, that all the boys and girls who pass through the educational systems today know that they can be protagonists in the construction of a better world for all, and that adults can accompany them to create that world they imagine.
By 2023, three quarters of the planet's terrestrial ecosystem and around 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human action.
At least 2 billion people still live without safely managed drinking water services.
Although investment in green energy has been increasing, this investment needs to be tripled if we only think about meeting the planned objectives.
The digital divide is getting deeper.
Although more and more people are accessing the Internet, the advancement of technology, with artificial intelligence as the spearhead, widens the gaps between the utilitarian nature of digital developments and their ability to enhance human skills.
Access to quality education continues to be an issue to be resolved.
The pandemic marked a milestone in understanding that it is possible to bring education through digital means to the entire world.
But we still have to find ways to sustain global proposals that will allow almost 84 million children and young people to remain without education in 2030, according to UN estimates.
To design responses to these problems, teaching is a key part of the engine to train the generations that will save the world.
Teachers who educate from empathy, from commitment to their context and the world around them, who do not give simple answers but invite us to explore new ways of learning to build a more inclusive and fair society, and a more sustainable environment.
The goal that we must pursue is not a measurable objective in the Agenda of international organizations, that is only a small part of the problem.
The focus of everything we do must be on guaranteeing for present and future generations a liveable, sustainable world with a population that prioritizes sustainable development above all.