Learning to Live Together: How can we incorporate these cross-cutting issues into book development policy for schools?

The term "learning to live together" is used here as a convenient umbrella term for education  supportive of pro-social behaviours and values development, from "life skills" such as empathy, cooperation and conflict resolution, gender-sensitivity and HIV/AIDS prevention, to responsible local, national, and global citizenship, including sustainable management of the environment and disaster risk reduction. One of the biggest problems is scalability. There have been many small-scale initiatives related to peace education and similar themes. But they often rely on intensive teacher training and support and are therefore unsuited to nation-wide implementation in countries with limited resources. The approach presented here is to maximize outreach through including the "learning to live together" dimension more systematically and explicitly in textbooks, supplementary readers, and other teaching-learning materials for use by students and teachers.

Much more focus will be needed on providing easily accessible, high-quality education materials in the coming 15 years to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably Goal 4, which aims at "relevant and effective" quality schooling for all by 2030, supportive of peace and sustainable development. To meet this goal at both primary and secondary levels, most countries will require new textbooks and other learning resources to be developed. This process should incorporate key messages and mental tools for "learning to live together" and other priority cross-cutting issues.