In response to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Manitoba's Department of Education has made a commitment to reorient the formal K-12 education system towards sustainability.

Manitoba Education asked the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to conduct a study of how ESD concepts and practices are being pursued within colleges and universities in Manitoba, in order to further ESD implementation at the K-12 level. The aim is to gain a better understanding of what opportunities for education for sustainability are available within the province in post-secondary institutions. The study also explores whether Manitoba campuses reflect a "whole school" learning environment, in which course content is reflected in the daily operations of the campuses around them (as per the approaches now being taken in several K-12 school divisions across the province). There are excellent sustainability initiatives present in Manitoba's colleges and universities. However, it would appear that, to date, a comprehensive view of ESD implementation within universities and colleges in Manitoba has not been compiled.