Futures of education: Events
Framed by the key issues in the report of the Futures of Education Commission, 2024 includes some key events exploring important issues such as the diversity of knowledge systems, digital technologies in education and the role of for sustainable development. The main events are summarized below:
XVIII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies
Fostering Inclusive Ecologies of Knowledge: Education for Equitable and Sustainable Futures , 22-26 July 2024, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
Co-convened by WCCES and UNESCO, at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, from 22-26 July 2024, the XVIII WCCES World Congress will be a unique venue to bring together constituent societies and their members, other scholars, researchers, policy-makers, community leaders, and stakeholders. The theme, Fostering Inclusive Ecologies of Knowledge: Education for equitable and sustainable futures, has been chosen to stimulate dialogue and reflections on the futures of international and comparative education. International and comparative education provides an intellectual space for world epistemologies and the production of knowledge for social transformation. Our field is a powerful force for reimagining our futures together and shaping more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures for all.
Digital Learning Week (DLW 2024)
Paris, 2-5 September 2024
Digital Learning Week will take place from 2 to 5 September 2024 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France with a vision to steer technology for education.
Recognized as one of the 鈥淯N Intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder digital cooperation bodies and forums鈥, Digital Learning Week convenes the community of digital education leaders, policy-makers, researchers and practitioners from various organizations, including UN agencies, governments, academia, NGOs and the private sector.
This year, the event will focus on the human-centred and green design and use of AI in education, particularly examining how the twin digital and green transitions can reinforce each other rather than act as opposing forces. The official launch of the UNESCO AI competency frameworks for teachers and students is planned during the Week, along with stocktaking exercises for flagship initiatives such as the Greening Education Partnership and the Gateways to Public Digital Learning.
Useful links:
Summit of the Future - Towards a Pact for the Future
22-23 September 2024 New York, United States of America
The Summit is a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future. This once-in-a-generation opportunity serves as a moment to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively tackle current challenges as well as those that have emerged in recent years or may yet be over the horizon.
We already have the "what" in the form of many existing agreements and commitments, starting with the and including the , the , the , the and many others. The Summit of the Future will look at the "how" 鈥 how do we cooperate better to deliver on the above aspiration and goals? How do we better meet the needs of the present while also preparing for the challenges of the future?
The UNESCO Chairs Programme is organizing a series of seminars on the issues of the Pact for the Future to discuss how UNESCO鈥檚 intellectual partners can further the goals for just and sustainable futures.
Transforming Knowledge for Africa鈥檚 Future - UNESCO Chairs and Partners Forum
30 September - 2 October 2024, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The future of humanity is inextricably linked to Africa鈥檚 future. Yet, established narratives around the future of the continent continue to reflect the long-standing imbalances in knowledge production and in academic research on Africa. Research remains largely dominated by institutions in, or with close links to, the Global North. Reframing the narrative around Africa鈥檚 future requires the mobilization of diverse knowledge traditions. Africa is a continent with immense potential for growth and development. However, one of the key challenges hindering progress is the limited access to and utilization of knowledge resources.
The UNESCO Chairs and Partners Forum on Transforming knowledge for Africa鈥檚 future, aims to strengthen interdisciplinary and collaborative research capacity in Africa, including through more inclusive and effective South-South and South-South-North research partnerships.
Renewing Education to Transform the Future - UNESCO International Forum on the Futures of Education 2024
Suwon, Gyeonggido, Republic of Korea, 2-4 December 2024
In November 2021, the International Commission on the Futures of Education issued a report titled 鈥溾 following a two-year worldwide consultation and reflection facilitated by UNESCO.
Current educational models - characterized by knowledge transmission by teachers at school - were designed and developed when the average human lifespan was much shorter than 50 years, and information and communication technology and social changes were progressing at a pace less rapid than is the case today. In the present day, learning must continue throughout an individual鈥檚 lifetime.
Education must also now be rethought to help respond to urgent and unprecedented new challenges such as the climate crisis, the emergence of generative AI technologies, the continued growth of inequalities, and the persistence of conflicts. To cope with these challenges, we need to take a long-term perspective on how education can help shape more inclusive, just and sustainable futures
