UNESCO Chairs Seminars – Follow up and next steps

Dear UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks,

Dear Panel Members, Dear Colleagues,                                                                                                                           

Thanks to everyone who joined the first three UNESCO Chairs Seminars this year.

As intended, these Seminars have increased awareness of recent UNESCO reports concerning the Futures of Higher Education, and they have helped to inspire collective mobilization. An overview of each Seminar and recordings are available on the Futures of Education website. Please share this link with your networks, colleagues and students.

The third Seminar, on 15 March, considered implications for higher education of Reimagining our Futures Together: A new social contract for education, the Report from the International Commission on the Futures of Education. Speakers and participants discussed concerns over competitive pressures in various aspects of higher education and the imperatives of strengthening cooperation and promoting environmental sustainability. UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks are not only observers of current trends but can act collectively to propel forward the visions contained in UNESCO reports. 

Closely related to the Seminar discussions, we are pleased to share this new article by Sobhi Tawil and Charlène Camille, Renewing education to transform the future: Critical perspectives on the Transforming Education Summit. 

In the coming months, UNESCO Chairs Seminars will focus on the human rights economy, the right to science, academic freedom, and international scientific cooperation. Dates will be communicated shortly. We are also planning several UNESCO Chairs Seminars aligned with UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa and its Flagship Programmes during the second half of the year. Education has been designated by the African Union as Theme of the Year for 2024 and UNESCO Chairs & UNITWIN Networks have much to contribute to this.

Finally, UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks are encouraged to organize webinars to deepen ongoing discussions evoked during the UNESCO Chairs Seminars. Submit information about events here to promote them in the UNESCO community.

Please save the date for the next UNESCO Chairs Seminar on Wednesday 3 May 2023, 17:00 to 18:30 (Paris time).

Best wishes,

UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme Team

Futures of Learning and Innovation