Author Archives: Paul Stanistreet

Education across borders: Seventy years of the International Review of Education

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As the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) launches an online exhibition to celebrate 70 years of continuous publication of the International Review of Education (IRE), editor Paul Stanistreet considers the significance of the anniversary and explains how UIL plans to mark it

Fifty years ago this month, in March 1955, the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) published the first issue of a new journal, the International Review of Education.

Founded in Hamburg in 1952, UIE, under the directorship of Walther Merck, Professor of Comparative Education at the University of Hamburg, was mandated to “establish contacts between educators in Germany and other countries … without prejudice arising from national, racial or cultural differences” and “to participate in the work of UNESCO … to maintain peace in the world and to carry out educational programmes for international understanding”.

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Investing in people and the future: A model for development and sustainability

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In the latest in our series of blog posts on climate action in learning cities, published to coincide with the Sixth International Conference on Learning Cities, Talea Abdullah Al-Asmari explains how lifelong learning is critical to his city’s approach to climate action

© Jubail Industrial City

The concept of lifelong learning is closely linked, in the modern context, to social and economic development. It forms the cornerstone of innovative and sustainable societies. Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an example of a city that has fostered this kind of integrated, collaborative approach. Through various strategies, partnerships and alliances, Jubail has made lifelong learning an essential component of its development plans, focusing on enhancing human capital and equipping people with the necessary skills to keep pace with ongoing global changes.

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Playful learning and joint action: New methods in climate education in Hamburg

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In the second of our series of posts on lifelong learning and climate action, published to coincide with the Sixth International Conference on Learning Cities, Jürgen Forkel-Schubert explains how the learning city of Hamburg is rising to the climate-change challenge

© Markus Scholz, City of Hamburg

As a major port city in the north of Germany, Hamburg is confronted with the harsh realities of climate change. Rising sea levels and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events have prompted Hamburg to take administrative and technical measures to mitigate the effects of climate change and support greater climate adaptation.

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Climate assemblies – the fastest road towards climate action?

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In the first of a series of posts to mark the Sixth International Conference on Learning Cities, which focuses on the role of learning cities in promoting climate action, Bjørn Bedsted, International Director at Democracy X, reflects on the potential of climate assemblies in facilitating a green transition

© Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

The gap between what needs to be done to live up to the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) on 12 December 2015, and what is being done is growing. This gap leads to increased polarization between those calling for faster implementation of mitigation measures and those affected by and resisting such measures.

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Lifelong learning in the age of AI

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Developments in artificial intelligence are driving change in education and pose new questions of educators and learners. Annapurna Ayyappan cuts through the noise to identify the core issues for lifelong learning

© JoeZ/Shutterstock.

From television and radio broadcasts and podcasts to social media platforms, massive open online courses and open educational resources, technology has greatly expanded the horizons of informal and non-formal learning (UIL, 2022). It has also presented learners and educators with new challenges, as well as opportunities for empowerment and exploration. Now, with the advent of generative artificial intelligence and other AI applications, this trend is set to accelerate even further, as highlighted by Oleksandra Poquet and Maarten de Laat (2021), who describe AI as a ‘transformative force reshaping how individuals encounter information, navigate their surroundings, and make decisions’.

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Adult education: A condition for hope

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The Inclusive Lifelong Learning Conference gave critical impetus to the implementation of the Marrakech Framework for Action and reinforced CONFINTEA VII’s view of adult learning and education as a condition for a hopeful future, writes Daniel Baril, Chair of the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning

© PMO Kartu Prakerja. Daniel Baril addressing the Inclusive Lifelong Learning Conference

In my closing remarks to last week’s Inclusive Lifelong Learning Conference in Bali, I tried to capture the spirit of the work undertaken by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and its partners in shaping the conference and its outcome document, the Bali Manifesto. Reflecting on the moral and policy challenges of inclusive learning and education throughout life I recalled that adult learning and education has always been about hope: hope for each individual to be able to complete basic education successfully and, most importantly, to learn to read and write; hope for each adult to be able to learn what each person must know in order to fulfill their responsibilities, grow as a human being and engage in society and the world of work. In a sense, adult learning and education is a condition for hope.

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What can higher education institutions do for lifelong learning?

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Higher education institutions have a significant potential role in promoting lifelong learning. New research from the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Shanghai Open University shows both the advances being made and the limitations and challenges that continue to prevent this potential being fully realized, writes Edith Hammer

© UNESCO

Part-time study, online learning, micro-credentials, flexible pathways, community outreach – these are just a few ways to support lifelong learning in the higher education sector. While traditionally associated with formal education, universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) have become paramount in promoting lifelong learning for diverse groups of learners. As traditional hubs of knowledge, they can embrace lifelong learning as a catalyst for transformation, supporting reskilling and upskilling, social equity and sustainable development. Within this context, two questions arise: What is the role of HEIs in promoting lifelong learning in society? And what does it take for HEIs to become lifelong learning institutions?

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Creating upskilling opportunities for 144 million Indonesians

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Ahead of the Inclusive Lifelong Learning Conference, hosted by the Government of Indonesia and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning from 3 to 6 July 2023 in Bali, Indonesia, Denni P Purbasari, Executive Director at Kartu Prakerja, Indonesia’s lifelong learning programme, explains how training and upskilling initiatives are changing lives in Indonesia.

© Prakerja

Sianny, a 56-year-old administration worker, found herself struggling financially after the COVID-19 pandemic caused her office to shut down, leaving her jobless. Despite the challenges she faced, Sianny was able to support herself by utilizing her cooking skills, gained by attending free local government training programmes. Ultimately, she was able to reinvent herself as a micro-entrepreneur, selling food to local farming groups.

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‘Read Your Way Out’: How reading can reduce a prison sentence

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As we mark World Book Day, Lisa Krolak shares her experiences of initiatives that help inmates to reduce their prison sentence by reading books and using library services.

© BJMP. ‘People deprived of liberty’ (PDLs) using their library in Manila City Jail, Philippines

Creating reading policies for prisoners to earn time allowances through reading

All over the world, the prison population includes a high proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities, often with a lower educational level than the rest of their community and struggling with reading and writing. Prisoners have a right to access education, including the use of prison library services, but this is frequently overlooked or disregarded. Moreover, it can be assumed that many prisoners were not active readers before entering prison. So how can we offer an attractive incentive to prisoners to start reading, despite their literacy struggles and the attitudes towards reading and education that they might have?

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Behind the scenes: How UIL’s female staff promote its mandate

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To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, UIL’s gender focal point, Samah Shalaby, highlights how her colleagues progress gender equality in their work

© Olga Kuzmina/Shutterstock.com

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), located in Hamburg, Germany, is one of UNESCO’s eight education institutes. As its name suggests, UIL’s area of specialization is lifelong learning. Through its capacity-building activities, knowledge sharing and dissemination of data, the Institute provides support to UNESCO Member States in the field of lifelong learning with a focus on learning ecosystems, skills for life and work, and inclusive learning. UIL operates at regional, national and local levels to facilitate learning across sectors. Through its partnerships, it works towards helping the global community achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.

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