Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
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Trash Hack Action Learning for Sustainable Development: A Teacher's Guide Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) gives people the tools to tackle the problems of the present and future, to fight the climate crisis, change the world and achieve the SDGs. ESD rethinks what we learn, where we learn and how we learn. It is about lifelong learning, which lets people develop the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that enable them to make informed decisions and actions on global problems.The action-based activities in this guide intend to contribute to fostering the three dimensions of learning (cognitive, socio-emotional andbehavioural) and thereby promoting cross-cutting competencies for the SDGs, such as systems thinking, anticipatory competency, collaboration, critical thinking and integrated problem-solving. 
International Forum on AI and the Futures of Education: Developing Competencies for the AI Era Synthesis Report; 7-8 December 2020 Year of publication: 2021 Author: Fengchun Miao | Wayne Holmes Corporate author: UNESCO This synthesis report has been developed by the UNESCO Unit for Technology and Artificial Intelligence in Education within the Future of Learning and Innovation Team, drawing on the International Forum on AI and the Futures of Education held in Beijing and simultaneously online from 7 to 8 December 2020.The Forum underlined the importance of reviewing the very purpose of education, together with the opportunity for real transformation, and the role that AI might play. It is widely acknowledged that current educational practices and educational environment are very rigid, and that the future of education should be more flexible and responsive to changing circumstances and innovation. National education authorities should identify what skills young people need to enable them to live and thrive in the new realities of a constantly changing world, and what digital transformation makes possible in the national and international context. In short, new education models are needed to put students at the centre, to move away from a focus on memorizing content, to integrate the digital and the analogue, and to foster human cognitive, socioemotional and critical skills, all of which might – with foresight and careful attention – be enabled by AI and other digital technologies. 
Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development: Synthesis Report; Mobile Learning Week 2019 Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO During the five-day event for Mobile Learning Week 2019, UNESCO gathered participants from around the world to share experiences, initiatives and plan joint actions with a view to harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. The report stems from the work that the speakers presented and the insights that all the participants shared at the event. 
AI and Education: Guidance for Policy-Makers Year of publication: 2021 Author: Fengchun Miao | Wayne Holmes | Ronghuai Huang | Hui Zhang Corporate author: UNESCO Artificial intelligence (AI) is envisioned as a new tool to accelerate the progress towards the achievement of SDG 4. Policies and strategies for using AI in education are central to maximizing AI’s benefits and mitigating its potential risks. Fostering AI-ready policy-makers is the starting point of the policy development process.This publication offers guidance to policy-makers in understanding AI and responding to the challenges and opportunities in education presented by AI. Specifically, it introduces the essentials of AI such as its definition, techniques, technologies, capacities and limitations. It also delineates the emerging practices and benefit-risk assessment on leveraging AI to enhance education and learning, and to ensure inclusion and equity, as well as the reciprocal role of education in preparing humans to live and work with AI.The publication summarizes three approaches to the policy responses from existing practices: independent approach, integrated approach and thematic approach. In a further step, it proposes more detailed recommendations and examples for planning AI and education policies, aligned with the recommendations made in the 2019 Beijing Consensus on AI and Education. 
Framework for the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Beyond 2019 Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO This document contains the proposal for a new framework for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) beyond 2019 and the comments and observations of the Executive Board thereon. 
Mainstreaming SDG4-Education 2030 in sector-wide policy and planning: technical guidelines for UNESCO field offices Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO Mainstreaming SDG4-Education 2030 in sector-wide policy and planning offers technical guidelines for UNESCO field offices to ensure adequate technical support to national authorities. The guidelines take into account the different profiles of countries’ need and capacities, thus avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. The document contains resources and pointers that can be combined and tailored to fit the particular context of each country. In all cases, UNESCO is expected to ensure that all the relevant information about SDG4-Education 2030 is properly disseminated in these guidelines. Field staff will adapt the guidelines provided here to the country they are serving to ensure that UNESCO plays its role as the leading United Nations agency in the field. 
Sub-Education Policy Review Report: Inclusive Education Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO Inclusion highlights opportunities for an equal involvement of individuals with disabilities (physical, social, and emotional) when possible into typical education, but leaves accessible the probability of individual selections and possibilities for special aid and accommodations for persons who need it. This review was initiated by UNESCO to inform the ongoing discourse about inclusive education within Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippine and Timur-Leste. Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) reinforces the importance of inclusive education which adheres nations to adopt the framework of action in providing inclusion and equity through education of children with perceived differences. The review contributes to the body of literature on inclusive education by synthesizing policy recommendations and evaluations and identifying contradictions and overlaps in those policies. This review draws upon UNESCO reports pertaining to inclusive education policies and initiatives. In addition, a systematic review of empirical studies on inclusive education policy (2010-2020) identified from related and major databases (Eric) is conducted. Both the UNSECO reports and empirical studies are analyzed based on the SDG4 and its targets pertaining to inclusion policy. 
Evaluation of UNESCO’s Action to Revitalize and Promote Indigenous Languages: Within the Framework of the International Year of Indigenous Languages Year of publication: 2021 Author: Claire Thomas | Lydia van de Fliert | Oliver Loode | Silvia Quattrini | Mihaela Cojocaru Corporate author: UNESCO To draw attention to the critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote them and to take further urgent steps at the national and international levels, in 2016 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 71/178 proclaimed the year beginning on 1 January 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (hereafter the IYIL2019). UNESCO was invited to serve as the lead agency for the Year and the coordination role was internally assigned to the Communication and Information Sector. UNESCO requested an evaluation of its action within the IYIL2019 with a view to learning from its experience during 2019 and further strengthening its coordination and implementation role during the upcoming Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032).As the lead agency for the IYIL2019, UNESCO played a key role raising awareness of not only the critical loss of indigenous languages, but also the positive value and meanings that indigenous languages provide to Indigenous Peoples and humanity at large. The evaluation found that UNESCO led the development of an ambitious and relevant Action Plan for the Year. It also succeeded in setting up an 18-member Steering Committee composed of representatives of Member States, Indigenous Peoples and the UN three-party indigenous mechanisms. UNESCO staff implemented more than 80 activities around the world, with three-quarters of these at the global level and the majority of national events in Latin America and the Caribbean region. It also maintained an interactive website, which registered more than 880 events around the world.Leading and coordinating the IYIL2019 was not without its challenges, particularly as UNESCO was asked to lead this effort within existing resources and relying on a very small core team. Its programme sectors found creative solutions for indigenous language programming, but without a budget for intersectoral activities, collaboration between sectors was limited to information sharing and activities in Africa and the Arab States were few. The evaluation also found that the Action Plan lacked a meaningful results framework and thereby did not facilitate the monitoring of the IYIL2019. Partnerships with UNESCO networks and the wider UN system were underutilized and many opportunities for future collaboration have been highlighted for the upcoming Decade. 
National Education Responses to COVID-19: The Situation of Latin America and the Caribbean Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO The COVID-19 pandemic caused the greatest global, simultaneous interruption of education services in recent history. It has impacted over 90% of the worldwide student population from preschool to higher education.Latin American and Caribbean countries have engaged in enormous efforts to promote continuity of teaching and learning in this context. In spite of this, profound inequities persist in school systems that limit the capacity to reach the entire population.It is imperative to have information that contributes to guiding the actions that may mitigate or reverse the pandemic’s negative impacts on learning and educational inequities.This report presents a regional overview based on the results of the “Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19,” which was implemented by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank between May and October 2020. 
The World in 2030: Public Survey Report Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO This report presents the results of the World in 2030 Survey, launched by UNESCO in May 2020 to provide a platform for people to share their views on our world’s most pressing challenges, including what specifically they are worried about, and, most importantly, what solutions they feel are mostneeded. The results of this survey present a clear and systematic framework for action, one that can enrich global reflection over the coming decade as part of a renewed push to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.Over 15,000 respondents from all regions of the world responded to the survey, providing a clear snapshot of global per- spectives. This survey received particular participation from women and young people. A majority of respondents had a university education, and the top region from which participants hailed was Latin America and the Caribbean.Responses to the World in 2030 Survey indicate clear trends in the concerns felt by global citizens. According to survey respondents, the top challenge facing peaceful societies in the lead up to 2030 was, by far, climate change and loss of biodiversity, ranking in the top four challenges of 67% of respondents, and coming out on top for all regions and demographics. When examining this challenge, people were most concerned about increasing natural disasters and extreme weather, loss of biodiversity and its impact on people, pollution of the ocean and rising sea levels, and risk of conflict or violence. The top proposed solutions were investing in green energy and sustainable economies, teaching sustainability through education, effective international cooperation, and building trust in science and science-based decisions.The next four most highlighted global challenges were violence and conflict (44%), discrimination and inequality (43%), lack of food, water and housing (42%), and health and disease (37%). There was some limited variation in the rankings of the relative importance of these four challenges across regions and demographics. For example, women and minority group respondents both ranked discrimination and inequality as the second most important global challenge, following climate change and biodiversity loss, rather than third, while respondents from indigenous communities and from Asia and the Pacific ranked health and disease as the second most important global challenge, rather than fifth. The World in 2030 survey was an open online questionnaire held from May to September 2020. It was made available in more than 25 languages. This report also analyses results along regional, gender, age and other demographic lines, presenting a complex and valuable portrait of global sentiment on these key issues.