Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
741 Results found
Quality Physical Education Policies and Practice: The Global State of Play Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO With the majority of countries around the world investing less than 2% of their education budgets into physical education, the well-being of our future generations is at risk. Quality physical education (QPE) can deliver broad physical, social, emotional, and academic benefits. However, QPE is often under-prioritized and poorly implemented, suffering from deficiencies in funding, inclusivity, allocated time, and well-trained staff. UNESCO’s sport flagship, Fit for Life, aims to address this by working with governments to develop quality PE policies and building the capacities of teachers and coaches to deliver inclusive lessons as part of a well-rounded curricula. UNESCO’s work in QPE is directly informed by data collected via a unique global survey, gathering insights on PE policy and provision. Key data highlights from the most recent survey demonstrate the urgent need to increase the status of this subject in our schools. This requires collective action to establish and implement standards, promote knowledge-sharing, and foster inclusive participation for all youth. 
Multilingualism and Language Diversity for Inclusion in Education: Brief on Inclusion in Education Year of publication: 2024 Author: Piet Van Avermart Corporate author: UNESCO Language is a fundamental factor for inclusion in education. From a monolingual point of view, acquiring the language of instruction has long been regarded as the key to inclusion. However, multilingualism can be a valuable resource for all: inclusive school policies and multilingual practices recognize and foster linguistic diversity, benefit learning and create cohesion. 
Enhancing TVET through Digital Transformation in Developing Countries Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO Technological advancements and digitalization are profoundly reshaping our work and lifestyle, business models and operations, and government policy choices. Digital transformation in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is the planned and structured introduction of automated and streamlined processes within institutions and national technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems through digital technology, with the goal of enhancing their scope, scale, efficiency and effectiveness and ultimately, driving their more sustainable development. This document provides overall perspective and five country case studies on digital transformation in TVET. Most countries studied face similar enabling factors: the digital infrastructure available; legal and policy frameworks; focused institutional change to improve the acquisition of digital skills; and the promotion of equality and inclusivity. To understand how digital transformation in TVET is occurring, the report analyses it at four levels: technical and technological development; curriculum and qualifications; teaching and learning using technology; and its contribution to the sustainability and resilience of societies. 
UNESCO and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO For the Olympic and Paralympic Games, UNESCO and The Associated Press are joining forces to ensure quality media coverage of Paris 2024. The Associated Press will set up on the premises and roof of the UNESCO headquarters building, facing the Eiffel Tower, to record and broadcast its television programmes. The Agency will provide spectators with unique media coverage of the Games and offer original content on the social impact of sport and sports policies, in collaboration with UNESCO. 
Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context Year of publication: 2022 Author: Sarah Court | Eugene Jo | Richard Mackay | Mizuki Murai | Riki Therivel Corporate author: UNESCO | International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) | International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) | International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) | Korea R. Cultural Heritage Administration As the World Heritage Convention celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022, over 1100 sites around the world are recognized as World Heritage - places that are so valuable to humanity that there conservation has been deemed our collective responsibility. Yet many of these exceptional places face increasing pressure from diverse types of development projects within and around the sites. Assessing the impacts of such projects – before deciding to proceed with their implementation – is essential to both prevent damage to World Heritage and identify sustainable options.The Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context is the go-to reference that explains the process for achieving these goals. Offering practical tips and tools including checklists and a glossary, it provides a framework for conducting impact assessments for cultural and natural heritage sites.Developed by UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee, ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN, this Guidance and Toolkit fosters cross-sectoral, multidisciplinary collaboration to identify solutions for both protecting World Heritage sites and supporting good quality and appropriate development . States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, heritage managers, decision-makers, planners and developers are invited to use it to help realise our collective commitment to passing on our precious heritage to future generations. 
Mainstreaming Social and Emotional Learning in Education Systems: Policy Guide; Highlights Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO UNESCO’s policy guide unpacks social and emotional learning (SEL) as a broadening of the educational process, from a focus on cognitive aspects to a balance between cognitive, social and emotional, and behavioural dimensions of learning, putting forward initial action ideas to guide its systematic mainstreaming in education. It builds on and extends previous work undertaken by UNESCO on SEL from the perspective of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Building Strong Foundations for Health and Well-being Education, the Happy Schools Framework, and in multiple UNESCO Offices and Institutes. 
Implementing the Right to Education: a Compendium of Practical Examples Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO This publication is a compilation of practical examples of measures taken by Member States in implementing the provisions of the UNESCO Convention and Recommendation against Discrimination in Education. These examples are taken from national reports submitted to UNESCO for the Eighth Consultation of Member States on the implementation of these two international standard-setting instruments. The Convention and the Recommendation celebrated their fi fty-fi fth anniversary in 2015. Both express the fundamental principles of non-discrimination and equality of educational opportunities enshrined in UNESCO’'s Constitution. Since these fundamental principles were essential in the process of Education for All, the instruments have naturally become the cornerstone of this important domain.The Education 2030 development agenda will provide further opportunity to mobilise the Convention and the Recommendation in guiding Member States in the effective realization of the right to education. This compendium seeks to provide an overview of promising measures taken to ensure equality of educational opportunities and non-discrimination, while also serving as a tool for information sharing and advocacy in connection with the right to education. 
Dialogue for Prevention Year of publication: 2025 Corporate author: UNESCO In an era where geopolitical power struggles disrupt traditional peacebuilding, where identity and misinformation fuel divisions, and where trust in institutions is eroding, UNESCO’s Intercultural Dialogue for Conflict Transformation briefs series presents an adaptable, culturally grounded, and people-centred approach to peacebuilding. With 1.5 billion people living in contexts with low intercultural dialogue where global challenges such as absolute poverty, terrorism and forced displacement are more prevalent, this four-part series draws on firsthand experience, country case studies, and expert analysis to demonstrate the transformative potential of dialogue in fragile and conflict-sensitive settings. The Dialogue for Prevention brief, developed with the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, explores the powerful role intercultural dialogue can play in preventing large-scale identity-based violence, particularly in the upstream and downstream phases of conflict. Grounded in the idea that dialogue can bridge divides and foster mutual understanding, the brief argues that enabling environments for intercultural dialogue—marked by stability, inclusive governance, freedom of expression, horizontal equality, and social cohesion—also mitigate key risk factors for atrocity violence. Drawing on diverse examples from Cambodia, Colombia, Italy, and Kenya, it showcases creative, context specific applications of dialogue. Through practical guidance, the brief equips policymakers, practitioners and civil society seeking to embed dialogue into prevention strategies. 
Dialogue for Social Cohesion Year of publication: 2025 Author: Isaure Vicarini | Euan Mackway-Jones Corporate author: UNESCO In an era where geopolitical power struggles disrupt traditional peacebuilding, where identity and misinformation fuel divisions, and where trust in institutions is eroding, UNESCO’s Intercultural Dialogue for Conflict Transformation briefs series presents an adaptable, culturally grounded, and people-centred approach to peacebuilding. With 89% of conflicts worldwide occurring in countries with limited capacity for intercultural dialogue, this four-part series draws on firsthand experience, country case studies, and expert analysis to demonstrate the transformative potential of dialogue in fragile and conflict-sensitive settings. The Dialogue for Social Cohesion brief—developed in collaboration with the Berghof Foundation and Search for Common Ground—bridges theory and practice to explore the horizontal (community-to-community) and vertical (citizen-to-state) dimensions of social cohesion and highlights how inclusive dialogue can support both. Case studies from Afghanistan, Germany, Somalia, and South Sudan illustrate how dialogue—whether through theatre, education, local governance, or environmental peacebuilding—can cultivate mutual understanding and trust, bridge identity-based divides, and restore, step by step, the social fabric in fractured societies. Through actionable recommendations, this brief equips practitioners, policymakers, and civil society with the essential guidance needed to tailor and embed dialogue in their respective contexts, helping to ensure that peace processes are inclusive, locally driven, and enduring. 
AI and the Future of Education: Disruptions, Dilemmas and Directions Year of publication: 2025 Corporate author: UNESCO Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way we learn, teach and make sense of the world around us, but it is doing so unequally. While one-third of humanity remains offline, access to the most cutting-edge AI models is reserved for those with subscriptions, infrastructure and linguistic advantage.These disparities not only restrict who can use AI, but also determine whose knowledge, values and languages dominate the systems that increasingly influence education.This anthology explores the philosophical, ethical and pedagogical dilemmas posed by disruptive influence of AI in education. Bringing together insights from global thinkers, leaders and changemakers, the collection challenges assumptions, surfaces frictions, provokes contestation, and sparks audacious new visions for equitable human-machine co-creation.Covering themes from dismantling outdated assessment systems to cultivating an ethics of care, the 21 think pieces in this volume take a step towards building a global commons for dialogue and action, a shared space to think together, debate across differences, and reimagine inclusive education in the age of AI.Building on UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, its Guidance on Generative AI in Education and Research and its twin AI competency frameworks for teachers and students, such a global commons can direct collective sense-making and bold reimagination around curricula, pedagogy, governance and policy with human rights, justice and inclusion at its core.