Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
4,172 Results found
Transforming Knowledge and Research for Just and Sustainable Futures: Towards a New Social Imaginary for Higher Education (Education, Research and Foresight: Working Papers; No.33, 2024) Year of publication: 2024 Author: Leon Tikly Corporate author: UNESCO The paper considers why it is important to transform knowledge and research for just and sustainable futures and discusses the role of higher education in these transformation processes. The paper sets out how knowledge, research, and knowledge systems can be understood and critiques knowledge hierarchies that have emerged in the context of colonialism, leading to the marginalization of the knowledge systems and languages of the colonized. It is argued that there is a need to create new ecologies of knowledge that value and develop synergies between ‘all of the archives of the world’ and that can revitalize and expand the knowledge commons and contribute to more just and sustainable futures. Higher education has a pivotal role to play in the creation of new ecologies of knowledge and a revitalized knowledge commons through promoting socially and ethically engaged research, the decolonization and reorientation of university curricula and pedagogy to foster sustainable futures, and the democratization of universities to better represent historically marginalized groups. Underpinning this role must be a shift from a Western modernist social imaginary of higher education to one based on a new planetary consciousness. 
Guardians of the Pacific: A Teacher’s Guide to Celebrating, Preserving, and Promoting World Heritage Year of publication: 2024 Author: Karena Menzie-Ballantyne | Nanise J. Young Okotai | Adi Meretui Tuvou Ratunabuabua Corporate author: APCEIU Guardians of the Pacific: A Teacher’s Guide to Celebrating, Preserving, and Promoting World Heritage is an APCEIU initiative dedicated to advancing Global Citizenship Education (GCED) worldwide. Anchored in the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNESCO World Heritage, the guide places a special emphasis on the rich and diverse heritage of the Pacific region. This Guide reflects GCED’s integrative approach, which encompasses three interconnected dimensions of learning: cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral. It encourages critical thinking about heritage and sustainability, fosters empathy by deepening understanding of the Pacific's unique cultural and natural environments, and inspires meaningful actions to protect and preserve local heritage. Tailored for educators working with students in upper primary (grades 4–6) and lower secondary (grades 7–9), the Guide provides step-by-step instructions and practical resources for incorporating Pacific World Heritage into classroom lessons and extracurricular activities. It is a valuable tool for nurturing awareness, appreciation, and stewardship of the Pacific region’s irreplaceable heritage in schools worldwide. <Table of Contents>ForewordHow to Use This GuideSection 1. Learning Framework Rationale Section 2. What Makes a Place Special?Section 3. The 2030 Agenda, Five Pillars and SDGsSection 4. Protecting People: Levuka Historical Port Town (Cultural Site)Section 5. Preserving the Planet: Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Natural Site)Section 6. Ensuring Prosperity: Rock Islands Southern Lagoon (Mixed Site)Section 7. Promoting Peace: Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site (Cultural Site)Section 8. Partnerships to Protect the Environment: East Rennell (Natural Site)Section 9. Taking Action to Promote and Protect a Special PlaceReferences WorksheetsPhoto Cards 
Education Finance Watch 2024 Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: Global Education Monitoring Report Team | UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) | World Bank The Education Finance Watch (EFW) is a collaborative effort between the World Bank, the GEM Report, and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The EFW aims to provide an analysis of trends, patterns, and issues in education financing around the world. The EFW uses various sources of education, economic, and financial data from the World Bank, UIS, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 
Youth Report 2024: Technology in Education; A Tool on Our Terms! Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO | Global Education Monitoring Report Team | Restless Development The 2024 Youth Report on technology in education is the result of an extensive consultation process in partnership with Restless Development involving +1500 youth and students across 8 regions. The consultations invited participants to reflect on the key challenges and opportunities for the use of technology in education in their regions through the lenses of the recommendations in the global 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report on technology in education: Technology on our terms. The discussions centred on the need for the use of technology in education to be appropriate for national and local contexts and to be equitable and leave no one behind. The report calls for decisions about technology in education to keep learners at the centre when deciding whether the use of technology in education would be appropriate, equitable, evidence-based, and sustainable. Through this report, young people have described what technology on their terms would look like. It concludes with a call to action calling which highlights concrete recommendations that governments can follow to ensure that technology in education is on youth terms. 
Global Education Meeting: Fortaleza Declaration; Unlocking the Transformative Power of Education for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Futures Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO | Brazil. Ministry of Education The 2024 Global Education Meeting (GEM), held in Fortaleza, Brazil, marked a significant milestone in the global pursuit of education equity and financing, with the adoption of the powerful Fortaleza Declaration by over 650 participants including over 50 Ministers from across the globe. 
United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech: Detailed Guidance on Implementation for United Nations Field Presences Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The Strategy and Plan of Action acknowledges that hate speech has the potential to incite violence and undermine social unity. It recognizes that hate speech has been a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide, over the past 75 years. This approach to coordinating efforts across the UN system to identify, prevent and confront hate speech is grounded in international human rights standards, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, principles of equality and non-discrimination, as well as other fundamental rights. The Strategy aims to give the United Nations the room and the resources to address hate speech, which poses a threat to UN principles, values and programmes. It guides the UN system on how to address hate speech and includes ways to support United Nations Resident Coordinators’ action in addressing and countering hate speech on the ground. 
Lessons from a Transformative Pedagogy Project for Peace, Resilience, and the Prevention of Violent Extremism: Part I; Country-Level Implementation Year of publication: 2024 Author: Eyerusalem Azmeraw | Quentin Wodon | Eleonora Mura | Kasumi Moritani Corporate author: UNESCO International Institute for Capacity-Building in Africa (IICBA) From 2017 to 2022, UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) led a series of projects for peacebuilding and the prevention of violent extremism through education with support from the Government of Japan. This two-part paper draws lessons from the projects. The first part of the paper briefly explains the transformative pedagogy approach that guided project implementation and provides examples of changes that were implemented at the country level under the projects. The analysis is qualitative, with the aim being to outline, through country examples, what can be achieved through such projects. Lessons on factors contributing to impact are also outlined. 
Can African Countries Afford Their National SDG 4 Benchmarks? Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO | Global Education Monitoring Report Team This brief paper follows the broad methodological approach of the two previous SDG 4 costing exercises and their main assumptions (UNESCO, 2015a; UNESCO, 2020). It introduces the SDG 4 benchmarking process and how to estimate the cost of achieving these targets set by countries, largely based on their sector plans. Finally, it presents the revised assumptions of the model and the key findings. Despite lowering ambition, there is still an average national financing gap of USD 78 billion per year in the 44 low- and lower-middle-income countries in Africa. 
Global Education Monitoring Report 2024: Gender Report; Technology on Her Terms Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO | Global Education Monitoring Report Team The 2024 Gender Report tells the increasingly positive story of girls’ education access, attainment and achievement, which is helping reverse decades of discrimination. But there is much more to say on gender equality in and through education. A companion to the 2023 GEM Report, this report looks at the interaction between education and technology with a gender lens. First, it looks at the impact of technology on girls’ education opportunities and outcomes. Although many instances are seen of radio, television and mobile phones providing a learning lifeline for girls, particularly in crisis contexts, gender divides exist globally in both access to technology and in digital skills, although the latter are smaller among youth compared to among adults. Biased social and cultural norms inhibit equitable access to and engagement with technology in and outside of school, with girls always left on the wrong side of the divide. While technology offers many girls opportunities to access important education content in safe environments, for instance on comprehensive sexuality education, technology in practice often exacerbates negative gender norms or stereotypes. Social media usage impacts learners’ and particularly girls’ well-being and self-esteem. The ease with which cyberbullying can be magnified through the use of online devices in the school environment is a cause of concern, as is the biased design of artificial intelligence algorithms. Second, the report looks into the role of education on the shape of future technological development. It shows that women struggle to pursue STEM careers, which manifests from an early age in the form of anxiety in mathematics and develops into a reluctance to study STEM subjects, ultimately resulting in a lack of women in the technology workforce. Women make up only 35% STEM graduates, and hold only a quarter of science, engineering and ICT jobs. Ensuring women participate on equal terms in shaping the world’s ongoing digital transformation will ensure that technology works for everyone and takes into consideration the needs of all humanity. 
The Global State of Play: Report and Recommendations on Quality Physical Education Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO | Loughborough University Active lifestyles are key to ensuring both individual well-being and sustainable, social development. Quality Physical Education (QPE) plays a key role in achieving this by fostering lifelong physical activity, improving young people’s mental and emotional well-being, and developing critical life skills. UNESCO’s sport initiative, Fit for Life, advocates QPE as a cost-effective investment. Despite its potential as a core curricula subject, UNESCO data reveal that PE is often under-prioritized and due to a lack of investment in certain areas, such as staff training and facilities, potential benefits are not fully realised for students around the world. This investment gap connects directly to a delivery gap. Although 83% of countries worldwide report PE as compulsory in schools, there remain significant issues with the quality of delivery and the diversity of lesson planning within curricula:• Only 1 in 3 secondary school students worldwide meet the minimum requirement of 180 minutes of PE minutes per week set out in UNESCO’s Quality Physical Education Policy Guidelines.• Only 61.7% of schools fully include students with disabilities alongside their peers without disabilities in PE classes.• Only 7.1% of schools implement equal PE time for boys and girls, despite 54.5% of countries having policies or plans for it. Policymakers, PE practitioners and academia are encouraged to take action to implement PE policies, increase investment in PE, upskill PE teachers, enhance PE curricula and promote more equitable and inclusive PE environment.