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Curriculum in Transformation Mode: Rethinking Curriculum for the Transformation of Education and Education Systems Year of publication: 2023 Author: Renato Opertti Corporate author: UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) Through these pages, Renato Opertti shares a series of reflections that invite us to revisit the curriculum as an opportunity and lever for societies to express their visions and aspirations. Curriculum can serve to position education as the pillar of a renewed social contract grounded on the welfare of all learners as persons and supporting societies and communities give effect to sustainable and better futures for the younger generations. To do so, we need to re-conceptualize curriculum at large: from a mere specification of frequently fragmented learning contents to its understanding as both a process and product of public policy developments in which diversity of stakeholders own and take responsibility for education as a global common good. Curriculum and pedagogy, by going hand-inhand, and supported by effective teaching, learning and assessment processes, can play a key role in fulfilling the right to education for every learner equally, according to their own individual needs. Key ideas in this book help us to rethink curriculum with future-oriented approaches, entailing a stronger involvement of younger generations in the decision-making process and a careful attention to vulnerability and disadvantaged groups. A curriculum that embraces individuality and diversity within collaborative and caring learning settings, nurtures freedom and autonomous thinking, connects meaningfully the global and the local, and assumes the hybridization of education. The book also delves into perspectives for educational transformation prioritizing the development of learners’ foundational and transformative competencies as the barometer of a progressive curriculum. Crucially, this entails rethinking the mindsets and practices of education systems in light of the interconnected challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, post COVID-19, generative AI and the sustainability of the planet and the world. 
Consultation Paper on AI Regulation: Emerging Approaches Across the World Year of publication: 2024 Author: Juan David Gutiérrez Corporate author: UNESCO Since 2016, over thirty countries have passed laws explicitly mentioning AI, and in 2024, the discussion about AI bills in legislative bodies has increased globally. This policy brief aims to inform legislators about the different regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence (AI) being considered worldwide by legislative bodies. The brief explains nine emerging regulatory approaches, each illustrated with specific cases worldwide. The order in which the nine AI regulatory approaches are presented is deliberately structured to guide readers from less interventionist, light-touch regulatory measures to more coercive, demanding approaches. These regulatory approaches are not mutually exclusive and AI bills often combine two or more approaches:1. Principles-Based Approach2. Standards-Based Approach3. Agile and Experimentalist Approach4. Facilitating and Enabling Approach5. Adapting Existing Laws Approach6. Access to Information and Transparency Mandates Approach7. Risk-Based Approach8. Rights-Based Approach9. Liability Approach The policy brief suggests parliamentarians how they can address three key questions before adopting AI regulations:1. Why regulate? Determine whether regulation is needed to address public problems, fundamental and collective rights, or desirable futures.2. When to regulate? Reach a consensus on why regulation is needed, map available regulatory instruments, compare them with other policy instruments, and assess the feasibility of adopting the former.3. How to regulate? Identify a combination of AI regulatory approaches that are tailored to specific contexts. 
AI Competency Framework for Teachers Year of publication: 2024 Author: Fengchun Miao | Mutlu Cukurova Corporate author: UNESCO AI processes vast information, generates new content, and helps decision-making through predictive analyses. In education, AI has transformed the traditional teacher–student relationship into a teacher–AI–student dynamic.This shift requires a re-examination of teachers’ roles and the competencies they need in the AI era. Yet, few countries have defined these competencies or developed national programmes to train teachers in AI, leaving many educators without proper guidance.The AI competency framework for teachers addresses this gap by defining the knowledge, skills, and values teachers must master in the age of AI. Developed with principles of protecting teachers’ rights, enhancing human agency, and promoting sustainability, the publication outlines 15 competencies across five dimensions: Human-centred mindset, Ethics of AI, AI foundations and applications, AI pedagogy, and AI for professional learning. These competencies are categorized into three progression levels: Acquire, Deepen, and Create.As a global reference, this tool guides the development of national AI competency frameworks, informs teacher training programmes, and helps in designing assessment parameters. It also provides strategies for teachers to build AI knowledge, apply ethical principles, and support their professional growth. 
AI Competency Framework for Students Year of publication: 2024 Author: Fengchun Miao | Kelly Shiohira Corporate author: UNESCO Artificial intelligence is increasingly integral to our lives, necessitating proactive education systems to prepare students as responsible users and co-creators of AI. Integrating AI learning objectives into official school curricula is crucial for students globally to engage with AI safely and meaningfully.The UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students aims to help educators in this integration, outlining 12 competncies across four dimensions:- A human-centred mindset- Ethics of AI- AI techniques and applications- AI system designThese competencies span three progression levels:- Understand- Apply- Create The framework details curricular goals and domain-specific pedagogical methodologies.Grounded in the vision of students as AI co-creators and responsible citizens, the publication emphasizes critical judgement of AI solutions, awareness of citizenship responsibilities in the AI era, foundational AI knowledge for lifelong learning, and inclusive, sustainable AI design. 
Adolescents in a Changing World: The Case for Urgent Investment Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: World Health Organization (WHO) | United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) This report focuses on the strong returns on investment associated with investing in adolescent health and well-being. Today, adolescents make up more than 16% of the world's population. They are a demographic that is often overlooked or misunderstood. Investments in adolescents can reduce inequalities and help to protect their human rights. The economic and social returns from a wide range of investments to address adolescent well-being are significant. The report makes a compelling case for investing in adolescents, they are living in a world facing multifaceted crises, and they will be tomorrow's changemakers and leaders. The staggering cost of inaction is estimated at US$110 trillion over a period of 27 years (2024-50). That amounts to 7.7% of the total GDP of those countries included in the models, which themselves include around 80% of the world's population. Many interventions will yield high returns, including those focused on health services and multisectoral interventions, for example on SRHR, HPV, TB, myopia, education and training, child marriage and road accident prevention. This evidence base is crucial for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, donors, and civil society organizations as we map the road ahead for a better and more sustainable future. Investing in adolescent health and well-being strengthens the human capital of a country, and hence a country's potential for future development and for ending extreme poverty and creating more inclusive societies. 
World Public Sector Report 2023: Transforming Institutions to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals After the Pandemic Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The World Public Sector Report 2023 examines the role that national institutional and governance innovations and changes that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic can play in advancing progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report focuses on three main questions: How can Governments reshape their relationship with people and other actors to enhance trust and promote the changes required for more sustainable and peaceful societies? How can Governments assess competing priorities and address difficult policy trade-offs that have emerged since 2020? What assets and innovations can Governments mobilize to transform the public sector and achieve the SDGs? The report addresses them in chapters composed of short overviews followed by a set of in-depth contributions from a wide range of experts which examine institutional changes observed in different contexts, sectors and policy processes and explore the potential of those with a positive impact on the achievement of the SDGs to be sustained beyond the pandemic. The report aims to draw attention to institutional change as a key component of the societal transformations required to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
Digital Technologies for Environmental Peacebuilding: Horizon Scanning of Opportunities and Risks Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) This report specifically delves into how digital technologies can be harnessed to manage environmental and natural resource risks that contribute to insecurity and social conflict, as well as the opportunities they present for peacebuilding, cooperation, and social cohesion. It examines relevant use cases spanning the peace and security continuum and concludes with a set of important policy and governance recommendations. The report is designed to inform and contribute to significant upcoming frameworks addressing digital technologies, including the Summit of the Future and the Global Digital Compact. 
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024 Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024 details the significant challenges the world is facing in making substantial strides towards achieving the SDGs based on the latest data and estimates. It features areas with setbacks while also showcasing where tangible progress has been made, for instance, in reducing global child mortality, preventing HIV infection, and access to energy and mobile broadband. The report also highlights where action must accelerate, particularly in critical areas undermining SDG progress - climate change, peace and security, inequalities among and between countries, among others. According to the report, with just six years remaining, current progress falls far short of what is required to meet the SDGs. Without massive investment and scaled up action, the achievement of the SDGs — the blueprint for a more resilient and prosperous world and the roadmap out of current global crises — will remain elusive. The lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions and growing climate chaos have severely hindered progress. The report details the urgent priorities and areas needed for stronger and more effective action to ensure the 2030 promise to end poverty, protect the planet and leave no one behind. 
SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee: Making Higher Education More Inclusive, July 2020 Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: UNESCO The rapid expansion of higher education in the past two decades, as well as the growing diversity of providers and technological models for delivering education, have made higher education accessible to more students globally. Yet significant barriers remain for many vulnerable groups, and women still lag behind in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A better understanding of inequality as well as new paradigms, strategies and a renewed political will for ‘leaving no one behind’ are required. Structural equity policies at all levels throughout the education system, as well as extraordinary measures when needed, should ensure that students from any background with the potential to succeed are fully integrated with equal opportunities into higher education. This policy paper reviews the current literature and sets out findings and recommendations to increase and strengthen equity and inclusion in higher education in a lifelong learning perspective. It provides a conceptual framework for equity and inclusion, analyses the urgent need to improve funding and its efficiency, provides insight into the challenges for teaching and teachers, and recommends policy measures for establishing higher education systems that are more equitable and more inclusive. 
Transforming Education Towards SDG4: Report of a Global Survey on Country Actions to Transform Education; Highlights Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO In 2022, the United Nations Transforming Education Summit responded decisively to mobilize action, ambition and solidarity as well as to elevate education to the top of the political agenda. This powerful mobilization led to 143 countries presenting national statements of commitment, demonstrating their political resolve to reimagine and transform their education systems. On the Summit’s fi rst anniversary, UNESCO invited its Member States to participate in the Survey on Country Actions to Transform Education and report on how they have translated their commitments into actions. This document presents highlights from the Transforming Education Towards SDG 4: Report of a global survey on country actions to transform education. It showcases transformative actions that countries have undertaken to accelerate progress towards SDG 4. The report emphasizes that education must adopt a holistic, lifelong and comprehensive approach that addresses the development and well-being of individual learners and society. Transforming education requires placing inclusion, equity and gender equality at the core of policies and interventions. It also requires more and better education fi nancing, and investments in the teaching profession.