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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[Executive Summary] Connections that Matter: How the Quality of Governance Boosts Climate Action Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) This is the executive summary of the Connections that Matter: How the Quality of Governance Boosts Climate Action prepared by the UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability. 
Connections that Matter: How the Quality of Governance Boosts Climate Action; A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) This report reflects the findings of a systematic literature review jointly undertaken by the UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability. The report offers aggregated empirical insight from across the globe about how inclusive, effective and accountable governance systems produces positive effects on climate action. The report aims to galvanize development actors and stakeholders to invest in SDG 16 and the strengthening of governance systems, and to better identify pathways that raise the ambition and effectiveness of climate action. 
The Impact of AI on Curriculum Systems: Towards an Orbit-Shifting Dialogue (In-Progress Reflection; no. 32, 2019) Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) refers to the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence. In order to achieve transformational change in contemporary curriculum systems and learning environments, we need to engender an orbitshifting dialogue about the potential relationship between AI and education, in terms of both independent variables (threats), and dependent variables (opportunities). Through such a dialogue, we need to create foresight indicators that can predict the process of this relationship. It is, however, crucial that the relationship between AI and education is strong and directly proportionate. If the potential of the relationship is not exploited sufficiently, then underdeveloped education systems will lag behind and fail to achieve their potential for transformation, whether radical or incremental. Indeed, some may even become obsolete. The paper contends that in order to effectively contribute to the knowledge economy and to sustainable development in the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution (characterized by a fusion of cyber-physical technologies) modern educational systems need to overcome obstacles to innovation in order to maximize the potential for transformative change. To achieve this will require an ‘orbital shift’ in educational planning, practice and resourcing, to enable schools to respond more effectively to the rapidly changing needs of young people, society, the economy and environment in the third decade of the 21st century. Schools, educational institutions and environments, need to transform from being primarily spaces for teaching and taking exams, into spaces for innovation and personal learning, based on a culture of actively listening to the voices, choices, needs and goals of learners. Teachers need to become facilitators, coaches and mentors for learners. Schools need to create AI-enabled, flexible, collaborative working spaces. Visionary, energetic educational leaders need to communicate effectively with all stakeholders, including employers and parents, to inspire and manage change and smart decision-making to develop schools of the future. The aim of this reflection is to initiate an ‘orbit-shifting’ dialogue about the potential of AI applications to transform all components of the curriculum system to meet emergent 21st century educational goals. The conceptualization aims to explore the variable roles and impact of curriculum learning and assessment on these emerging educational goals. Theme 1 of the paper outlines the concepts and characteristics of a range of existing AI systems and their potential to enhance teaching learning and assessment. Theme 2 reflects on the potential to embrace AI systems across the curriculum system. Theme 3 proposes an action model to enable AI to have an ‘orbit shifting impact’ on all the components of the curriculum system (i.e. learners, teachers, learning environments, leadership and management, content, pedagogy and assessment) by enhancing opportunities for individualization, creativity and uniqueness. 
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education, Planning Education in the AI Era: Lead the Leap; Final Report Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO The current report is an exhaustive account of the discussion and debate at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (hereafter referred to as ‘the conference’) held in Beijing from 16 to 18 May 2019. Under the overarching theme of ‘Planning Education in the AI Era: Lead the Leap’, the conference was structured into seven plenary sessions and 16 breakout sessions complemented by a live exhibition and study tours to facilitate forwardlooking debates, share cutting-edge knowledge and AI solutions, and deliberate on sector-wide strategies. 
The Effects of AI on the Working Lives of Women Year of publication: 2022 Author: Clementine Collett | Gina Neff | Livia Gouvea Gomes Corporate author: UNESCO | Inter-American Development Bank | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) The use of AI technologies will affect women’s opportunities for work, and their position, status and treatment in the workplace. Around the globe, women in the labour force earn less than men, spend more time undertaking unpaid child- and elder-care jobs, hold fewer senior positions, participate less in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and tend to hold more precarious jobs overall. In harnessing AI, governments, institutions and companies must narrow gender gaps rather than perpetuate or exacerbate them. This report, by the IDB, OECD and UNESCO, outlines current knowledge of the impact that AI systems have on women’s opportunities for work, and their position, treatment and status in the workforce. It does so by exploring how AI is used within and outside the workplace, and how it could be used in the future. It looks at the potential impact of new and emerging AI technologies on the skills that employers will require, on how women look for and are hired for jobs, and on how jobs are structured through automated monitoring and oversight. The report maps the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for the working lives of women and highlights the complexities that varying national and regional contexts present for understanding the impact of AI on the work of women. The report also notes that current research does not offer a complete or definite picture of how AI impacts the working lives of women and calls for further research and analysis in this area. 
Disability Discrimination in the Digital Realm: How the ICRPD Applies to Artificial Intelligence Decision-Making Processes and Helps in Determining the State of International Human Rights Law (Human Rights Law Reivew; Volume. 23, Issue. 3) Year of publication: 2023 Author: Tetyana Krupiy | Martin Scheinin Scholars have identified challenges to protecting individuals from discrimination in contexts where organisations deploy artificial intelligence decision-making processes. While scholarship on ‘digital discrimination’ is growing, scholars have paid less attention to the impact of the use of artificial intelligence decision-making processes on persons with disabilities. This article posits that while the use of artificial intelligence technology can be beneficial for some purposes, its deployment can also construct a disability. The article demonstrates that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be interpreted in a manner that confers a wide variety of human rights on persons with disabilities in the context when entities deploy artificial intelligence decision-making processes. The article proposes a test for digital discrimination based on disability and shows how it can be incorporated into the treaty through legal interpretation. Thereafter, it moves to developing an analogous general test for digital discrimination under international human rights law, applicable beyond a catalogue of protected characteristics. 
Missing Links in AI Governance Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO | Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute Over the next decade, Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) will continue to significantly impact societies. While these scientific and technological advances take place at an extraordinary pace, it is necessary that we simultaneously stimulate a global and inclusive conversation around their development and governance. It is in this context that Mila and UNESCO join forces to steer a collective work to identify and understand missing links in AI governance. This publication is a compilation of 18 selected submissions from a global open call for proposals launched in 2021. The works featured cross disciplinary and geographical boundaries, and include the perspectives of academics, civil society representatives, and innovators to help shift the conversation on AI from what we do know and foresee to what we do not, the missing links. The topics covered are wide ranging, including AI and Indigenous rights, Deepfakes, Third-Party Audits of AI Systems, AI alignment with SDGs, and the centralization of decision-making power AI allows. Policymakers and civil society members will benefit from the insightful perspectives brought forward to face the immense task they are presented with – which is to ensure the development of AI in a human-centred, responsible and ethical way, in accordance with human rights. 
The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI: Shaping the Future of Our Societies Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: German Commission for UNESCO | Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO | Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO The UNESCO commissions of Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia with the support of IRCAI have jointly published a brochure on the UNESCO recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence. It summarizes the most important content in a compact manner and presents the central demands from the areas of health, culture, the environment, gender equality as well as education and research. The recommendation with its diverse topics is not only relevant for political experts, but it offers one for various areas of application of the ethical framework and thus serves as an orientation for dealing with AI in general. The brochure is available for the wider public in a number of formats including the original Adobe InDesign file that allows translations to be inserted and format pages, resulting in new versions of the brochure. Therefore, we strongly encourage all UNESCO Commissions from across all UNESCO regions Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean to use the text in the basic files and translate the content into their own languages, including using the graphic file to setup their own designs of the brochure. 
“I Don’t Have a Gender, Consciousness, or Emotions. I’m Just a Machine Learning Model” Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO | International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) An introduction to a forthcoming Gender bias in Artificial Intelligence report coming out on March 8, 2024. As we stand on the precipice of a technological revolution driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is imperative to ensure that this future is shaped equitably, representing all genders. With this essay we are excited to announce our forthcoming in-depth report on Gender and Artificial Intelligence in a partnership between IRCAI and UNESCO, set for release on March 8, 2024. As we prepare for this milestone event, we extend an invitation to experts, scholars, and all interested stakeholders to join us in our research. 
Global Toolkit on AI and the Rule of Law for the Judiciary Year of publication: 2023 Author: Miriam Stankovich | Ivana Feldfeber | Yasmín Quiroga | Marianela Ciolfi Felice | Vukosi Marivate Corporate author: UNESCO What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? How does it work? And more importantly, how does it find its way into the judicial context? Technologies such as AI have been around for decades, but only recently have they begun to be used in a variety of justice and law enforcement settings. While AI has immense potential for the justice system, helping judges make better decisions, improving efficiency, increasing access, and helping to detect and prevent crime, there are also some important issues that justice stakeholders should consider as they prepare for a future in which AI is increasingly used in justice systems.In 2022, UNESCO launched two needs assessments. First, through UNESCO’s Artificial Intelligence Needs Assessment Survey in Africa, 90% of the 32 countries surveyed requested capacity building support for the Judiciary on AI. At the same time, a second global survey of judicial actors in 100 countries underlined the need for better understanding the use of AI in the administration of justice and its wider legal implications on societies.The “Global Toolkit on AI and the Rule of Law” for the Judiciary responds to these needs and provides judicial actors (judges, prosecutors, state attorneys, public lawyers, law universities and judicial training institutions) with the knowledge and tools necessary to understand the benefits and risks of AI in their work. The toolkit will assist judicial actors in mitigating the potential human rights risks of AI by providing guidance on the relevant international human rights laws, principles, rules and emerging jurisprudence that underpin the ethical use of AI.