UNESCO Passed Engineering Initiative

The recent General Conference passed a resolution stating that it:

Requests the Director-General to particularly focus on engineering education, especially at the universities and targeting curricular innovation, with a view to gear engineering education towards sustainable development, the attainment of the internationally agreed development goals and other emerging challenges, and to build in this regard, as well as on the lead role of UNESCO in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

The following was offered in support of that resolution:

 1. Engineering is crucial for innovation and economic development, but it is also a key factor in advancing social and human development, especially in addressing global challenges such as poverty alleviation, energy, climate change, land degradation and water scarcity. 

2. At the same time, engineering is an evolving part of society. As the UNESCO Engineering Report of 2010 has demonstrated, there are serious concerns all around the world about a decline of interest and enrollment by young people in engineering and therefore shortages of engineers, and about the brain drain from developing countries. 

3. The Executive Board at its 185th session had asked the Director-General for proposals regarding the strengthening of education, capacity-building and research in the field of engineering, in the context of the submission of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2012-2013 (36 C/5).

4. In document 186 EX/INF.4, the Director-General made her first preliminary proposals on a flexible, cost-effective, cross-cutting UNESCO Engineering Initiative whose objective was to address key challenges of engineering education, capacity-building and development. Answers will be sought why young people around the world are turning away from engineering and how this may be addressed, the public understanding of engineering will be promoted, as well as the effective application of engineering and green technologies to poverty reduction, sustainable development and climate change.

5. Document 186 EX/INF.4 has noted strong interest on collaborating on this UNESCO Engineering initiative, as expressed by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), organizations such as the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB). As could be witnessed at the World Engineering Convention in Geneva 2011, international and national engineering associations are interested in joining the UNESCO Engineering Initiative. A crucial objective will be to align engineering education with the objectives of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, in order to fully leverage engineering expertise to the benefit of mankind. This task can only be addressed by joining the efforts of UNESCO, its Member States, as well as international and national associations and institutions involved in promoting engineering.

FIP-UNESCO University Twinning Network for Pharmacists formally Approved by UNESCO

On Tuesday 31st August, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the UNESCO launched a unique global University Twinning and Networking Program. The Global Pharmacy Education Development network is a UNESCO sponsored initiative hosted under the UNITWIN scheme (for university-twinning). This UNITWIN collaboration is the first ever in the field of higher education for health professionals and the first for global pharmaceutical education.

In bringing together pharmacy schools from all regions of the world with UNESCO and FIP, the UNITWIN Network in Global Pharmacy Education Development (G-PhEd) will enable synchronised and powerful development in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education and improve communication for scientific innovation, healthcare outcomes, and ultimately, the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Read more!

To find out more about the UNITWIN G-PhEd Network, please contact: 

education@fip.org. 

The UNESCO-HP Brain Gain Initiative

The migration of highly-skilled people is having a significant impact on higher education and research in developing nations, as universities and research centers have to retain highly-skilled and increasingly mobile professionals in increasingly competitive labour markets.

UNESCO and HP joined forces in 2003 to develop several projects, using innovative technology to create a “brain gain” for regions that are particularly impacted by the exodus of academics and scientists.

In 2009 UNESCO and HP agreed to scale up the initiative to help create a sustainable university e-infrastructure for science, bringing together higher education institutions and research centres in Africa and the Arab States region and allowing them to pursue innovative education projects.

By the end of 2011, this infrastructure could span some 100 higher education institutions in 20 countries provided like-minded corporations and organizations join UNESCO and HP in this initiative.

Click here to learn more!

Visit of Director General to the United States

UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura visited the United States in June, During that visit he met with senior American officials to discuss new avenues for collaboration in the fields of education, culture and science.

Mr Matsuura meet with Dr Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations. I quote from UNESCO's report of the visit:

Mr Matsuura first briefed Ms Brimmer on UNESCO’s work in education, especially higher education. He highlighted the Organization’s action to promote quality assurance and the mutual recognition of qualifications in response to the massive increase in student mobility and cross-border provision. Again, the Director-General pointed to the need for US engagement. He referred in particular to the role the US could play in enhancing the quality of science education and research and in attracting more young people to the sciences. “While student numbers are rising overall, enrolment in science and technology is on the decline; we must work together to curb this trend, which has serious implications for national development and economic growth”, Mr Matsuura stated. The Director-General said that this was an area where UNESCO was looking to partner both with governments and with private sector companies, citing the successful example of the UNESCO/L’Oréal initiative to promote women in science. Ms Brimmer noted that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had just established an office specifically devoted to advancing public private partnerships (PPPs)........

Finally, Mr Matsuura briefly outlined UNESCO’s normative action in the field of bioethics. The Director-General explained that UNESCO had established three international instruments which together provided a set of universal standards and practical guidelines (the 1997 Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights; the 2003 International Declaration on Human Genetic Data; and the 2005 Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights). However, he said that the ethical implications of many new scientific developments still needed to be discussed, such as human cloning and stem-cell research, in particular induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells).

While in Washington, the Director-General also spoke with Dr John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Dr Jane Lubchenco, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. He underlined the vital importance of US partnership in several UNESCO priority areas, from science policy advice and capacity-building in developing countries to ocean governance and the monitoring of climate change impacts. “For UNESCO to expand its science programme we need the involvement of the US science community – its expertise, its creativity, its entrepreneurship”, the Director-General underscored.

Read more:

AU Board Member Calls for Science Masters Programs

Americans for UNESCO Board of Directors member, Rita Colwell, has published an article in the current issue (27 March) of Science titled "GRADUATE EDUCATION: Professional Science Master's Programs Merit Wider Support."

In most fields in the natural sciences, master's degrees have long been viewed mainly as milestones en route to a doctorate, rather than destinations in their own right. But about a decade ago, foundations and universities began experimenting with new master's programs that develop advanced scientific knowledge and professional skills such as communication, project management, and commercialization. Most of these innovative Professional Science Master's (PSM) degree programs are interdisciplinary and provide hands-on learning through internships and team projects. They are not intended to displace traditional programs. Instead, they aim to engage students with professional goals and help them become scientists uniquely suited to the 21st-century workplace, equipped with a deeper and broader scientific knowledge than that acquired with a Bachelor of Science degree and the skills to apply it.

Dr. Colwell concludes:

PSM programs can make a vital contribution to this century's work force, which needs employees who can work well in teams and across disciplines (3). It is time for leaders in government, education, and industry to show similar teamwork in supporting these programs--an investment to yield a talented group of scientists with the skills our nation requires most to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.

Dr. Colwell recently chaired a National Research Council committee that wrote the report Science Professionals: Master's Education for a Competitive World.

2009 World Conference: “The New Dynamics of Higher Education”

The 2009 World Conference to be held from 5 to 8 July 2009 at UNESCO, Paris. The last World Conference on Higher Education was held in 1998 and this year's Conference will provide a forum for review of the changes in higher education that have occurred since that time. The participants will also consider the strategic agenda for the development of higher education policies and institutions in the foreseeable future.

To what extent is higher education today a driver for sustainable development in the national and international context? Does the sector live up to the expectations placed in it to induce change and progress in society and to act as one of the key factors for building knowledge-based societies? How does higher education contribute to the development of the education system as a whole? What are the most significant trends that will shape the new higher education and research spaces? How are learners and learning changing? What are the new challenges for “quality” and “equity”?

Last June a preparatory conference was held on Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Conference participants included 25 ministers, deputy ministers and state secretaries; rectors and directors of higher education institutions; in total, there were 3,500 participants from 33 countries. Thus the Paris Conference in July should be very well attended.

The 2009 Conference should be of great interest to universities, community colleges and other institutions of higher education in the United States. Moreover, given the strength and prestige of the U.S. higher education system, the Conference should provide an important opportunity for the Obama administration to make an initiative in public diplomacy.

I am told that in the distant past, the U.S. delegation to such an event might include the presidents of 50 American universities. I also understand that given the change in administration little has been done to date to select the U.S. delegation for July. Given the busy schedules of the key leaders of our higher education system, one hopes that nominations will be made soon.

Read more about the
2009 World Conference on Higher Education!

The UNESCO Office in Santiago, Chile
also has a useful website on the Conference.

Here is an interesting interview on
the future of higher education with
Marco Antonio Rodrigues Dias,
one of the organizers of the 1998 Conference.

Clemson Joins UNESCO Trace Element Network

The Clemson University trustees have approved the creation at that university of an Education and Research Satellite Center in Trace Elements for UNESCO. Vincent Gallicchio, Clemson Associate Vice President for Research, recently represented the international network of 25 UNESCO Trace Element centers at the UN-Rotary Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The Trace Element Institute for UNESCO and its network of satellite centers seek to promote:

• Analytical chemistry
• Geo-environmental studies - the influence of the ecosystem: industrialised countries versus developing countries
• Scientific co-operation to reduce avoidable ill-health
• Sustainable development

The analysis of trace elements, the chemical elements found in trace amounts in a substance, is an integral part of environmental science, the study of soil, air and water. Trace element concentrations in man, animals and plants iare a function of their environment, and determine their health and development. Problems can be caused by either an excess or a deficiency of a trace element.

The development of science education in the field of trace elements is interdisciplinary including chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, genetics, epidemiology, therapeutics and also nutrition, agronomy and veterinary sciences.

UNESCO's Central Institute for Trace Element Research is located in in the South of Lyon, France.

The UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge

The UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge is an initiative focusing on research in and on Higher Education and Knowledge, with the objective to widen our understanding of systems, structures, policies, trends and developments in higher education, research and knowledge with a special focus on low and middle income countries. Related areas of interests are research on agriculture and health research, since they are important elements of the national research systems in low and middle-income countries.

Global Research Seminar:
Sharing Research Agendas on Knowledge Systems
Paris 28-30 November

The Global Research Seminar, an activity of the Forum, is to be an occasion to gather researchers and research organizations actively engaged in studying Research and Knowledge Systems in all regions of the world. The objective is to provide an arena for researchers to network, to present and discuss new and ongoing research, identify research gaps and suggest new research agendas on research systems, with a view to forge closer links between the research communities and UNESCO in these fields.

New Reports from UNESCO

• Study on national research systems, a meta-review: regional report on Sub Saharan Africa
• Study on national research systems, a meta-review: regional report on Latin American Countries
• Study on national research systems: a meta-review, regional report on Asian Countries
• Study on national research systems: a meta-review. Regional report on Arab Countries
• Higher Education, R&D, Economic Development, Regional and Global Interface
• Funding higher education in the Arab States: Thoughts and reflections on the topic
• WTO/GATS: Possible Implications for Higher Education and Research in the Arab States
• Knowledge-based Economies: Globalization and the Business of Science
• Globalization and Education
• Funding and Financial Performance of Private Higher Education Institutions in Kuwait
• Research and Development in the Arab States: the Impact of Globalization, Facts and Perspectives

Finalists nominated for 2007 Engineering Award

The finalists for the Mondialogo Engineering Award 2007 have been decided. An international jury yesterday nominated 30 teams to proceed to the final of the worldwide engineering contest by DaimlerChrysler and UNESCO. At the beginning of December 2007, the nominated teams will be attending the Mondialogo Symposium in Mumbai/India, where the best of them will in turn be honoured with the Engineering Award. The ten winning teams can look forward to cash prizes each worth €20,000. Another twenty teams will receive an honorary award, each carrying €5,000 in prize money.

A total of 3,200 students of engineering sciences from 89 countries had registered for the second edition of the Engineering Award:.

Among the 30 are many teams that include a U.S. Partner:

Project Title: Development of a sustainable fluoride filter for use in the Bongo District of Ghana, Africa

Area of Engineering: Water supply and sanitation

• Partner Institutions: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
• The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York,USA

Project Title: Inexpensive multi-functional medical equipment design

Area of Engineering: Medicine and health care
Partner Institutions:

• HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
• University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Project Title: Sustainable Irrigation for Community Agriculture in rural South Africa

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• John-Hopkins University (Engineers Without Borders), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
• Zakhe Agricultural College (Agriculturalists Without Borders), KwaZulu-Nata, South Africa

Project Title: The Adu Achi Water Development

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Engineers without borders), Illinois, USA

Project Title: Improvement of Health Conditions in Rural India using Renewable Energy Sources

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Fachhochschule Bingen, Bingen, Germany
• Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India
• Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

Project Title: Exploitation and Valorization of Certain Forest Products in Cameroon

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
• National Advanced School of Polytechnics, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Project Title: Exploitation and Valorization of Certain Forest Products in Cameroon

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
• National Advanced School of Polytechnics, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Project Title: Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Produced From Olive Oil Mills

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Birzeit University, Deir Qaddis, Palestinian Territories

Project Title: Casa Ecologica Andina

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA
• Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

Project Title: Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis and Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Peru Using Medical Imaging Techniques

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• University of Rochester, New York, USA
• Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

Project Title: Design and Manufacture of Dynamic Response Foot Prostheses for Landmine Victims in Impoverished Areas

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Project Title: Global Basic Needs in an Integrated Sustainable Approach

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru
• University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Project Title: Sustainable Treatment of Wastewaters from Garages and Workshops Using Coconut Husk and Shell Wastes as Filter Materials

Area of Engineering: Multiple
Partner Institutions:

• PNG University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea
• Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, USA

Congratulations to the finalists and good luck in the next round of the contest!

Books For International Development

The International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development is running a program to ship books from the United States to to developing countries around the world. Recent wars, natural disasters and continued poverty have created a need for new university libraries and holdings. Donated books will be shipped to the recipient country by large shipping container (20,000 lbs. per shipment). Although science books are most requested, we will accept donations of any university-level books in other disciplines, which can be textbooks or others. Journals are also needed, but should cover some period of time no less than one year. Material donated should typically be no more than 15 years old and in very good condition. The project is co-sponsored by UNESCO and the State of Pennsylvania, with cooperation and donations in kind from the World Bank, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Millersville University.

Click here for more information!

G8-UNESCO World Forum on 'Education, Research and Innovation: New Partnership for Sustainable Development'

Trieste, Italy, 10-12 May 2007

The Forum builds on the discussion launched at the St. Petersburg summit on the interconnections between the three components of the triangle of knowledge—education, scientific research and technological innovation—from the perspective of sustainable development, and seeks to identify risks and opportunities for industrialized countries as well as developing and low-income countries.

The discussion will be presented by speakers from the educational, scientific and businessl worlds, drawn from G8 countries as well as developing countries. The Forum is intended as an opportunity for discussion and no final document is foreseen.