UNESCO Courier, 2008 - number 6

Surtsey Island: a life-size laboratory
© UNESCO/Sigurdur Á. Thráinsson

World Heritage: great escapes

The UNESCO Courier devotes its July-August double issue to new sites listed as world heritage. This time, you will visit fossilized cliffs in Canada, considered the "Galapagos of the Carboniferous period", the island of Surtsey in Iceland, which emerged from the sea 45 years ago, the vestiges of prehistoric agriculture in Papua New Guinea, Armenian churches in the Azerbayjan province of Iran, the birthplace of famous poet Nicolás Guillén in Cuba and the former hideout of runaway slaves in Mauritius. More

Mobilizing Science Knowledge for Sustainable Development

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UNESCO and Tokyo's Keio University at the end of June, for “Mobilizing Science Knowledge for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific through Information and Communication Technologies”. Under the agreement UNESCO and Keio are to work together to help strengthen national and regional higher education in Asia and to help develop human resources, particularly in Science, Technology and Engineering through the use of information and communications technology (ICT) networks.

UNESCO`s Jakarta and New Delhi offices have been working with the School on Internet Asia (SOI) Network on a distance education program since 2007. SOI currently connects 27 universities and research institutions from 13 countries in Asia via satellite and Internet networks. The MoU was developed to further expand this collaboration.

In 2007, UNESCO and SOI implemented an e-learning program on Renewable Energy. UNESCO is currently planning to broadcast several energy conferences and develop new courses in 2008 on S&T policy formulation, coastal resources management, HIV/AIDS prevention and university-industry partnership for technology transfer.

Global Monitoring Report 2008

The Global Monitoring Report provides a mid-term assessment of where the world stands on its commitment to provide basic education for all children, youth and adults by 2015.

• What education policies and programs have been successful?
• What are the main challenges?
• How much aid is needed?
• Is aid being properly targeted?

Click here to go to the report website!

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Policy Forum in South Eastern Europe

The forum in Montenegro, which took place from 1 to 3 July 2008, brought together some 100 South Eastern European representatives from ministries, universities, academies and national parliaments in an attempt to adopt a forward-looking approach to higher education and science governance for society.

The recommendations that emerge from the forum are to contribute to the "UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in the Europe Region: Access, Values, Quality and Competitiveness" from 21 to 24 May 2009 in Romania and the "2009 World Conference on Higher Education: The New Dynamics of Higher Education" from 6 to 8 July 2009 at UNESCO headquarters, Paris.

UNESCO recruits Chief of ICT in Education, Science and Culture Section

The post of the Chief of the ICT in Education, Science and Culture Section is presently open for recruitment at the Information Society Division of UNESCO's Communication and Information Sector.

The major responsibilities of the post are the planning, implementation and evaluation of the strategy, regular program activities and extrabudgetary projects of the Section.

More particularly, the incumbent of the post will provide intellectual, strategic and operational leadership of the Section; ensure the management of its staff; advise Member States on the use of ICT in education, science and culture; plan and execute projects of strategic nature.

Applications must be made to UNESCO. It is recommended, however, that Americans applying to the post also inform the U.S. Permanent Delegation to UNESCO and/or the State Department secretariat to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO of their application.

Apply before 4 September 2008
quoting the post number: CI-004.

Click here for more details!

Final Total of World Heritage Committee Meeting

The World Heritage Committee, meeting for its 32nd session, finished inscribing new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 8 July with the addition of 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites to the List. UNESCO’s World Heritage List now numbers a total of 878 sites, 679 cultural and 174 natural sites and 25 mixed in 145 countries.

Read more!

Armenian monasteries in Iran added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Fortified Armenian monasteries in Iran were added to the new sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 6 July.

The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran, in the north-west of the country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian Christian faith: St Thaddeus and St Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor. These edifices - the oldest of which, St Thaddeus, dates back to the 7th century – are examples of outstanding universal value of the Armenian architectural and decorative traditions. They bear testimony to very important interchanges with the other regional cultures, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox and Persian. Situated on the south-eastern fringe of the main zone of the Armenian cultural space, the monasteries constituted a major centre for the dissemination of that culture into Azerbayjan and Persia. They are the last regional remains of this culture that are still in a satisfactory state of integrity and authenticity. Furthermore, as places of pilgrimage, the monastic ensembles are living witnesses of Armenian religious traditions through the centuries.

This is the fourth cultural site to be added onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List since the start of the current session of the World Heritage Committee today. The three properties inscribed earlier today were: Le Morne Cultural Landscape in Mauritius, The Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) in Saudi Arabia, and the Fujian Tulou in China.