EXPO2000 - Global Dialogue 7

Building Learning Societies:
Knowledge, Information and Human Development

September 6-8, 2000, Hanover, Germany

 

On September 6-8, 2000 at EXPO2000, UNESCO, The World Bank, and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) will organize an international "Global Dialogue" on the growing role of information, knowledge and learning in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The German Commission for UNESCO, the UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg, and DSE’s Development Policy Forum are co-organizers of this Global Dialogue 7 which will focus on how the information revolution can improve the lives of all people, particularly the world’s poor.

Knowledge and learning will be fundamental to human growth in the future. Understanding how people, societies and economies acquire and use knowledge – and why they sometimes fail to do so – will be a central challenge of the new millennium.

The opening of the Global Dialogue coincides with The World Bank Day at EXPO 2000. Its closing on September 8 coincides with the celebration of International Literacy Day and with the launching of the International Adult Learners’ Week in 30 countries, organized by UNESCO. Sabine Christiansen, a well-known German TV-presenter, will moderate this session - with live TV links to South Africa and Finland.

Highlights open to the public are:

  • The Global Focus (Wed., Sept. 6, 15h00-17h30) will present a panel conversation on knowledge, learning and sustainable development, involving Mr. James Wolfensohn, Mr. Larry Prusak, Executive Director of the IBM Institute for Knowledge Management, and others, with live links to the World Bank’s Distance Learning Centers.
  • Talk Around the World (Thurs., Sept. 7, 15h00-16h30) will be a conversation across cultures on learning and empowerment: ‘Culture, Knowledge and Wisdom - Beyond Speed, Bytes and Connection.’ Theodore Zeldin, the British cultural historian and BBC personality, will animate this program. "Talk Around the World" features people whose personal stories as lifelong learners are both empowering and powerful: Danny Hillis, Toni Morrison, Victor Masaysva and others.
  • Learning Together for the Future (Thurs., Sept. 7, 17h15-18h00) will be a videoconference on a youth partnership project, linking pupils from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Spain and Germany, based on the network of UNESCO’s Associated School Project.
  • Platform for the Future (Fri., Sept. 8, 15h00-17h30) will celebrate International Literacy day, launch the first International Adult Learners’ Week: a public discussion - moderated by Sabine Christiansen - on a Global Culture of Learning: ‘How to enable individuals, communities and societies to reach their full learning potential?’ - with live TV links, Learners’ Voices, Eye-opening Life Stories and Images from around the world.

Participants will include Nobel laureates, senior government officials, researchers and private sector representatives. They will be joined by experts from education, international development, information technology and related fields. While ‘Workshop 21’ (Sept. 6-8), convened by the UNESCO Institute for Education and the German Commission for UNESCO, will explore alternative approaches to knowledge production and dissemination in the light of enabling learning opportunities, the ‘Policy Dialogue’ (Sept. 6-8), convened by the DSE-Forum, will take a look at how developing economies can benefit from, and will have to adjust to, an increasingly globalized and interconnected world.

A permanent program element "Go Basic" during Global Dialogue 7 offers the possibility to show projects about "Learning for Sustainability" from all over the world with exhibitions, actions and informal meetings. On Thursday, September 7th 2000, at 14h00 the Experimental Theater Foundation, a street-theater from India, will present a show in the entrance area of the TCM.

A wide range of national and international partners will be participating in organizing sessions and hosting events:

  • The Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
  • The Standing Conference of Ministers for Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK)
  • The Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ)
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers, Germany
  • Aktion Saubere Landschaft (Germany)
  • AIESEC

 

For further information, please contact:

German Commission for UNESCO:
Christine M. Merkel
tel.: 49-228-60497-0
fax: 49-228-60497-30
e-mail: merkel@unesco.de
Internet: www.unesco.de

UNESCO Institute for Education, UIE:
Mr. Adama Ouane
e-mail: uie@unesco.org
Internet: www.unesco.org/education/uie

The World Bank:
Claudia von Monbart
tel.: 33-1-40 69 30 14
fax: 33-1-47 23 74 36
e-mail: cvonmonbart@worldbank.org
Internet: www.worldbank.org