The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was established in 1945, shortly after World War I. Peace was a key concern. As part of the human right to education, adults and their education and learning needs have received greater attention and recognition through a number of international conferences and…

Transforming education systems to be fit for the 21st century is the common thread for creating inclusive and equitable societies resilient to conflict, climate change and economic crises. Now is the time for increased investment in African education systems. This paper describes: (1) the state of Africa's educational landscape; (2) innovative…

Blockchain--a digitally distributed, decentralised, peer-to-peer shared ledger technology that exists across a delimited network--is recognised as a disruptive technology for the next socioeconomic mega trend. Most of the researchers in education theoretically speculate upon blockchain's extraordinary potentials for enterprises, finance,…

In the contemporary educational landscape, Education Technology (EdTech) has emerged as a transformative force, significantly contributing to sustainable development. This analytical overview explores the multifaceted role of EdTech in promoting accessibility, inclusivity, efficient resource utilization, lifelong learning, and collaborative…

During CONFINTEA VII's Panel 4: "Preparing adults for the future of work" and throughout the conference, participants grappled with crafting a "transformative agenda," where adult learning and education (ALE) prepares adults for future workplaces, education is viewed as an individual right and a common good, and sustainable…

In 2015, the world, led by the United Nations, came together to create a blueprint of progress to build a better and more sustainable future for all. Identifying 17 goals--known as the Global Goals or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-- to achieve such outcomes as no poverty, zero hunger, and reduced inequalities, the global society had…

This paper critically interrogates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to higher education in low-income countries. While the SDG Goal 4, Target 4.3, calls for ensuring 'equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university' around the world by 2030, the…

In this two-part report, the authors share a pair of unique and interconnected case studies of digital learning change work in support of the advancement of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals: (1) "Developing an International Leadership Institute on Global Coalition Building and Digital Learning Change Work," discusses the…

A large and growing number of people worldwide are excluded from participating in the economy and society, which poses a problem not only in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education, but also in making progress on the other goals of the 2030 Agenda, spanning issues from climate change to poverty reduction. The fourth…

Education transforms lives. It is the surest investment to break down social and economic differences between people, unravel inequalities based on gender and accelerate progress towards the entire vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet, despite the world's commitment to ensure every child completes 12 years of quality…

Transforming difficulties into opportunities for thriving is at the heart of this volume on the science of learning and development. This chapter brings the perspective of European research and the Global North and South and discusses some of the challenges included in the call to create the conditions for promoting sustainable and equitable…

Driving education system transformation is at the heart of how GPE works and GPE 2025 will help partner countries achieve change by leveraging global and national relationships in support of their priority reforms and activities. GPE 2025 is the strategic plan for the partnership covering five years, 2021 to 2025. The plan is aligned with and…

Flexible learning increases access to higher education, particularly for traditionally undeserved students. First-time entrants, who may lack the cultural capital to be successful, may also be more likely to participate in flexible learning than traditional students, and particularly in online and blended courses. We posit that success for all…

Global development programs from Agenda 21 (1992) to Agenda 2030 (2015) inevitably promote the importance of education for all, ie they call for equality in access to educational resources. Recognizing the reality of the emergence of a growing category of "mobile population" in the world and the challenges of regular and new migration,…

Constraints of the pandemic and rolling lockdowns eliminated opportunities to gather in person. Yet, for the learning cities movement, this period of coronavirus curtail was also a time of increased networking and creative collaboration. Where once human energies expended in "process work" left little retrievable trace, now artifacts…