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11 August

• African Development Bank Strategy for Higher Education, Science and Technology
  Higher Education is critical for development. Science, technology, innovation, vocational training and skills development are particularly important for increasing Africa’s competitiveness. The African Development Bank works with its member countries to reform and transform higher education systems as well as technical and vocational training in science, technology and innovation in order to accelerate economic growth in Africa.
  More information: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Policy-Documents/yol%20%C3%A9duc%20eng.pdf

• UNESCO and TAG-Org sign partnership agreement to build more inclusive knowledge societies in the Arab region
  UNESCO and the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), the Jordanian-based international business services company, signed a partnership agreement on Sunday in Paris to work together on the building of inclusive knowledge societies and on the promotion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support education, science and culture in the Arab region. The agreement reflects the commitment of both TAG-Org and UNESCO to mobilize partners to build knowledge societies, notably by increasing access to and measuring the use of ICT in different sectors of society, enhancing teacher training, and promoting multilingualism and internationalized Internet Domain Names.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46224&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

• International Association of Universities (IAU)
  IAU, founded in 1950, is the UNESCO-based worldwide association of higher education institutions. It brings together institutions and organisations from some 150 countries for reflection and action on common concerns and collaborates with various international, regional and national bodies active in higher education. Its services are available on the priority basis to Members but also to organisations, institutions and authorities concerned with higher education, as well as to individual policy and decision-makers, specialists, administrators, teachers, researchers and students.
  More information: http://www.unesco.org/iau/index.html

• Education International - Educators Committed to Quality Higher Education in the Coming Decade
  ...Education international reaffirms that higher education and research is a public good and should be provided as a public service. This means that governments must provide adequate funding to allow higher education institutions to fulfil their missions. It also means that higher education should be operated on a not-for-profit basis and made universally accessible to all qualified individuals. No financial or non-financial barriers to participation should exist. As providers of a public service, higher education institutions have a responsibility to the public to ensure they provide a comprehensive range of educational opportunities...
  More information: http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/20090705_EI-Statement-To-2nd-UNESCO-WCHE_en.pdf

• Launch of Landscape Infrastructures Symposium DVD (Canada)
  The Centre for Landscape Research has released the DVD for the Landscape Infrastructures Symposium held Fall 2008 at the University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. For students, educators, researchers and professionals in the interrelated fields of design, planning, engineering and public administration, the disc set features edited recordings of the proceedings including lecture presentations by Stan Allen, George Baird, Pierre Bélanger, Julia Czerniak, Herbert Dreiseitl, Kristina Hill, Michael Jakob, Nina-Marie Lister, Kate Orff and Jane Wolff as well as plenary discussions with Rodolphe El-Khoury, David Fletcher, Ted Kesik, Robert Levit, Liat Margolis, Alissa North, Mason White and Robert Wright.
  More information: http://www.iflaonline.org/index.php/public-relations/news/itm/nws/11

• The Education Statistics Database Newsletter
  EdStats (Education Statistics) was designed and developed by the World Bank’s Education Group of the Human Development Network (HDNED) and the Development Economics Data Group (DECDG) drawing on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other international agencies. Its purpose is to compile education data from a variety of national and international sources in order to provide information on pertinent educational topics. In response to EdStats user’s feedback, the website has gone through a comprehensive update. The new 5.3 version presents a fresher layout and a user friendly design that make the website easier to navigate.
  More information: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTEDSTATS/Resources/EdHomePage.html#news

• Ubuntunet Alliance for Research and Education Networking
  UbuntuNet Alliance is a regional association of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa. It was established in the latter half of 2005 by five established and emerging NRENs in Eastern and Southern Africa with, these are: MAREN (Malawi), MoRENet, (Mozambique), KENET (Kenya), RwEdNet (Rwanda) and TENET (South Africa). The driving vision was that of securing high speed and affordable Internet connectivity for the African research and education community in Gb/s rather than in Kb/s.
  More information: http://www.ubuntunet.net/

• UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in the Europe Region (Cepes) May 2009
  The UNESCO Forum has been held in Bucharest, from 21-24 May 2009 when ministers and other high level decision-makers, parliamentarians, representatives of the academic community met representatives from various academic and research institutions, governmental, national and international non-governmental organizations, individual experts, and media representatives from the UNESCO Europe Region and beyond. The Forum is an invitation only event. The Forum focused on the issues of access, values, quality and competitiveness, summing up the results of a series of important recent meetings in the field of higher education in the Europe Region, and assessing major developments and trends in higher education; providing a policy and intellectual platform for critical debate on the state and the future of higher education in the region; as well as providing input to the “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and research for Societal Change and Development".
  More information: http://www.cepes.ro/Forum/default.htm

6 August

• Interview of Anne Vourc' h from the Network of French Grands Sites (RGSF) in Radio LCI
  Interview of Anne Vourc' h on the topic “Can the places that receive so many visitors be protected?”
  More information: listen to www.ushuaia.com under link “Tourism” or www.lciradio.fr, where it is broadcasted several times per day.

5 August

• The Network of French Grands Sites (RGSF) in China
  Within the framework of a partnership between Tongji University (Shangaï) and DAPA (French Ministry for Culture and Communication), the Network of the Grands sites of France was invited by the Observatory of contemporary China to take part about sustainable tourism in the Grands Sites. The first intervention took place in Dujiangyan, Sichuan (whc.unesco.org), territory seriously damaged by the earthquake of May 2008, and the second in Pingyao in the Shanxi (www.chine-informations.com), which passed from 50,000 to 850,000 visitors since its inscription on the World Heritage List in 1997… Exciting exchanges and a next step in October for the reception of Chinese managers in the Grands Sites.
  More information in French: http://www.grandsitedefrance.com/

• Outcomes to the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE) / Action Plans - Follow-up
  The World Conference on Higher Education gathered almost 1,000 participants from 148 countries from 5-8 July 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to address “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development”. It closed with a call to governments to increase investment in higher education, encourage diversity and strengthen regional cooperation to serve societal needs.
  More information: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183274E.pdf

• Interstices – website launched online
  Interstices is pleased to announce the launching of its website which lists the experiences and good practices in management of cultural diversity and interculturalism. Interstice attempts to be a resource website which is useful in a context where managing intercultural challenges represents an asset and an important challenge. The objective is:
  • to foster interculturalism and not a culturalist approach
  • to valorise plurality, complexity and multipolarity of cultures and identities
  • to promote creativity and innovation from the resources of everyone
  • to promote co-operation

  More information in French: http://www.interstices-conseil.fr/

• Higher Education in Africa
  The goal of the UNESCO IN AFRICA journal is to create a space for exchanges, dialogue and information dissemination, not only for the benefit of specialists from the region and around the world, but also for other colleagues and experts and partners and all those with an interest in the activities, information, new ideas and innovative experiences generated by/through UNESCO. However, the ambition of UNESCO IN AFRICA goes beyond information dissemination, as it is also intended as an instrument to raise people’s awareness regarding the major issues of our times and to promote adhesion to UNESCO’s ideals of peace, human rights and the building of human capabilities. The launch of this edition specifically dedicated to issues of higher education in Africa, is made to coincide with the World Conference on Higher Education 2009. There could be no better or more befitting circumstances for the publication of this special edition.
  More information: http://universityandheritage.net/doc/UNESCO-Africa1.pdf

• European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) - Listing of events relating to Urban Issues
  The European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) maintains a very good listing of events that relate to urban issues on its website, many of which are interest to architects.
  More information: http://www.eukn.org/eukn/meetings/index.html

• EU/Education: Feasibility study on global university ranking
  Following an open call for tender, dated December 2008, the European Commission has selected on 2 June the winning bid to carry out a feasibility study on the design and testing of a new multi-dimensional global university ranking, which comes from the CHERPA-Network consortium. The aim of the study is to provide comparable information on higher education institutions and their teaching and research programmes to make it easier for students and researchers to make informed choices on where and what to study, and where to work. Better information would also help policy-makers at institutional, national and European levels develop future strategies in higher education. Existing mono-dimensional rankings do not fulfil these purposes because they tend to focus on certain aspects of research and on entire institutions, rather than on individual programmes and disciplines.
  More information: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/calls/tenders_en.html

• EU/Culture: EU-Mexico joint declaration on education and culture
  On 11 June the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel, signed two Joint Declarations between the European Commission and the Government of Mexico on education and culture in the presence of the Mexican Ambassador to the EU. These Declarations formally marked the launch of a policy dialogue between the European Commission and the United Mexican States and aim to reinforce their co-operation in education and culture. This initiative partnership builds on rich and diversified co-operation in education already developed through EU-funded programmes, such as Erasmus Mundus. The objective of the policy dialogue is to create a mechanism for the exchange of information and experiences that is beneficial for both sides. In the area of culture, a first pilot phase (2008-10) of a bilateral cultural cooperation instrument began in December 2007, in the framework of the Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 for Mexico. A second phase of this programme (2009-2013) is expected to be signed in 2009.
  More information: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/mexico/index_en.htm

• (in French) Appel à projets culturels au Liban
  La Délégation de la Commission européenne a lancé un appel à propositions pour l'organisation d'activités culturelles au Liban financées par l'Instrument de la Politique européenne de voisinage.
  More information in French: http://www.encatc.org/uploads/newsletters/encatc_newsletter_20090722102938.pdf (page 17)

• (in Italian) 30-09-09 - Prove d’esame per l’abilitazione alla professione di accompagnatore turistico
  Il Dirigente del Settore Turismo della Provicia di Viterbo, con determinazione dirigenziale n. 61/245/G del 13.03.2009, ha approvato il bando pubblico per l’acquisizione dell’attestato di abilitazione all’esercizio della professione Accompagnatore turistico, ai sensi della legge regionale n.14/99 e secondo le modalità stabilite dalla legge regionale 19 aprile 1985 n.50 e sue successive modificazioni ed integrazioni.
  More information: http://www.tafter.it/2009/07/16/30-09-09-prove-desame-per-labilitazione-alla-professione-di-accompagnatore-turistico/

• Message on the occasion of International Youth Day, 12 August 2009
  "In the midst of a series of unprecedented crises affecting the lives of young people all around the world, the theme for this year’s International Youth Day “Sustainability: our challenge, our future” could not be more relevant. Sustainability refers to three facets of life which are all affected by the current turmoil: the environment, society and the economy. We need urgently to reflect on the challenges they pose for youth. If we do not, their opportunities for development, secure livelihoods and social cohesion will be compromised..."
  More information: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001519/151948e.pdf

4 August

• (in Italian) Website: atlasobscura
  Un’idea semplice quanto geniale possibile solo grazie all’intuizione dei due ideatori e alle evidenti potenzialità della condivisione in rete e della costruzione di senso collettiva che il web 2.0 offre. Anche il nome ci sembra geniale per la capacità di offrire una agevole significazione del progetto agli utenti dell’intero globo: un Atlante delle cose Oscure del mondo. Stiamo parlando di Atlas Obscura, definito come un compendio di meraviglie, curiosità e esoterismo dei nostri tempi. Per capirsi meglio è un progetto collaborativo nato con lo scopo di catalogare tutti i luoghi del mondo che siano singolari, bizzarri, eccentrici, fantastici o strani, da sempre esclusi da qualsiasi idea di guida turistica tradizionale. Inizia così un nuovo viaggio di esplorazione dell’universo sconosciuto ai più. Da chi è nata l’idea? Da Joshua Foer, giornalista americano appassionato di scienze, e Dylan Thuras, editor di documentari e film di animazione. Il filo conduttore del sito è semplice: una raccolta di siti tra i più strani al mondo inseriti da utenti di tutto il globo.
  More information: http://atlasobscura.com/

• Message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People: 9 August 2009
  Halfway through the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2014), indigenous communities around the world are encouraging the international community to approach development from the perspective of "development with culture and identity". This theme, selected for the 9th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2010, is directly linked to the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to development in accordance with their own aspirations, needs and interests. It is therefore fitting, on this International Day, to reflect on the linkages between culture, development and identity.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39497&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Just published: "Higher Education at A Time Of Transformation. New Dynamics for Social Responsibility", Synthesis of the GUNI Higher Education in the World Report
The new publication, a synthesis drawn from the three reports Higher Education in the World, from the series the Social Commitment of Universities, will be presented newt July in Paris on the occasion of the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education within the framework of a special GUNI session. This publication is a synthesis of the three reports published so far by GUNI, which explores key issues facing higher education in the 21st century:

• Higher Education in the World 2006: The Financing of Universities
• Higher Education in the World 2007: Accreditation for Quality Assurance: What is at Stake?
• Higher Education in the World 3. Higher Education: New Challenges and Emerging Roles for Human and Social Development

The publication analyses the current and future challenges to be faced by higher education institutions (HEIs) in the context of globalization and offers a perspective on the financing of higher education and on existing accreditation mechanisms to guarantee quality. It also examines emerging challenges and roles of higher education in relation to its contribution to human and social development.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=59300&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html