UFN-UNESCO Conference Reimagining the Futures of Higher Education Towards 2050, South Africa
‘REIMAGINING THE FUTURES OF HIGHER EDUCATION TOWARDS 2050’ will provide a platform to stimulate debate and discussion on the futures of Higher Education in 2050, in preparation for the UNESCO 3rd World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) taking place from 18-20 May 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. Inspired by the WHEC Theme on the Futures of Higher Education, which engages participants in visionary conceptions intended to reimagine future learning communities, this two half-day virtual UFN-UNESCO conference (24-25 February 2022) will provide a platform for sharing envisioned scenarios of higher education of the future with relevant higher education stakeholders, to address past and current injustices inherent in higher education ecosystems. Participants will begin to engage with futures research methodologies by imagining future paths that reflect the notion of higher education as a common good.
Throughout the two days, conference participants will explore and reimagine the futures of Higher Education by engaging with futures research methodologies and policies required for Higher Education transformations over the next decades. The resulting conclusions will be presented at the 3rd World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) (see: https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-world-higher-education-conference-2022).
Programme
The event is a combination of keynote presentations, panel discussions and breakaway sessions designed to stimulate discussions on futures research methodologies and policy engagement on the Futures of Higher Education. The breakaway sessions will offer spaces to reflect on and discuss higher education transformations, futures research methodologies, as well as other key concepts explored throughout the conference.
Below you can download the official programme:
Keri Facer
Professor of Educational and Social Futures at the University of Bristol and Professor of Education for Sustainable Development at the University of Gothenburg. She has spent two decades working on the relationship between education and disruptive futures, with a particular attention to the implications of both technological and climate change for educational purpose and practices. She was a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the UNESCO Futures of Education Commission. Her books include ‘Learning Futures: Education, Technology and Social Change’ and has written widely on everything from the role of storytelling in addressing climate change, the role of augmented reality in learning and the historic transformation of universities and their relationship with publics and time. She is joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Futures and is currently working on a book called ‘The Shapes of Time’.
Dzulkifli Abdual Razak
Rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia. He was the Vice Chancellor of USM from 2000-2011. Immediate past president of International Association of Universities, a Paris-based UNESCO-affiliated organisation. First Asian recipient of the prestigious 2017 Gilbert Medal. Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc), World Academy of Art and Science (FWAAS) and the World Academy of Islamic Management (FWAIM). Currently, Dzul serves as an Expert for the Futures of Higher Education Project at UNESCO’s Institute for Higher Education (IESALC).
Asha Singh Kanwar
One of the world’s leading advocates of learning for sustainable development, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning. Throughout a career spanning over 35 years, she has made outstanding contributions in the areas of teaching, research and international development. Prior to joining COL, Professor Kanwar was a senior consultant in open and distance learning at UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA). She has also served as Director, School of Humanities and as Pro-Vice Chancellor at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi, India. Currently, she serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies and Education (IITE). She won several international awards has been conferred eight honorary doctorates from Universities in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.
Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria
Professor at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) and its Chancellor since 2016; an Ambassador for Open Educational Resources (OERs) and member of the Executive Board of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE); and was President of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) in 2017-2019. She has been teaching and doing research on Open Flexible and Distance eLearning (OFDeL) for more than 25 years; spearheaded the development and offering of MOOCs in her university; and was conferred the 2021 Meritorious Service Award by the AAOU and the 2021 Individual Prize of Excellence by the ICDE for her contributions and accomplishments in OFDeL.
Registration
Registration is now open for the upcoming UFN Conference in partnership with UNESCO titled “Reimagining the Futures of Higher Education Towards 2050” will be hosted virtually (online) by the University of South Africa on the 24th and 25th of February 2022, both days starting at 15:00 (SAST). Now it’s your turn to reimagine how Higher Education would look like in 2050!
In order to registrate for the Conference click in the button below: