Youth Consultations on Higher Education in India

April–September, 2015

In 2015, the Government of India (GOI) undertook a nationwide series of policy consultations on the redrafting of the National Policy on Education. In order to support the aims of GOI, UNESCO MGIEP facilitated a nationwide exercise to incorporate youth voices into the consultation process, with a special focus on higher education. UNESCO MGIEP designed and implemented a mixed methods approach to gather the opinions of a diverse group of young people (aged 18-29) on how higher education could be improved in India. The report will be released at the Talking across Generations dialogue event on 15 February, 2016.

Launch of LIBRE (Learning through Issue-Based Reverse Embedding) Pilot Portal on Climate Change

July, 2015

The first pilot portal on Climate Change was launched in July inviting teachers from across the world to come together and collaboratively create lesson plans to teach climate change through their own subjects. The portal is hosted on www.debategraph.org and an advisory group has been formed to guide the initiative. The next focus for LIBRE will be on the theme of migration.

International Workshop on Preparing Teachers for Global Citizenship Education

July 27-29, 2015, Bangkok, Thailand

Our Programme Officer, Yoko Mochizuki, with educators from nine countries

UNESCO MGIEP participated in this workshop organised by UNESCO Bangkok and is planning to actively participate in the project by providing support for teachers to engage on an online platform. The project aims to empower teachers in Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

International Youth Day

12 August, 2015

Featuring voices from our youth partners and young leaders around the world

UNESCO MGIEP celebrated International Youth Day 2015 with the theme of youth civic engagement by inviting blog posts from youth ambassadors from across the world. The young people narrated their experiences with civic engagement such as mobilizing civil society and communities to promote voluntarism, care for the global common good, and other forms of activism.

Webinar with Asi Burak –‘Games for Social Good’

20 August, 2015

Asi Burak, the President of Games for Change

During the most recent instalment of the UNESCO MGIEP webinar series, Asi Burak, the former president of Games for Change, made an impassioned case for using video games for the greater good, with an overview of the latest trends and core challenges. He shared prominent case studies and success stories from around the world, including his own unique entry into the field; namely, leading the team behind the award-winning game PeaceMaker.

13th International Association of Research on Text Books and Educational Media

11-13 September, 2015, Berlin, Germany

UNESCO MGIEP presented a paper on ‘Embedding concepts of Peace and Sustainable Development in textbooks of mainstream subjects’ at the 13th International Association of Research on Text Books and Educational Media (IARTEM) Conference.

Consultation on Youth Leadership

25–27 September, 2015, Rajasthan, India

Participants at the workshop at Neemrana Fort, Rajasthan

UNESCO MGIEP organized a consultation with 20 youth experts on youth leadership at the Neemrana Fort Palace, Rajasthan. Experts from the fields of psychology, economics, youth leadership, social media, grassroots activism, peace education, education for sustainable development, and spiritual education were invited to brainstorm on the visions of youth leadership for the 21st century in the wake of rising extremism, increasing youth population and poverty, advancements in communication and the spread of social media.

Launch of the ‘Wealth Generator’ game—beta version

15 September, 2015, New Delhi, India

A snapshot of ‘Wealth of Generations’

The UNESCO MGIEP Executive Committee members played the game ‘’Wealth of Generations” during a facilitated session. The game was created to give players an understanding of how investment decisions by policy-makers can encourage or discourage sustainability.

Lecture based on the ’Wealth Generator’ game

14–15 October, 2015, Tokyo, Japan

UNESCO MGIEP’s director, Dr. Anantha Duraiappah, addressed a class of graduate students on the topic of inclusive wealth. The students then played the game in a facilitated session, which helped incubate possible improvements for a bigger IW digital simulation project tentatively entitled ‘Levers of Change’.

9th UNESCO Youth Forum on the Theme ‘Young Global Citizens For A Sustainable Planet’

26–28 October, 2015, Paris, France

In partnership with the UNESCO ESD Section, UNESCO MGIEP organized a capacity-building session on youth-led monitoring of SDG Target 4.7. UNESCO MGIEP supported 13 youth from 11 countries to participate in the forum. Simon Kuany Kiir, a young refugee, presented his journey from South Sudan to Kenya and his pursuit of academia at Symbiosis University in Pune, India. The recommendations from the UNESCO Youth Forum were presented at the 37th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, 2015. The survey on understanding youth perspectives and priorities from the SDGs was also conducted at the forum.

Announcement of the Winner of UNESCO MGIEP’s Gaming Challenge

29 October, 2015

A snapshot of the winning game, World Rescue, by Pocket Scientists from Hungary

UNESCO MGIEP announced the winner of its Gaming Challenge, which was piloted in 2014. The winning team, Pocket Scientists from Hungary, was chosen by our jury after a rigorous selection process. The team will produce a digital game that can be used to promote a greater understanding on issues regarding peace and sustainable development to be released in 2016.

India International Model United Nations Conference

21 August, 2015, Aamby Valley City, India

Participants at a Model UN Conference

Professor Anantha Duraiappah, the Director of UNESCO MGIEP, presented at the India International Model United Nations. He spoke about the concept of Youthwashing, in which young people at international conferences and dialogues are marginalized and their voices are rendered insignificant.

Incubator Workshop for the Gaming Challenge Winner

7–9 December 2015, Budapest, Hungary

Sketch of a potential element of the game created by one of the Pocket Scientists

The Pocket Scientists, the winners of the UNESCO MGIEP gaming challenge, received intensive mentoring on their game design from a panel of international experts. The focus of the workshop was to explore ways to create games that are both educational and entertaining.

World Encounter on Sustainable Actions conference

24 November, 2015, Saltillo, Mexico

Ms Deepika Joon, a Programme Officer at UNESCO MGIEP, spoke about the Global Action Programme on ESD and youth leadership responses to contemporary challenges.