”It was difficult, but I think we did manage well in a group of over 300 NGOs at the NGO Forum, and then amongst some 1,500 participants where 120 countries were represented,” said Isabelle at the return from Korea.

“We distributed the Arusha statement to people we thought might support our views, and reference to it was included in IAU’s President statement that was sent to the drafting committee of the Incheon Declaration,” she continues.

Successful results included:

• In the NGO Forum Declaration: ‘We reaffirm the right to progressively free and public quality higher education and vocational training’
• In the Incheon Declaration (Ministerial): ‘We commit to promoting quality lifelong learning opportunities for all, in all settings and at all levels of education. This includes equitable and increased access to quality technical and vocational education and training and higher education and research, with due attention to quality assurance’

IAU is further more planning to organise a meeting in October 2015, to review the results of the efforts that have been made to include Higher Education among the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim is to provide a Higher Education response for consideration in the Framework of Action on the Education Target that UNESCO will adopt at its next General Conference in November 2015.

“We are nearly but not yet at the end of the long process that will set the educational priorities for the next 15 years, and I am convinced that the Arusha Declaration helped and will still be useful in getting higher education cited and involved in the international education agenda and its related programmes,” concludes Isabelle.

We are very happy to announce that a conference declaration now is ready. It includes some of the most important action points that were brought forward in Arusha, and expresses the commitment of the conference participants to advocate the essential role of higher education in achieving the missions and goals of Education for All.

• You can read the Arusha Declaration on Higher Education for Education for All here.

Advocating for Higher Education at the UNESCO World Education Forum

One of the primary goals of the conference was to forward recommendations to the World Education Forum in Incheon, Korea, as a way to put forward and sustain the outcomes of Learning Together for Change.

The UNESCO World Education Forum is going on right now, 19–22 May 2015.  The International Association of Universities (IAU) has arrived to Korea, and we are most grateful for the help offered by Isabelle Turmaine, Director for Information Projects and Services at IAU, in disseminating the Arusha Declaration during the forum.

• If you are interested in following the activities of the World Education Forum, you can find the live-stream from the forum here.

 /The Organizing Committee

We are sincerely grateful to everyone who have contributed to making this conference a success – our esteemed speakers, our hardworking staff and workshop coordinators, the local organizing committee, and especially all the participants who traveled far and put much effort into this important event.

The final report with conclusions and suggestions to the UNESCO World Education Forum in Korea, May 2015, will be posted on the website as soon as it’s ready.

• You can find photos from the conference on flickr.
• You can find the recorded streams from all three days here.
• You can find keynote and workshop presentations here.

Voices about the conference:

“We are very impressed and honored that so many took the time to come here. I think it’s such an important issue, that wherever you have a conference of this sort, people will come, and I expect the next time it will be double. By coming here we have made a commitment to make a difference both locally and globally and continue reflect on how education can provide learning for a sustainable society.”

– Cecilia Christersson, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Malmö University, Sweden, chairperson of the steering committee

“I’m happy to say that some of the outcomes of the conference definitely proved that people thought about the topics quite seriously. I’ve attended a number of the workshops, and in those workshops the speakers identified gaps and constrains that we still struggle with, and at the same time came out with beautiful actions and leadership qualities that if we apply these we could begin to turn around the current tide of disenfranchisement, poverty and inequality.”

– Merle McOmbring-Hodges, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa, keynote speaker

“For me this conference offered a unique experience. When my university turned 60 a few years ago, we asked ourselves how we could best improve the university to be prepared for the challenges of the 21 century. What are the things we should bring into the curriculum in order to prepare the students for the needs of the 21 century? This conference expanded my horizon and perception of these thing.”

– Ayodele Jegede, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, workshop speaker

“I’ve had a fantastic conference – interesting meetings, lovely people, big challenges, big steps forward. My only worry is that when we leave tomorrow this will be over. It’s really important that we think about how we can look after and sustain all the positive initiatives that has been seen here.”

– Margareta Nordstrand, Excecutive Director, Lund University

“I think the conference was well organized, the themes were appropriate and workshops were engaging. I’m happy about all the networking opportunities, and we really had to engage ourselves to come up with strategies, goals and action points in the workshops. I’m going back with these to see how we can implement them in a small scale through my university and office.”

– Steve van Kamassah, University of Education Winneba, Ghana, workshop speaker

“It has been really interesting for us to be here. We took part in a workshop about gender and physical activity, which was very relevant for us as students at the program in nursing at Malmö University. Especially since we are doing a minor field study about health among young people in Moshi, Tanzania, right now.”

–Linnea & Johanna, students at Malmö University

WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL 2015

08:30 -10:30    WORKSHOP SESSIONS – BLOCK B

10:30 – 11:00    COFFEE BREAK

11:00 – 11:30    SPEAKER
 

“OUTCOMES FROM PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS ON HEEFA”
Isabelle Turmaine (International Association of Universities, France)

11:30 – 13:00    LUNCH

13:00 – 14:00    CONCLUDING REPORTS FROM WORKSHOP GROUPS

14:00 – 15:30    PANEL DISCUSSION
Aderemi Kuku 
(President of the African Academy of Sciences, USA, Nigeria)
Limbani Nsapato
 (African Network Campaigne for Education For All, Zambia)
Ransford Bekoe
 (Association of African Universities, Ghana)
Zulmira Rodrigues
 (Head of the UNESCO Dar es Salaam Office and UNESCO Representative
to the United Republic of Tanzania)

15:30 – 16:00    CLOSING REMARKS
Isabelle Turmaine & Cecilia Christersson

16:00 -16:30    COFFEE and FAREWELL

/The Organizing Committee

We are very pleased to be able to present a variety of interesting keynotes and workshops. We hope you find it as interesting as we do!

/The Organizing Committee

Learn more about our speakers here.

/The Organizing Committee

Learn more about our speakers here.

Participants of the conference will be able to learn from forward-thinking research, establish new collaborations, and at the same time play a role in an event that will influence and advance the future of Education for All beyond 2015. Learn more about the different workshops of the conference here. Get acquainted with our speakers here.

In order to prepare your stay in Arusha as well as possible, please browse through the travel information.

We are looking forward to seeing you soon!

/The Organizing Committee

/The Organizing Committee