"We must open a new chapter in scientific integration. Innovation and social transformation depend on our capacity to combine disciplines and create synergies among all sciences, natural, human and social, including local and indigenous knowledge."
Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General
This year's theme "Sciences for global sustainability: interconnectedness, collaboration, transformation" shines a light on the increasingly interconnected and interdependent economic, social, cultural and political systems, both in therms of the pressure thes place on the Earth system and of the potential for solutions that they provide.
Scientific evidence shows that humanity has put the functioning of the Earth system at risk. Current development paradigms and economic patterns are responsable for many of the interlinked and growing social, environmental and economic crises facing the planet.
The defining challenge of our age is to safeguard Earth's natural processes to ensure the well-being of civilization while eradicating poverty, reducing conflict over resources and supporting human and ecosystem health.
These are interconnected, just as the planet’s systems are interconnected, but our governance systems often act independently and are slow to respond.
Nations must work together to devise effective ways of protecting such globally common resources as the atmosphere, the ocean, freshwater, biodiversity and natural cycles.
Source: modified from Rockström et al. (2009)
Education:
Of course today is Saturday, most part of schools in the world, have not classes. But teachers have a week to involve the students at the WSDPD activities.
After all, the day is simbolic, we all know that we need different lessons to organize an event and develop some activities.
The sucess of WSDPD is on the hands of the active involvement of many partners (intergovernemnental, non-governemnental organizations), academic institutions such as science and research.
Schools are the top on the list. Schools have an important role aiming to renew and reinvigorate global commitments as they have the mission to educate children and young people, as future citizens.
After Pathways to a Culture of Peace: Global Contest for Mutual Understanding we have Science for Peace and Developement.
These different educational challenges are important to promote some good values to the new generations that will be vigilant and helping to find paths towards precious solutions to the society and the planet.
Levels: All levels (different activities for different ages and grades).
After all, the day is simbolic, we all know that we need different lessons to organize an event and develop some activities.
The sucess of WSDPD is on the hands of the active involvement of many partners (intergovernemnental, non-governemnental organizations), academic institutions such as science and research.
Schools are the top on the list. Schools have an important role aiming to renew and reinvigorate global commitments as they have the mission to educate children and young people, as future citizens.
After Pathways to a Culture of Peace: Global Contest for Mutual Understanding we have Science for Peace and Developement.
These different educational challenges are important to promote some good values to the new generations that will be vigilant and helping to find paths towards precious solutions to the society and the planet.
Levels: All levels (different activities for different ages and grades).
Diverse activities will be and can continue mobilizing support for the objectives of the WSDPD.
©Britta Hüning
As educators, we can celebrate the day and/or the week organizing and developing special events of action.
UNESCO shares a list of potential actions that can be undertaken by schools:
UNESCO shares a list of potential actions that can be undertaken by schools:
I selected some of the actions proposed by UNESCO that I think might involve our students:
- Organizing an open day (today or/and nex week) in our schools with our students to highlight the importance of sicence for peace and development;
- Opening discussions in the classroom to enphazise the many different ways science & technologies touch our daily lives;
- Contacting national and local media (radio, newspapers) to highilight the importance of celebrating WSDPD at shool;
- Writing articles and letters in the classroom about the importance of science for sustainable societies and include them in the school newspapers;
- Building classroom-to-classroom connections between schools via the Internet, schools websites, schools accounts on Facebook or Twitter, to talk about science projects that will interest young students;
- Arranging a Science Museum visit. Museums are good practical lessons.
For more suggestions, visit this link. But you are free, of course, to organize different actions.
UNESCO would like to be informed on how teachers and schools will be celebrating this event, in order to include the activities in a special section of UNESCO website.
If the schools have a website, and want to link to the UNESCO website, please send a request to Ms. Diana Malpede d.malpede@unesco.org.
"Although modern science has been able to prosper on the principle of specialization, it is now time to build more cooperative, better integrated approaches that can combine the progress made by each science in its own field. Sustainability will come through multidisciplinarity."
Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General
G-Souto
10.11.2012
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World Science Day for Peace & Development: schools by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
References:
Word Sicence Day for Peace and Development | UNESCO
