United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Building an Information Society for All

Education in the era of the information society -building knowledge societies

I am very pleased to be with you today and on behalf of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO Information for All Program and the Russian Committee of this Program to welcome all participants and guests of the conference. I am grateful to the organizers of the conference for the invitation to take part in it.

I am not a teacher or educational organizer, and I am not involved in education policy. As part of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Information for All Programme, I am studying the most common problems global information society, such as information accessibility, information preservation, information ethics, information use, information literacy, preservation and development of multilingualism in cyberspace. The UNESCO Information for All Program is the only international Program that studies all these problems in their interrelationships, based on an interdisciplinary approach with the participation of all stakeholders (multistakeholders). We invite specialists from the fields of culture, education, science, communication and information, practitioners, theorists, managers, and politicians to participate in our projects and events. We consider it important to organize our activities in this way, since it is at the intersection of different sciences and different approaches that a holistic view of the world, of processes and problems in the global information society, of ways and means of solving them is developed.

Some of our thoughts and conclusions have direct implications for education.

Almost all countries today claim that they are committed to building knowledge societies, that is, people-centred societies in which information and knowledge are recognized as a critical resource and play a decisive role in development. It follows from this that we must think about an education that will allow today's children to be active participants and builders of knowledge societies and independently solve the problems that confront them - professional, personal, social, national, global.

At the same time, we must be aware of the following. The processes of growing up and socialization today largely occur outside the traditional educational environment. Today, perhaps the main educator of children, especially teenagers, is not the teacher, not parents, not books, but television and the Internet, the creators of which do not set themselves the goal of developing thinking, language, abilities, creative imagination, cultivate morality and morality. We live in conditions fundamentally new information environment, our children spend more and more time on the Internet, and for many of them the virtual environment replaces real life.

What are the fundamental differences between today's information environment and the one that existed 25-30 years ago, when the majority of those sitting in this room were children?

Previously, publicly accessible content was created by a limited number of authors, publishers, television and radio companies. Today, almost all inhabitants of the planet who have access to the Internet from a computer or any other gadget can act as authors, publishing houses, television and radio companies.

Previously, the number of distributed copies of a printed text was limited. The spread for the most part occurred in a limited area, within one country or region, one culture, one language. Today, the dissemination of information is global.

The period of time during which this or that content was previously purposefully distributed was also limited. Only relevant content was circulated. As content became obsolete, it fell out of circulation, ceased to be widely available, and eventually became concentrated only in the largest archives and libraries.

Today on the Internet it is available to everyone and at the same time as actual information, and outdated. It is not always possible to distinguish them, and in order to do this, special skills are often required.

Volumes of generated and circulating electronic information grow exponentially. More textual information alone appeared last year than in all the books that humanity has created in its entire history. At the same time, the share of textual information in the total volume of information is constantly decreasing, and now it is less than 0.1%. The rest is audiovisual information: films, video clips, music, images.

Who created publicly accessible texts before, in the paper era? As a rule, these were the most educated, competent and responsible people. Before appearing in the public space, information passed through a selection sieve in publishing houses. Information created by some qualified people was first assessed and then carefully verified by other qualified people - reviewers, editors, proofreaders, verification bureaus, and finally censors. Graphomaniacs were cut off by publishing houses. The authors and distributors of the content were well known.

Currently, the human right to self-expression is recognized almost throughout the world. As a result, in the electronic information environment, a huge number of graphomaniacs, stupid, uneducated, irresponsible and malicious people also create publicly accessible content, freely distribute it and even impose it. Therefore, the information environment, primarily the Internet, is full of not only useful information, but also (for the most part!) - useless, meaningless, harmful, false, misleading and simply dangerous. Vast amounts of information are created and shared anonymously. There is no professional control both at the stage of creating information and at the stage of providing access to it.

We live in an excessive and polluted information environment, and it affects us against our will. And if the danger of pollution of the physical environment around us is well understood and the whole world is fighting to preserve a safe physical environment, then the danger of pollution of the information environment is barely beginning to be realized.

These are all global problems.

Today's globalized world is mastered by a child not by hearing, not by reading, but with the help of images that he early childhood sees on TV and computer screens. Such knowledge of the world does not require training and strain of the intellect, imagination and memory. It is not surprising that throughout the world, interest in reading and in competently mastering serious texts is declining; their perception is becoming more and more superficial. The number of active qualified readers is declining in all social groups, the quantity and quality of the material read is falling. Reading has been pushed to the periphery of the lifestyle. The level of reading and general cultural competence of people in different countries decreases year by year, not only among children, but also among the working adult population. This is also a global problem generated by the development of electronic media, the Internet, and the entertainment industry. The main motive for searching and consuming information on the Internet is the thirst for entertainment, rather than cognitive needs.

Due to the fact that people read less, they master the richness of the language less well and therefore it is increasingly difficult for them to express any complex thought even in their native language, they understand less and less complex written and oral speech, the deep meanings of an increasingly complex reality. There are fewer and fewer encyclopedic educated people capable of deep, comprehensive analysis. They are being replaced by the Internet generation, which, instead of searching, reading, analyzing information in a qualified manner, professes simple and quick method“copy and paste” (“copy and paste”). This is also a global problem.

Information today does not know state borders. People living in one culture constantly and increasingly encounter terms, meanings, patterns, models, clichés, stereotypes developed within another culture, borrow all this, operate with all this, often uncritically and even thoughtlessly. At the same time, not only processes of cultural enrichment occur, but also cultural expansion. Any foreign cultural borrowings, being transferred to another sociocultural environment without taking into account its sociocultural characteristics, give rise to unexpected consequences, often directly opposite to those expected.

The openness of the information space leads to the fact that many countries are losing their information and cultural sovereignty.

Many young and not so young people communicating on social networks, often with completely strangers, voluntarily give up privacy, and do not always understand the consequences of such openness.

The media are increasingly turning into means of mass entertainment and manipulation. There is a huge amount of manipulation of mass consciousness taking place on the Internet and in the global media.

There is trillions of times more information, it is believed that there are now much, much more main sources of information, and the more information, the more diverse it is, the greater the pluralism, the better for democracy or for the export of democracy. But hundreds of multiplying digital television channels buy information - both texts and pictures - from two dozen families that own almost all the world's major media. Therefore, all media “feed” people in all countries with essentially the same content.

Today's information environment erases the concept of ideal and norm - both in behavior and in the content of statements, and in language - written and oral. Children have access to what was previously forbidden. They tend to consume content created by their peers, and they perceive as the norm what their peers write and say.

Parents often handle computers and other devices less skillfully than their children, so they do not have authority in this area among their children and cannot teach them to competently exist in a complex information environment. And adults do not always have the necessary competencies for this. In this regard, the role of educational institutions is especially increasing.

What I am telling you now is not an apocalyptic picture of the world at all. This is our modern information and communication environment, the features of which you need to know in order to develop effective strategy behavior in order to develop the education sector in the right direction, taking into account the changes that have occurred and are ongoing.

That is why in my report I want to dwell on the need to develop in children the skills to live independently, responsibly and meaningfully in the conditions of this fundamentally new information reality.

All over the world, we can now increasingly hear about the need to develop in people the ability to understand and formulate their information needs, the skills to search and find the necessary information, evaluate it, use it correctly, create their own information product and distribute it, and understand the information needs of other people. This applies to both information on analogue media and digital information, both the Internet and traditional libraries and archives.

People must be prepared for life in the information society from early childhood, starting from school and even kindergarten, and further in institutions of secondary vocational education, at universities. This will help them overcome the “information jungle” and, making their way through it, form a correct picture of the world and find their own worthy place in it.

Over the past decades, two similar concepts have been developed and implemented in world practice - the concept of media literacy and the concept of information literacy.

Media literacy implies the ability to understand the specific language of media mass media, mastery of this language, the ability to navigate the stormy flows of information that the media bombards us with.

Information literacy presupposes not only mastery of computer technology, but also the formation in a person from early childhood and throughout further education of information needs, as well as a clear understanding that for almost any question in traditional libraries or on the Internet there are already many different answers that require thoughtful attitude and conscious choice. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that ICT literacy, that is, the ability to use a computer well, makes up no more than 10% of the total volume of the concept of information literacy, shared and developed by all big amount countries

Information literacy includes, on the one hand, highly intellectual procedures associated with search, analysis, synthesis, critical evaluation of information, and on the other hand, the inseparability of search and semantic processing of information from the motivational component and the effective use of found information in work, study, and any other activity .

In Russia, we talked for a long time about the need to cultivate information thinking, information mentality, and form an information culture of the individual. We saw the solution to this large-scale problem in the integration of the efforts of educational institutions and libraries.

More recently, within the framework of UNESCO, with the active participation of the Information for All Program, an agreement was reached to combine all existing concepts and to further use the integrative term “media and information literacy”.

In 2012, the International Conference “Media and Information Literacy in Knowledge Societies” was held in Russia. As a result of the conference, representatives of 40 countries around the world adopted the Moscow Declaration on Media and Information Literacy. Today it is a highly cited document. UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations announced in March 2013 that they intend to build their further work based on the definitions, ideas and provisions of this particular document.

A joint action plan is being implemented with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutes (IFLA), in particular, Recommendations on promoting media and information literacy have been developed for high-level politicians and governments. The UNESCO Curriculum for Media and Information Literacy Teachers was developed and published. UNESCO is currently developing indicators for media and information literacy. Our Polish colleagues have prepared an excellent Catalog of Media and Information Literacy Skills. A month ago we published it in Russian. All these materials can be found on our website www.ifapcom.ru.

Thus, the formation of media and information literacy of the population is a new direction of activity, actively developed in the most advanced educational institutions in many countries of the world. We invite teachers and educational institutions to pay close attention to it. For my part, I can assure that UNESCO and its Information for All Program are ready for cooperation and interaction in this area.

Building an information society for everyone

Access to information and knowledge is a universal good necessary for the development of education, science, culture and communications, the creation of new opportunities, the promotion of cultural diversity and the promotion of open governance. According to its Constitution, UNESCO is called upon to “encourage the free circulation of ideas by word and image.” UNESCO is charged with "maintaining, expanding and disseminating knowledge" through the "preservation and protection" of humankind's documented knowledge. In addition, the Organization should encourage “cooperation among peoples... in the exchange of publications” and other information materials, and provide “through various types of international cooperation to all peoples the opportunity to become familiar with everything that is published in individual countries.”

In order to realize the opportunities provided by ICT to realize this mandate, UNESCO established the Information for All Programme. Its goal is to build an information society for all by reducing the gap between the information-rich and the information-poor. This is a platform for international discussion of policies and directions for the development of the Program in order to:

• better understanding of the ethical, legal and social implications of ICTs;
• improving access to information in the public domain;
• saving information.

Goals

The Information for All program establishes a framework for international cooperation and partnership. It supports the development of common strategies, methods and tools for building an information society for all.

In particular, the goals of the Information for All Program are:

• promoting international understanding and discussion of ethical, legal and social challenges of the information society;
• promoting and expanding access to public domain information by organizing, digitizing and preserving information;
• support for learning, continuing education and lifelong learning in the fields of communication, information and computer science;
• supporting local content creation and promoting accessibility of traditional knowledge through general and ICT literacy training;
• promoting the use of international standards and best practices in the field of communications, information and informatics within the fields of competence of UNESCO;
• promoting the exchange of information and knowledge at local, national, regional and international levels.

Five areas of activity

Area 1: Development of international, regional and national information policies

• Achieving a unified worldwide approach to the concept of universal equal access to information as one of the fundamental human rights
• Promoting a globally consistent approach to ethical and legal frameworks related to cyberspace
• Creation international structure on collecting information on international, regional and national information policies
• Establishment of a Clearinghouse for Best Practices in ICT-enabled Management
• Creation of an international structure for the preservation of world information heritage
• Development of an international agreement regarding policies for managing the exchange of information needed for worldwide environmental and climate monitoring

Area 2: Developing Human Resources and Capabilities for the Information Age

• Supporting basic and ICT literacy conditions globally
• Creation of ICT-based learning networks for information professionals
• Support conditions for cooperation and exchange of information in the field of content and quality of information education
• Introducing publishers and producers to available training opportunities in e-publishing and e-commerce

Area 3: Strengthening the role of institutions in providing access to information

• Creation of a UNESCO portal for information institutions from around the world
• Establishment of national public information access points
• Creation of national digitization policies
• Promoting standards for the management and preservation of documented knowledge

Area 4: Development of information processing and management tools and systems

• Conducting a needs study and developing a planning system for creating information management tools at the regional level
• Creation of a multilingual collection of free information management tools
• Publishing collections of information management best practices and standards

Area 5: Information technologies for education, science, culture and communications

• Creation of multi- and inter-sectoral information exchange platforms to help all UNESCO programs formulate and make informed decisions
• Establishing a monitoring system for needs and trends in the use of ICT to promote universal lifelong learning
• Creation educational portal, containing links to various virtual universities
• Creation of international practice in the field of electronic scientific publications
• Adoption of international recommendations for ensuring remote access to scientific information
• Expanding environmental data and information exchange networks and related information centers in developing countries
• Global support for cultural and media communities of experts and institutions for peace, understanding and development
• Creation of an international system of views on multilingualism and multiculturalism in cyberspace
• Creation of a global structure for collecting information on the development of media in the information society

Partnership and collaboration

The success of the Information for All Program depends on effective collaboration and communication with a diverse and growing number of parties. It therefore seeks partnerships within UNESCO and collaboration with other international programs within and outside the UN to harmonize positions and policies. It will collaborate with stakeholders from NGOs and the private sector to create a multiplier effect from increased connections and collaboration.

Grade

Activities under the Information for All Program will be regularly monitored and evaluated upon completion to ensure that the Program can be adjusted. A summary assessment of the Program and its expected results will be carried out in the seventh year of its implementation (corresponding to the last year of UNESCO's Medium-Term Strategy 2002-2007).

Project principles

At the implementation level, projects carried out under the Information for All Program are catalytic and pilot in nature, subject to periodic review, contain an evaluation component and are subject to the subsidiary principle (appropriate division of responsibilities at the international and national levels).

Intergovernmental structure

The planning and implementation of the Information for All Program is guided by an Intergovernmental Council consisting of representatives of twenty-six Member States of UNESCO. The members of the Council are elected by the General Conference, taking into account the need to ensure equitable geographical distribution and proper rotation.

An unofficial translation into Russian of the unofficial text of the Information for All Programme, prepared by the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO Information for All Program for publication on the Internet, was made by Evgeniy Altovsky (IOO Information for All).

The active connection of Russian science to UNESCO’s program activities creates the opportunity to receive expert support from the Organization in the implementation of Russian scientific projects and serves as a means of expanding our participation in international scientific cooperation and exchange scientific information, attracting the intellectual, material and technical potential of other countries, gaining access to the results and methods of the latest scientific research.

International Hydrological Program (IHP)

Water resources and associated ecosystems are the Sector's top priority natural sciences. UNESCO's activities in this area are carried out within the framework of the seventh phase (2008-2013) International Hydrological Program(IHL).

The main objectives of IHP are to formulate recommendations for water management policies to meet human needs, as well as to play a leading role in the implementation of the United Nations World Water Assessment Program (WWAP).

The program aims to develop a deeper understanding of the vulnerability of water resources and the causes of conflicts associated with them, as well as to develop joint approaches and tools to help prevent or resolve them through effective management water resources.

The implementation of the IHP-VII work plan for the first biennium focused on the shortage of fresh water, impacts of droughts and floods, training and capacity building at national and regional levels in the assessment and development of groundwater resources, the impact of climate change on the structure and reserves of freshwater resources.

Russian participation in the UNESCO IHP is ensured by the national IHP committee headed by the head of Roshydromet A.V. Frolov (member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO).

In close cooperation with the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Committee provides assistance in the implementation of scientific and educational projects, as well as in the preparation and holding of international scientific events in Russia on various issues of hydrology.

Russia is a member of the Intergovernmental Council of the IHP of UNESCO.

Value for Russia:

The program is unique and has no analogues in world practice. Within its framework, Russian scientists had the opportunity to take part in multilateral projects on such priority global problems as the impact of climate change on water resources, water erosion, channel deformations, etc. They made a significant contribution to the creation of the World Atlas of Water Resources, which has enormous scientific and practical implications. meaning.

UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program

The MAB program was created in 1971 to address global contradictions arising in the field of environment and development.

As part of the program, a network of biosphere reserves (BRs) has been created around the world, covering all the world's major ecosystems. Each of the reserves consists of at least one protected area, as well as an adjacent buffer zone and cooperation zone. In total, as of December 2009, the World Wide Web includes 553 bioreserves in 107 countries.

Under the leadership of the Director of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician V.N. Bolshakova (member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO), the Russian Committee (RC) of the MAB Program is successfully working. Russian representative, Deputy Chairman of the Republic of Kazakhstan IAB V.M. Neronov is vice-president of the Program's governing body - the International Coordinating Council.

The Committee represents the Russian Federation in two regional MAB networks - European and East Asian.

Biosphere reserves in Russia

Biosphere reserves are areas of terrestrial or coastal ecosystems that have received international recognition under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. They are intended to promote and exemplify optimal relationships between humans and nature.

Currently, 39 Russian BRs are included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Activities related to the development and management of bioreserves are primarily determined by the provisions of the Madrid Action Plan (MAP), a document approved by the 3rd World Congress “The Future of the Biosphere. UNESCO biosphere reserves for sustainable development"(February 4-8, 2008, Madrid). Based on the Seville Strategy, the MAP is intended to optimize some of its provisions and offer innovative approaches to solving problems associated with the further development of the BR.

Value for Russia:

Biosphere reserves are of great importance for fulfilling Russia’s obligations arising from the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and natural heritage, for bilateral and international cooperation of Russia in the field of environmental protection.

List of Russian biosphere reserves

	Name of the reserve	Year of inclusion in the World Wide Web
	Caucasian 3
	Prioksko-Terrasny
	Sikhote-Alinsky*
	Central Black Earth
	Astrakhan
	Kronotsky*
	Laplandian
	Pechoro-Ilychsky*
	Sayano-Shushensky
	Sokhondinsky
	Voronezh
	Central Forest
	Baikal*
	Barguzinsky*
	Central Siberian
	Black Lands
	Taimyr
	Ubsunur Basin*
	Daursky
	Teberdinsky
	Katunsky*
	Nerusso-Desnyanskoye Polesie
	Visimsky
	Vodlozersky National Park
	Commander Islands
	Darwinian
	Nizhny Novgorod Zavolzhye-Kerzhensky
	Ugra national park
	Smolensk Poozerie
national park
	Far Eastern sea
	Kedrovaya Pad
	Valdai
national park
	Kenozersky
national park
	Khanka biosphere (Lake Khanka)
	Big Volzhsko-Kama
	Middle Volga
	Rostovsky
	Altaic*

International Geosciences Program (IGSP)

IGCP is one of UNESCO's oldest programs in the field of geology, exploration and conservation natural environment and its resources. The program has been successfully developed for more than 30 years, covering specialists from more than 150 countries. Russian scientists take part in research on 25 projects (out of 38 active ones), being the leaders of some of them.

Within the framework of the Programme, UNESCO's activities are aimed at developing partnerships in the field of Earth observation from space to environmental monitoring, modeling natural resources and sustainable development policy planning; strengthening the institutional and human capacity of Member States in the geosciences; hazard reduction natural Disasters.

The IGCP represents an exceptional opportunity for joint exploration of unique geological features and deposits around the world. The program makes a big contribution to the solution global problems geology, research of natural resources, prediction of natural and environmental disasters, development of new geotechnologies.

The Russian Committee of the Program is headed by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences M.A. Fedonkin (member of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO).

Value for Russia:

The ability to study almost all unique geological objects in the world and use this experience to assess Russia’s mineral resources and forecast natural and man-made disasters. High economic effect from the obtained scientific data.

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

UNESCO's activities within the framework of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO are aimed at:

enhancing scientific knowledge and understanding of ocean and coastal processes to assist Member States in developing and implementing sustainable ocean and coastal policies through the organization and coordination of major scientific programmes;

organizing the collection of ocean and coastal observational data, modeling and forecasting needed for management and sustainable development in the open ocean, coastal zones and inland areas; Member States' use of ocean data through the system International exchange oceanographic data (IODN) and the development of Ocean Data and Information Networks (ODIN) in various regions of the world, in accordance with existing United Nations conventions and UNESCO approaches to data and information.

The Commission consists of 136 UNESCO Member States. IOC programs are aimed at solving problems related to the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters, climate change forecasts, the study of living and non-living ocean resources, integrated development of the coastal zone, protection of the marine environment from pollution, and ocean mapping.

Chairman of the Interdepartmental National Oceanographic Commission - Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation A.L. Fursenko (member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO).

At the 25th session of the IOC Assembly held in June 2009, the Russian representative, head of the Data Processing Center of the All-Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Data of Roshydromet N.N. Mikhailov was re-elected to the post of Deputy Chairman of the IOC.

Value for Russia:

The active participation of Russian scientists in the activities of the IOC allows us to obtain unique scientific data and carry out the broadest exchange of scientific research results.

Russia's participation in the International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) system has produced a significant economic effect during the period of IOC activity. Independent collection of data of a similar volume required for various sectors of the economy of our country would require, according to experts, costs of tens of millions of dollars.

UNESCO World Heritage

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted at the XVII session of the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972 and entered into force on December 17, 1975. Its main goal is to attract the forces of the world community to preserve unique cultural and natural objects. In 1975, the Convention was ratified by 21 states, over the 40 years of its existence, another 168 states joined them, and by mid-2012, the total number of states parties to the Convention reached 189. In terms of the number of state parties to the Convention on the Protection of world heritage Among other international programs, UNESCO is the most representative. To improve the effectiveness of the Convention, the World Heritage Committee and the World Heritage Fund were established in 1976.

The first cultural and natural sites were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List two years after the formation of the program. Among natural areas, the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Yellowstone (USA), Nahanni (Canada) and Simen (Ethiopia) national parks received heritage status. Over the past years, the List has become very representative both in terms of the regions of the planet represented and in the number of objects: by mid-2012 it included 188 natural, 745 cultural and 29 mixed natural-cultural sites in 157 countries. Italy, Spain, Germany and France have the largest number of cultural sites on the List (more than 30 each), while the USA and Australia have the largest number of natural World Heritage areas (more than 10 sites each). Under the protection of the Convention are such world-famous natural monuments as the Great Barrier Reef, the Hawaiian Islands, the Grand Canyon, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Lake Baikal.

Of course, being on a par with the generally recognized world pearls of nature and culture is honorable and prestigious for any object, but at the same time, it is also a great responsibility. To achieve World Heritage status, a property must be of Outstanding Human Value, undergo rigorous peer review and meet at least one of 10 selection criteria. In this case, the nominated natural object must meet at least one of the following four criteria:

include unique natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic value;

present outstanding examples of major stages of Earth's history, including traces of ancient life, serious geological processes, which continue to occur in the development of the forms of the earth's surface, significant geomorphological or physical-geographical features of the relief;

present outstanding examples of important ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems and plant and animal communities;

include natural habitats of great conservation importance biological diversity, including habitats of endangered species that represent an outstanding global asset from a scientific or conservation perspective.

The security, management, authenticity and integrity of a property are also important factors that are taken into account when assessing it before inclusion on the List.

The status of a World Natural Heritage site provides additional guarantees of the safety and integrity of unique natural complexes, increases the prestige of the territories, promotes the popularization of objects and the development of alternative types of environmental management, and ensures priority in attracting financial resources.

World Heritage Project

In 1994, Greenpeace Russia began work on the World Heritage project, aimed at identifying and protecting unique natural complexes that are seriously threatened Negative influence human activity. Giving natural areas the highest international conservation status to further guarantee their preservation is the main goal of the work carried out by Greenpeace.

First attempts to include Russian protected natural areas inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List was undertaken in the early 1990s. In 1994, an all-Russian meeting was held “ Contemporary issues creating a system of world and Russian natural heritage sites,” at which a list of promising territories was presented. At the same time, in 1994, Greenpeace Russia experts prepared Required documents for inclusion in the UNESCO List of a natural complex called “ Virgin forests Komi". In December 1995, it was the first in Russia to receive the status of a World Natural Heritage Site.

At the end of 1996, “Lake Baikal” and “Volcanoes of Kamchatka” were included in the List. In 1998, another Russian natural complex, the Golden Mountains of Altai, was included in the List; in 1999, a decision was made to include the fifth Russian natural site, the Western Caucasus. At the end of 2000 " Curonian Spit"became the first international site in Russia (together with Lithuania) to receive the status of a World Heritage Site according to the “cultural landscape” criterion. Later, the UNESCO List included “Central Sikhote-Alin” (2001), “Ubsunur Basin” (2003, together with Mongolia), “Natural complex of the Wrangel Island reserve” (2004), “Putorana Plateau” (2010) And " Natural Park“Lena Pillars” (2012).

Nominations for consideration by the World Heritage Committee must first be included in the national Preliminary list. Currently it contains the following natural complexes, like “Commander Islands”, “Magadan Reserve”, “Steppes of Dauria”, “ Krasnoyarsk pillars", "Big Vasyugan Swamp", "Ilmen Mountains", "Bashkir Ural". Work is underway to expand the territories of the “Central Sikhote-Alin” (by including the upper and middle reaches of the Bikin River basin) and the “Golden Mountains of Altai” (by including the adjacent territories of China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan). Negotiations are underway with Finland and Norway about a joint nomination “ Green belt Fennoscandia."

Russia is certainly rich in unique, untouched economic activity natural complexes. According to rough estimates, there are more than 20 territories in our country that are worthy of the status of a World Natural Heritage Site. Among the promising territories, the following natural complexes can be noted: “ Kurile Islands", "Lena Delta", "Volga Delta".

Russian cultural sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List include such recognized historical and architectural monuments as the historical center of St. Petersburg, the Kremlin and Red Square, Kizhi Pogost, Solovetsky, Ferapontov and Novodevichy monasteries, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye , monuments of Veliky Novgorod, Vladimir, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Kazan and Derbent.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

On November 4, 1946, the Charter of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the largest intergovernmental organization in the UN system, came into force. The Charter was approved on November 16, 1945 in London at the founding conference of representatives of 44 countries.

UNESCO's predecessor, the International Organization for Intellectual Cooperation, which had the rights of a technical body under the League of Nations, ceased to exist at the beginning of World War II. The Institute of Intellectual Cooperation in Paris, which she created, donated all its archives to UNESCO.

Today UNESCO unites 188 countries of the world. The headquarters is located in Paris. UNESCO cooperates with more than 600 non-governmental organizations and foundations, international and regional structures.

the main objective UNESCO:

Contribute to ensuring peace and security on the planet by promoting cooperation between countries in various areas. UNESCO's main areas of activity are education, science, culture and information.

In the field of education, the main task of the organization is to ensure universal primary and development higher education. The key program in this area is “Lifelong Education for All”. the main role here the focus is on new information technologies in the provision of basic education. In 137 countries, about 4,250 schools (including 60 Russian) participate in the associated schools project developed by UNESCO. In addition, UNESCO promotes teacher training, construction and equipment of schools.

UNESCO structure

The policy and main line of work, and the budget of the organization are determined by the General Conference, convened once every two years. UNESCO's budget is made up of contributions from Member States, which are determined depending on the size of the country's national income.

The Executive Council, elected by the conference, meets twice a year. This body is responsible for implementing the program adopted at the conference.

The Director General is also elected by conference on the recommendations of the Executive Board for a 6-year term. Since November 14, 1999, this post has been occupied by Koichiro Matsuura (Japan), who announced the beginning of reforms in the activities and structure of the organization. It is envisaged to concentrate UNESCO's work on priority areas and renew the staff of the secretariat of this organization.

Organizations under the auspices of UNESCO

Caribbean Network of Educational Innovation for Development (CARNEID);
European Center for Higher Education - CEPES, Bucharest;
International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Bonn;
International Institute of Education Latin America(Instituto Internacional de la UNESCO para la Educación Superior en América Latina y el Caribe - IESALC);
International Bureau of Education (IBE, Geneva);
International Institute for Educational Planning - IIEP, Paris;
UNESCO Institute for Education - UIE, Hamburg;
UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA);
UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education - IITE, Moscow.

UNESCO programs

Most well-known programs UNESCO in the scientific field are such as “Man and the Biosphere” (94 countries participate, aimed at protecting the environment), “Floating University” (developed on the basis of Moscow State University, about 20 countries participate, 25 thousand dollars are allocated annually, aimed at research in the field of marine geology and archaeology), “Science in the service of development” (85 million dollars have been allocated for the program), the SIPAR program (aimed at the interaction of science and industry).

In the field of information, UNESCO's activities are concentrated within the framework of International program Development of Communications (IPDC), approved at the 21st session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 1980. IPDC provides support developing countries in the creation of national mass media structures: radio, television, print, news agencies. Currently, over 100 national and regional projects are being implemented through the IPDC.

In the field of culture, UNESCO's main task is to protect cultural heritage. In 1972, at the 17th session of the UNESCO General Conference, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted, to which more than 150 countries are currently parties.

A special committee was created whose task was to compile a list of world cultural and natural heritage sites to be protected.

The list includes artistic, historical and natural monuments.

Currently, the List includes more than 690 objects from 120 countries.

In 2000, UNESCO appealed to all member countries to create a List of Invisible Cultural Heritage, which includes objects of intangible culture - folk crafts, rare national languages, folklore. UNESCO's work in the field of ICT. The main program in this area is the Basic Education for All Programme, recognized as a top priority for 2002-2003. at the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, April 2000). Taking into account the process of globalization and the increasing interaction of such spheres of human activity as sociology, economics, culture, science and technology, knowledge is acquiring rapidly increasing importance. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education plays an important role in the program's focus on interdisciplinary activities.

One of the main activities of the program is “Promoting the use of information and communication technologies for educational purposes.” As the Internet began to provide access to computer programs and educational courses, there was a need for a new approach to ensuring the quality of educational information services. To ensure quality, UNESCO provides policy advisory services, surveys, reviews of innovative activities, and institutional collaborations. Expected program results at the end of the biennium:
· creation of an Internet portal for UNESCO in the field of education within the framework of
common portal Organizations;;
· electronic publication of a survey on existing exchange centers
· information, portals and mechanisms for evaluating educational software and training courses in
electronic form
· joint activities and partnerships with other private and public centers of information, knowledge and development;
· promoting the implementation of multi-country projects in the field of ICT and education;

The most important program in the field of ICT development is Major Program V "Communication and Information" for 2002-2003, an integral part of which is the Information for All Program.

Work on this program began at the turn of 2000. It is based on the Intergovernmental Program on Informatics and the General Program on Information, which created the technological basis for the development of international communications.
The program consists of five sections:
· Development of information policy at the international, regional and national levels.
· Development of human resources, skills and abilities in the information age.
· Strengthening the role of institutions in ensuring access to information.

· Development of tools, methods and systems of information management. · Information technologies for education, science, culture and communications. The provisions of the Information for All program intersect with the ideas formulated in the Okinawa Charter for the Global Information Society, approved by the heads of the G8 during the summit held in July 2000 in Japan. Therefore, the Information for All program can be considered as UNESCO's contribution to the implementation of the ideas of the Charter. Temporary

international committee

program held two meetings on May 14-15, 2001 and September 2-3, 2002 in Paris.

The formation of UNESCO took place with the active participation of the USSR, although its formal entry into the organization took place only in 1954. On June 25, 1993, a Memorandum on interaction between the Russian Federation and UNESCO was signed in Moscow, and a year later a UNESCO representative office was opened in Moscow.

UNESCO provides assistance to the Russian side in educational reform, legislative activities, in the field of protection of cultural and natural heritage, in adapting science, education and culture to the conditions market economy. There are 13 UNESCO cultural projects being implemented in Russia.

It must be said that cooperation with UNESCO is extremely beneficial for Russia. Russian contributions amount to approximately 4.5 million dollars a year, and funding from UNESCO projects is ten to twenty times more.

Currently, UNESCO projects in the Russian Federation are implemented in accordance with the following programs:
· education for all throughout life;
· science in the service of development;
· cultural development: heritage and creativity;

· on the way to a communication and information society for all.

The most important projects in the field of Natural and Social Sciences:
· democratization, governance and citizen participation on the threshold of the new millennium (together with UNDP);
· municipal centers for social rehabilitation of victims of the Chernobyl disaster;
· issues of migration of the population of Eastern and Central Europe;
· program "Man and the Biosphere";
· reforming science; · creation of international UNESCO departments (for example, the Department of “New Information Technologies in Education and Science”, the Department of “Copyright and Intellectual Property”, etc., a total of 35 departments). The UNESCO Department of Informatics was created in 1996 on the basis of the Moscow State

pedagogical university

, and in 1997 at the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology - the Department of Information Technologies in Education and Science.
One of the national projects of Russia is the project “Improving the qualifications of employees of the education system in the field of using information and communication technologies in education.”

· provide the basic principles for designing and analyzing regional strategies and infrastructures for informatization of education.

In 1998, on the basis of Resolution 6 adopted at the 29th session of the General Conference and the Agreement between UNESCO and the Government of the Russian Federation, the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, IITE, was opened (http://www.iite.ru/iite/index) . At its first meeting (Moscow, July 1999), the Board of Governors, appointed by the General Director, approved the first work program of the Institute and made several decisions on personnel issues and the activities of the Institute.

In collaboration with National Commissions and UNESCO field offices, IITE creates international network national centers for the systematic collection and analysis of relevant fundamental documents, action plans and main policies in this area. Special attention is devoted to teacher training, as well as the development curricula and others educational materials on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. The main priorities of IITE activities:

· performance of functions international center exchange of information on the use of ICT in education by creating a network of national focal points for the exchange of information and experience;
· promoting the development of national policies and guidelines regarding the use of ICT in education;
· organizing subregional workshops and other training activities, including the development and testing of training modules.

Russia also participates in Major Program V. At the end of 2000, in accordance with the instructions of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Program was formed. Departments and organizations responsible for the formation of public policy in the field of informatization of Russia. Participants of the meeting of the temporary international committee of the Information for All program, held in Paris, May 14 - 15, 2001, were informed about the first results of the activities of the Russian Program Committee. As part of the implementation of the Program in 2001, within the structure of the Kemerovo State Academy of Culture and Arts (KemGAKI ) within the framework of the UNESCO Information for All program, with the assistance of the Department of Libraries of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, a research institute of information technologies in the social sphere (RIIT SS) was created. Russia is counting on the election of a Russian representative to the international committee of the UNESCO Information for All program.