People are using the future to search for better ways to achieve sustainability, inclusiveness, prosperity, well-being and peace. In addition, the way the future is understood and used is changing in almost all domains, from social science to daily life.This book presents the results of significant research undertaken by UNESCO with a number of partners to detect and define the theory and practice of anticipa-tion around the world today. It uses the concept of ‘Futures Literacy’ as a tool to define the understanding of anticipatory systems and processes – also known as the Discipline of Anticipation. This innovative title explores:•new topics such as Futures Literacy and the Discipline of Anticipation;•the evidence collected from over 30 Futures Literacy Laboratories and presented in 14 full case studies;•the need and opportunity for significant innovation in human decision-making systems.This book will be of great interest to scholars, researchers, policy-makers and stu-dents, as well as activists working on sustainability issues and innovation, future studies and anticipation studies

In line with the decisionof UNESCO’sGeneral Conference at its 40thsession(40 C/Resolution 37),the Director-General constituted the Ad Hoc Expert Group (AHEG)for the preparation of a draft text of a recommendationon the ethicsof artificial intelligencein March2020.Adapting to the challenging situation posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the AHEG worked virtually from the end of March until beginning of May 2020, and produced the first versionof a draft text of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence contained in this document.It is underlined that this first version of a draft text will continue to be revised by the AHEG until beginning of September 2020, taking into account the feedback received during the multi-stakeholder consultation process to be held from June to July 2020.This document does not claim to be exhaustive and does not necessarily represent the views of the Member States of UNESCO.

In the face of persistent global challenges — including, among others, inequality, divisive populism and xenophobia, migration and displacement, and violent extremism — we need innovative approaches to address the so-called ‘cultural differences’ in the cultural and social capacities that influence the effectiveness of responses. It is increasingly evident that the success of our government systems, schools and economy depends on harnessing and maximizing the benefit of the growing diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in societies, and on improving communication between and across them. This report introduces a framework for an evidence-based and data-driven application of intercultural dialogue (ICD) to such global challenges. It rests on the premise that ICD – a broad label for many forms of contact, exchange and interaction that facilitate learning and transformative change across real and perceived boundaries between groups and individuals of different ‘cultures’ or identities – is underused as an approach thus far. This is because insufficient evidence exists concerning its effectiveness for creating more peaceful, inclusive and sustainable societies, and not enough is understood about the conditions that enable its success.

Climate change will affect the availability, quality and quantity of water for basic human needs, threatening the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation for potentially billions of people. The hydrological changes induced by climate change will add challenges to the sustainable management of water resources, which are already under severe pressure in many regions of the world. Food security, human health, urban and rural settlements, energy production, industrial development, economic growth, and ecosystems are all water-dependent and thus vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate change adaptation and mitigation through water management is therefore critical to sustainable development, and essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, 189 are State Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (as of December 2019). In many parts of the world significant progress on gender equality has been achieved. However, despite the tremendous progress in access to education made over the past 20 years, girls are still more likely than boys to never set foot in a classroom. Discriminatory laws and policies, social norms, gender-based stereotypes and violence, and a rising conservative agenda are still compromising efforts to achieve gender equality. The advancement of gender equality through education, the sciences, culture, information and communication, at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate, aims to equip both women and men to address the challenges of sustainable development in a fast-changing world.

IIndia has undertaken some of the largest education initiatives in the world, providing hundreds of thousands of schools for India’s vast student population of c.280 million under the age of 14 and  600  million  under  the  age  of  25.  India’s  gross  school  enrolment  ratio  has  now  reached  over 95%. However, while quantitatively India is inching closer to universal education, the levels of quality, particularly in its government run school system, remain a cause for concern. After  a  15  year  gap,  India  has  embarked  on  a  review  of  its  National  Education  Policy  and  Curriculum Framework. It is expected that the review will revisit many of the intentions of the 2005 review, which were not implemented.
The  purpose  of  the  paper  is  to  reflect  on  the  extent  to  which  India’s  Draft  Education  Policy  2019 policy intentions are in line with international education reform recommendations, as outlined  in  ‘The  Learning  Generation:  Investing  in  education  for  a  changing  world’  report  (2015) produced by the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.
The  paper  reflects  on  some  of  the  particular  challenges  that  India  faces  in  addressing  the  impact of poverty and non‐education factors on the quality of learning in India’s schools and the potential role of educational technology. The reflections seek to spark discussion about the scope of the draft policy and its implementation challenges.

El proyecto Construyendo una visión comunitaria para la educación Ciencias de la Tierra en América Latina y el Ca-ribe es una iniciativa del Programa Internacional de Geo-ciencias y Geoparques de la Oficina Regional de Ciencias de la UNESCO para América Latina y el Caribe, que apoya el desarrollo de las geociencias para ayudar a que los países se beneficien y contribuyan al desarrollo soste-nible, teniendo en cuenta prioridades como los recursos minerales, energía, recursos hídricos, y riesgos geológi-cos. Su objetivo es hacer un diagnóstico de las capacidades, necesidades y oportunidades de la región respecto a la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra en los niveles de la educación primaria y secundaria que pueda ayudar a desarrollar una visión de la comunidad y a trazar el camino a seguir para las políticas nacionales y la coope-ración internacional en este campo. En este sentido, el informe propone un primer estu-dio exploratorio que ayude a establecer una referencia o un punto de partida para promover el diálogo inter-sectorial, entre la comunidad educativa, la comunidad científica y los sectores públicos y privados para avanzar en una conversación sobre las futuras direcciones, estra-tegias y programas sobre la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra en la región. En particular, este estudio se propone identificar para los distintos niveles educativos: • Las políticas, estrategias y programas de promo-ción de la enseñanza de las Geociencias. • El nivel de inclusión de las Geociencias en los pla-nes de estudio y libros de textos de la enseñanza. • Las características de la formación docente en Geociencias. • Los mecanismos de evaluación del aprendizaje en Geociencias. • Las experiencias institucionales y las pedagogías transformadoras dentro y fuera de las aulas. Su enfoque sigue la idea general de integrar los princi-pios de la Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible en los sistemas educativos, lo que se señala en el indicador mundial para la Meta 4.7: Grado en el cual (i) una edu-cación para la ciudadanía mundial y (ii) una educación para el desarrollo sostenible, incluyendo la igualdad de gé-nero y los derechos humanos, se integran en todos los nive-les

No es ninguna novedad hablar del crecimiento urbano y de la aparición del fenómeno megalopolitano derivado del crecimiento acelerado de la cantidad de ciudades con más de 10 millones de habitantes. De forma similar, los procesos de cambio climático son también objeto de estudio, desde distintas perspectivas, como parte de enfoques con carácter más operativos o de investigación. El objetivo aquí es entonces poner de relieve el impacto de esos cambios globales (crecimiento urbano y el clima) en las megaciudades, sus recursos y sus servicios de agua y saneamiento. Lo que surge es una vulnerabilidad singular, ya que, al concentrarse poblaciones, servicios y bienes en las megaciudades, amplifica las consecuencias de los riesgos relacionados con el agua, por ejemplo, inundaciones a gran escala, la falta de recursos, la contaminación ambiental y otros desafíos.Esta aportación es una síntesis monográfica de 14 megaciudades; estas monografías formaron parte de la Conferencia Internacional: "Agua, Megaciudades y Cambio Global". La información que fundamenta este capítulo proviene en su totalidad de dichos trabajos redactados conjuntamente en su mayoría por los operadores, generalmente en colaboración con los investigadores.

UNESCO’s mandate to build inclusive knowledge societies is centered on its efforts to promote freedom of expression and access to information, alongside quality edu-cation and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity. The digital transformation un-derway in society is touching all spheres of human activity, and it is timely to reflect on the key challenges and opportunities created by digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).The title of this publication is a call for ‘Steering AI and Advanced ICTs for Knowledge Societies’ from the perspective of human Rights, Openness, Access and Mul-ti-stakeholder governance (the ROAM principles). Such steering should also sup-port gender equality and Africa, the two global priorities of UNESCO. Technological change and advancement is important for sustainable development, yet belief in technological determinism risks neglecting social, economic and other drivers. Ins-tead, the challenge is to harness human agency to shape the trajectory of AI and related information and communication technologies (ICTs).While there is no single definition of ‘artificial intelligence’, this publication focuses on what UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Tech-nology (COMEST) describes as “machines capable of imitating certain functionalities of human intelligence, including such features as perception, learning, reasoning, problem solving, language interaction, and even producing creative work” (COMEST, 2019). AI and its constitutive elements of data, algorithms, hardware, connectivity and sto-rage exponentially increase the power of ICT. This is a major opportunity for sustai-nable development, with concomitant risks that also need to be addressed. To steer AI accordingly, we need to recognize the uneven but dynamic distribution of AI power across multiple and dispersed centres within governments, the private sector, the technical community, civil society and other stakeholders worldwide. It is for this rea-son that multi-stakeholder engagement around AI is vital. This perspective aligns with the approach to ICT governance as per the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) principles and processes that are led by the United Nations (UN).Using the Internet Universality framework and indicators,1 this publication explores the multiple implications for AI and how the ROAM principles can steer the develop-ment and usage of AI from the following dimensions:1 More information on the Internet Universality Indicators is available at: https://en.unesco.org/themes/internet-universality-indicatorsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The concept of ‘meaningful universal connectivity’has emerged as the focus of efforts to promote the benefits of online participation while mitigating the potential downsides of digital connectivity. It encompasses broadband adoption that is not just available, accessible, relevant and affordable,but that is also safe, trusted, empowering users and leading to positive impact. Successful approaches to delivering meaningful universal connectivity are cognizant of the nuances that characterize barriers to access at local and regional levels. Internet users are as diverse as the global population itself. Users are not simply online or offline, but rather take myriad strategies to engage in the digital economy.‘Meaningful universal connectivity’ strategies also recognize that non-technology and non-economic issues play a central role in decisions to participate online or not, such as lack of digital skills, linguistic and literacy barriers, social norms, and cultural attitudes. This report reflects on the policies and recommendations that have made an impact in reaching the 51% adoption threshold, and considers different approaches that may better address the needs of the next 49%, including measures to ensure current internet users continue to see net positive returns from participating online.‘Meaningful universal connectivity’ focuses not only on infrastructure and supply-side initiatives, but also on thoughtful approaches to demand-side issues, meeting the needs and expectations of those who aren’t connected, while ensuring individuals who are already online continue to see value in continued participation.