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Welcome!
Welcome to the latest edition of the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) Network Link. If you missed one of the previous monthly Network Link editions, don't forget that you can download a copy from our website.
This month we launched our new policy brief series with a brief on the reform of UNESCO's Category 2 Centre Network. With 81 of these institutes and centres globally, they provide a potential high-value resource to UNESCO. Policy briefs on issues including using remote access technologies and UK ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict will be published shortly. These policy briefs are a key part of our role in providing independent policy advice to government in UNESCO's fields of competence and supporting reform and effectiveness at UNESCO. These briefs have been produced with the invaluable input and expertise of members of the UK UNESCO Network.
As always, we would welcome your feedback on this update and other communications from us. Please get in touch with Ian White (iwhite@unesco.org.uk) with any comments. If you have been sent Network Link by a colleague, you can sign-up to the distribution list. Finally, if you don't wish to receive this update, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.
Yours faithfully,
James Bridge
Chief Executive, UK National Commission for UNESCO
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News from the Network
News and events from the UK UNESCO Network
Have news or an event you would like included in the next UKNC update? Email iwhite@unesco.org.uk
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UNESCO Events
Key forthcoming UNESCO events
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UNESCO Publications
Selection of recent UNESCO publications
Education
Culture
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 Updates on our work
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Category 2 Centres are a significant, largely underutilised UNESCO resource. The network as a whole, however, is under growing reputational risk and is placing increased pressure on UNESCO's core resources. A new UK National Commission for UNESCO policy brief outlines eight specific, attainable and time bound recommendations for UNESCO to reform this potentially valuable resource.
There are currently 81 'Category 2' Institutes globally, covering all areas of UNESCO's work, mostly based at universities and research institutes. While Category 2 centres are not legally part of UNESCO, they are formally associated with the organisation.
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Following a decision by its Board of Directors, the UK National Commission sent a letter to the Director General of UNESCO in early July expressing its concern over the pending awarding of the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences. This letter was followed by similar correspondence to UNESCO from the Finnish and US National Commissions for UNESCO. A letter of reply was received from the UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, outlining UNESCO's position on the matter. The prize was subsequently awarded in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters on 17 July to three laureates from Egypt, South Africa and Mexico. Concern around the prize has raised among a number of UNESCO Member States, human rights groups and in the international press.
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UK's top female academics take science to the streets
 This year's Soapbox Science event on 16 July stripped away the Powerpoint presentations and jargon, transforming a small corner of the Southbank into an arena of dynamic debate centered on the latest cutting-edge science. Spectators dropped by to listen to some of the UK's top female scientists from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and engineering as they took to their soapboxes to talk passionately about their subjects and answer the public's burning science questions. Now in its third year, Soapbox Science focuses on inspiring a new generation of scientists. The event is run by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme. |
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Representatives of the 20 items and collections inscribed to the UK Memory of the World Register in 2011. Reproduced with the permission of Parliament.
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Do you want the world to know about your collections? Nominations are now open for the UK Memory of the World Register. This is the third round of nominations following the Register's hugely successful launch in 2010. The register is part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, which promotes outstanding documentary heritage.
Nominations for this register are for documentary heritage which holds cultural significance specific to the UK. Anyone can make a nomination and all archive formats are eligible, including digital and audiovisual. The deadline for nominations is Monday October 29th 2012.
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Galloway and southern Ayrshire Biosphere © Andrew Bielinski., St John's town of Dalry
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Galloway and southern Ayrshire Biosphere is one of the newest members of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), following a decision of the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) this month. The Galloway and southern Ayrshire Biosphere represents the merging of two UK biosphere reserves covering a total area of 520,000 ha. The application for a 'new style' and enlarged Biosphere was submitted to UNESCO following extensive consultation and support from stakeholders, local communities, and public agencies. Biosphere status is an international UNESCO accolade which demonstrates how nature conservation and sustainable development go hand in hand.
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The international governing body of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme met in Paris earlier this month. In addition to approving the newest UK Biosphere Reserve (see above), the UK was elected to the Bureau of the MAB Programme. The Bureau, a subsidiary body of the International Coordinating Council (ICC), is composed of the MAB chairman, four vice-chairmen and a rapporteur. The UK's membership will take effect in 2013. This is an important time for the MAB Bureau as it has been tasked with working on the evaluation of MAB's Madrid Action Plan 2008-13 and on a strategy for the future of MAB and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves for 2014-21. Professor Martin Price, Chair of the UK MAB Committee, represented the UK at the ICC meeting with the support of the UK National Commission. |
UNESCO News for the UK
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Passing on the traditions - Gaelic Waulking at Auchindrain Museum, Argyll & Bute
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Museums Galleries Scotland has become the first non-governmental organisation in the UK to be accredited to provide advisory services to the UNESCO Committee on the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Museums Galleries Scotland, which develops the museums sector in Scotland through investment, training and advice, supports the spirit of the Convention as it encourages collaborative and partnership working with communities - aspirations which are reflected in the recently published National Strategy for Scotland's Museums and Galleries.
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The Director General after receiving her Honorary Doctor of Letters, with (from left-right) the pro-Vice-Chancellor of Durham University, Professor Robin Coningham, Chancellor, Sir Thomas Allen and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins.
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Recognizing the contribution of the Director General and UNESCO "to preserving both Durham and the world's outstanding cultural and natural heritage," Durham University conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Irina Bokova on June 29, 2012.
The ceremony was held in the medieval splendour of Durham Cathedral, a World Heritage Site since 1986, as part of the graduation of over 200 students from the faculties of arts and humanities, and social science and health, led by the Chancellor, opera singer Sir Thomas Allen, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins. In the afternoon, the Director General gave a lecture on UNESCO's role in building peace and sustainability in the 21st century, attended by experts in heritage, conflict resolution and education, including Baroness Andrews, Chair of English Heritage. James Bridge represented the UK National Commission for UNESCO during the convocation and related events.
Read on...
Read the Director Generals lecture remarks... |
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to become a global education envoy for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. As Special Envoy, Mr Brown will help galvanize support for the Secretary-General's Global Initiative on Education (Education First), which aims to achieve quality, relevant, and inclusive education for every child. He will focus on countries with the highest burden of children out of school, recognizing that nearly half of out-of-school children are in countries affected by conflict.
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova welcomed the announcement in a public statement.
Read the UN announcement... Read the UNESCO statement... |
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Gretchen Kalonji, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Natural, took part in Futures Day and an expert panel entitled "Innovating for a sustainable future - the sky's the limit?" on 13 July 2012.
Futures Day at Farnborough International Airshow is dedicated to groups of young people aged 11 to 21 from schools, universities, and youth groups. This day offers activities to 10,000 students that showcase global aerospace innovations and demonstrate how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects can have a direct impact on the world.
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Announcements
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2012 UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights - Call for nominations
 Nominations are now open for the 2012 UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights. The aim of the Prize is to recognize outstanding contributions made by organizations and individuals to the cause of human rights through their committed actions and leadership role in the areas of education, research and awareness-raising. The Prize encourages innovative initiatives serving to promote a culture of human rights and peace as an antidote to violence, discrimination and intolerance.
Nominations from the UK must be received by the UK National Commission for UNESCO by Monday 20 August 2012.
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